Brits looking to move to Raleigh area-need advice please!!

[Andrea111]

Oh i forgot to ask something else, when we come over in May i REALLY want to go horse riding, (i think you guys say trail riding, is that right??) somewhere really pretty, so can anyone recommend anywhere with good horses and friendly staff? Also, when we eventually do move over, at some point i will want to get my own horse so would like to be within easy driving distance of a friendly yard with boarding facilities (not super expensive!). Any ideas?

[K. Dunn]

Hi again Andrea! Just wanted to follow up with you since we just got back from another trip out to the Triangle. You won't be a constricted as we were due to school nodes [zones] since you still have just a wee little one, but once we zero'd in on Apex we thought we had lots of choices, but then it narrowed fast in person to either the subdivision of Scott's Mill or the area which includes Shepherds Vineyard, Buckingham, and the area just south of it with all the Vineyard names like Napa Pl, St Helena, St. Vincent, ect. The south side of Cary is lovely, that is why we like the North-East side of Apex, because it combines what we need with the great Apex schools along with the some what more upscale Cary neighborhoods and shopping centers.

Regarding horseback riding, we did notice some nice looking stables over by Lake Wheeler with several trails nearby that looked perfect and was only about 15 minutes away from Cary just south of Yates Mill Pond [worth checking out too by the way!]

[lovebrentwood]

When we were looking, we looked at houses in Black Run, "an equestrian community" in Raleigh, near Durham: Black Horse Run Community - Home Page

[txwolfy]

My wife and I just bought property in the Youngsville area, but close to Wake Forest, and will be moving there from Cambridgeshire, UK, next summer. I'm a Yank, she's English (North London), and we have lived in the UK for the last 7 years working for the U.S. Air Force. We decided on the Raleigh area because our oldest daughter wound up there, with her husband and the grandkids, but the more we learn the happier we are. Can't wait to move to our new, adopted, location!

[mommapudding]

Hi,
I think you'll love it here, can't help you, I don't think, with choosing where to live, but I think you're doing the right thing by renting for a while anyhow.
I'd recommend trying to get a place with a community pool, or make sure you can join a nearby one, as the summers are mighty long and hot.
I've seen lots of great looking places in rural areas, but personally chose location over square feet - I think that's going to be something to keep in mind as a Brit, your money will appear to buy you a lot of land and a lot of square feet in certain areas. It is mosquito central - so your land won't be much good for your kids to play in during the mossie season. A drive to get some more milk (or anything - unless you live downtown somewhere) is pretty much par for the course, but I don't like it to be a major road trip either
That said, I'm ready to stay for a good long while yet, we're loving it, so I don't want to appear to be putting you off, just trying to offer my twopenneth worth of advice. (That - and that all the bread has too much sugar )

[K. Dunn]

First let me say they are telling the truth when they say it is bloody hot over here, I am not looking forward to at least 2 more months of this. Now that being said, that is the worst of it, and actually I like the nice mornings and evenings when it is cooler for a walk or bicycle ride. I agree totally with mommapudding post regarding wanting a community pool, or at least nearby to a local YMCA pool. We ended up deciding on a community like that called Shepherds Vineyard, which is borderline to Apex and Cary and absolutely love it! The pool is like a resort pool and a great place to meet your fellow community members and the local kids for our kids to make friends. It fit our price point and we got a great deal both in a house price and of course the cool low interest rates that have been being bantered about. We were lucky enough to lock in a 4.75% so were thrilled! Love our nearby Apex Lake (known to the locals as Lake Pine!), and so far love all the local amenities with shopping and parks for the kids. Plan on doing lots of scouting around checking out stuff all summer. Already have the girls signed up for local summer camp classes like Dance or Art which they are thrilled. Speaking of kids, so far my girls ages 6 and 11 are just thrilled with this area. Even had several neighbors come over and introduce themselves, almost all of them have kids since this is such a family friendly place. Nice to see kids come over with their parents introducing themselves to the new kids on the block! Just what we had read about is coming true! Very safe type of neighborhood! Must have had at least a dozen locals walk by while walking their dogs and stop and say "Welcome to Shepherds Vineyard!" I never saw that in CA, was like pulling teeth to get anyone to talk to you. My wife telecommutes freelance so the move was easy for her, while I did find a new job but it involves commuting 50+ minutes south into Sanford which is an area I am not too thrilled with. Hopefully will find something closer in the Triangle soon! We do look forward to the Fall which we hear is gorgeous here (haven't seen that season here since previously we visited in the Winter and Spring before making the final move!), our in-laws plan on coming out to visit and stay with us in August (the hottest month of all!), but we are driving out and staying in the Outer Banks with them to be in a cooler place! You will love it!