Brits looking to move to Raleigh area-need advice please!! (Durham: renting, houses) - Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary - North Carolina (NC) -The Triangle Area - City-Data Forum

Andrea111 · 03-28-2009, 11:09 AM

Ok, Hi All...am new to this forum business to bear with me!

My husband and i are hopefully going to be moving to the States from UK pending Visa, we are coming over in May to see family (who live in New Bern) and really need some ideas as to which areas/towns to visit while we are over.

We are a young (ish!) family, we currently have a one year old son but i am planning another baby in the next two years...so want a friendly, family area. I love views, the greener the better so want a really pretty area but not too rural. Lakes, trees that kind of thing. Really want somewere close to amenities ie shops, restaurants etc but not inner city. A place with nature trails and stuff to do as a family, but as i said not too remote.

We were thinking Raleigh area as we currently live in a city, but in the outskirts, which suits us well. My husband is a financial advisor so will need to be quite near a city for work. Budget, we are not exactly sure of as yet but i imagine it will be in the region of $200,000-$250,000.

If you have any suggestion as to which areas we should visit, that would be very appreciated...

Thanks

waderight · 03-28-2009, 11:34 AM

Wake Forest is not too big, not too small and very near Raleigh. There are several lakes nearby. Good schools, nice neighborhoods. The people are very friendly. Wake Forest has a down home flavor. It's my favorite town.

MrsSteel · 03-28-2009, 03:10 PM

Andrea, welcome to the forum. My husband is English as are a few other members of this forum, so hopefully we'll be a help to you. As for where to live, you have many many choices within this area. Hopefully others will chime in with more suggestions.

What you've described above sounds exactly like my neighborhood in southern Durham - Woodcroft. We're in a very convenient area with a lot of shopping close by, yet the neighborhood itself is heavily treed and quiet with miles of walking trails. Most of the homes fall within your price range, too.

If you'd prefer to be in a smaller community, add Hillsborough to your list of towns. It may be too far out depending on where you will work, but it's a lovely little community close to farms and dairies with a quaint little main street and homes in your price range, so it's worth a look.

Good luck!

mecha51 · 03-28-2009, 06:31 PM

I'll give another recommendation for Wake Forest. My wife and I moved here three years ago, and we love it. You can get small town whenever you want or drive 15 minutes into Raleigh and get city life. Very family friendly town as well.

chinagrl78 · 03-29-2009, 02:26 AM

I lived in Raleigh for 3 years. There are many hiking/biking trails around the Raleigh area. North Raleigh is nice and it is close to Lake Lynn. If you live in the Cary area, they have Lake Johnson and it is close to many hiking trails around NCState.

Have you ever been to the southern part of the US? It will probably be quite a shock from the UK. I lived in the UK for 3 summers and no one ever asked me 'what church I went to'. That will be an adjustment. The great thing about the Raleigh area is that you are about 2 hours from the beach and 3 hours from the mountains and the weather is mild.

Good luck!

Andrea111 · 03-29-2009, 06:13 AM

Thanks for the advice guys, we have some great ideas as to which areas we'll visit when we come over in may.

Chinagrl78, yeah we have been to the South quite a bit, so have a good idea what to expect. We love it there...VERY VERY different from the UK that's for sure. It was very pleasant to encounter smiley and friendly people, something you dont always get over here these days i'm afraid.

steve54 · 03-29-2009, 06:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrea111

Ok, Hi All...am new to this forum business to bear with me!

My husband and i are hopefully going to be moving to the States from UK pending Visa, we are coming over in May to see family (who live in New Bern) and really need some ideas as to which areas/towns to visit while we are over.

We are a young (ish!) family, we currently have a one year old son but i am planning another baby in the next two years...so want a friendly, family area. I love views, the greener the better so want a really pretty area but not too rural. Lakes, trees that kind of thing. Really want somewere close to amenities ie shops, restaurants etc but not inner city. A place with nature trails and stuff to do as a family, but as i said not too remote.

We were thinking Raleigh area as we currently live in a city, but in the outskirts, which suits us well. My husband is a financial advisor so will need to be quite near a city for work. Budget, we are not exactly sure of as yet but i imagine it will be in the region of $200,000-$250,000.

If you have any suggestion as to which areas we should visit, that would be very appreciated...

Thanks

Are you looking for somewhere like Plymouth?
I used to live in Manchester (50 years) and I live south of raleigh. It's about 15 mins to Downtown and about the same to a load of shopping (I'm a shopper). I live on a sub division called enchanted oaks
Picasa Web Albums - Stephen - Enchanted Oak...
The houses are more expensive than the price you quoted ( cheapest i've seen is like 370k)
There is another S/D a few minutes further south that is a little cheaper.

AS a Brit there are some things you need to be aware of . When you buy a house here it may cost you around $3k in expenses to buy -closing costs- and it would cost you that even if you only remortgaged. You need to be sure that you like the house and neighbourhood and (very important) you know and like the schools that the kids will go to unless you are paying for private.
Also consider your commute times
pm me if you have any other questions i'd be happy to help

Andrea111 · 03-29-2009, 11:10 AM

Hi Steve,

Not really looking for somewhere like Plymouth, we're really looking forward to a change to be honest. Want easy access to city life, but i dont think we want to live in the hub of it...i love some peace and quiet! (What little i get with a one year old reaking havoc!)

Enchanted Oaks looks stunning, but alas i think it'll be out of our budget. We may end up renting for a bit anyway first to make sure we make the right decision.

Still waiting for Visa so move is some way off yet anyway.

Thanks

K. Dunn · 03-29-2009, 11:10 AM

Hi Andrea!

You demographic sounds very close to ours other than were a few years ahead of you age wise with the kids. We have two, ages 6 & 11. We have done tremendous research on the area against many other areas around the USA. With a very young one only right now you don't have to worry to much "yet", but if you are looking to the future were happy to share our data with you on the schools and area. We are moving their because we want to and are just making it happen, that should say a lot!

My wife is from England too [Surrey] and her brother still lives down that way by Bookham. My wife's parents live over here now too, and they too within a year or so will be following us out from CA to NC. With my kids in 1st and 6th grade now, we were looking for as much solidity and high scores in the schools that we could find. Apex just southwest of Raleigh was the only suburb town that we found showed schools all levels [elementary-middle-high school] that scored 10's across the board, and had the great revews by the parents. It was easy to find any area that had one level that scored good, but not one that scored great in all levels. You will find the public school system in general is a bit behind the UK and less strict. Now of course if your plan is private school someday, that would be similar and location wouldn't be so critical.

Our price point is also $200,000 - $250,000 and found over 60 that we liked that fit that bill. But after all of our research and needing things like a 2 car garage, yard, 4 bedrooms [or 3 bedrooms + large bonus/study so that all of our family and friends will have a place to stay!], community with a pool for the kids, and in a school zone [node] that is circled by great schools, we have quickly narrowed down the search. I agree with other posters that parts of Wake Forest in North Raleigh are good, but I have to say from the reviews and such, Apex and Cary might be better.

You will love the whole area, similar to England in its green, quite a bit more Pine trees though!

Kentucky/Tennesee reminds us more of going out west in the UK towards Wales with the rolling hills and farmlands, while most of the Raleigh area has that feel of being in a forested mountain town without actually being up high in the mountain. A lot of history to explore in the region, and very family orientated, which you will love. Me and my wife are going over again next week for some more house hunting tours with our realtor, hoping to make an offer, or at least narrow the search even more. I can recommend our Realtor directly if you want one, have been very happy with her and her companies service so far.

All of the area in question fits what you are looking for in terrain, views, ect. We love the fact that the triangle is circled by 3 large lakes, several large parks, a nice city that isn't too big, but is looking ahead, and that fact that you are within 2 hrs of the warm atlantic ocean or those beautiful mountains! Lots of pubs nearby, although they aren't up to the level of a good pub in the UK of course! The whole Cary area [and expanding all around Raleigh] has greenways and bicycle trails everywhere! Love it!

DJKB · 03-30-2009, 07:03 AM

I'm from the UK (North London) and moved here with my husband and kids from New Jersey in 2005. We have since added another kid to the bunch!!!
Anyway - we bought a house our near Garner and sort of felt like we were too far away from things we liked to do (we got a little seduced by the size of house we could buy if we came out this far)...
We just sold our house and we are hoping to move to Holly Springs. We really like that area - we like Cary too but we can't afford that much there!
Anyway - there are LOADS of Brits in the Triangle and there's even a Brit group on Meetup.com - so that might be a good place for you to get more info!!