Getting mixed msgs: Is Raleigh region affordable? (Charlotte, Cary: condo, cheap house)

[saturnfan]

Originally Posted by breji

I actually think the Raleigh area is pricer than other areas that you can get the same thing you are look for. My sister lives in Boiling Springs SC (Highly rated schools, low crime, not out in the sticks and convienent to restaurants and Hwy, 1 1/2 hours away from mountains, 3 1/2 hours from Raleigh.) They bought a 2000 square foot house, ALL BRICK, on .50 acre in an extremely attractive neighborhood for $150,000 3 years ago. That's just the average price of a home there. She was recently complaining about not having a basement, but I explained to her that if her house was in Raleigh it would have cost $300,000 and then she wouldn't have been able to afford it in the first place.

What about employment and salaries in that area?

Could negate the cheaper home prices.

[breji]

Originally Posted by saturnfan

What about employment and salaries in that area?

Could negate the cheaper home prices.

Actually salaries are the exact same! It's not an RTP area and you will probably not find a lot of the tech/RTP jobs. I know for a fact they pay IT jobs and nursing the exact same as they do here. We have a housing inspector in the family and he says there are tons of people moving there from Cary specifically for great schools and WAY more house for the money. The area has not yet seen the inflation the rest of the markets have. My sister says there are a lot of people starting to move down there from up north to have a better quality of life. Spartanburg is the nearest big city and Spartanburg is not that nice and certainly not a pretty town. Boiling Springs is a lot like Cary in that you don't need to venture into Spartanburg/Raleigh because everything you need is right there. Why do I not move there you probably ask? Well, my spouse has a very specific job that can only be found in the capitol city of most states. If it weren't for that, we would be moving there to get our dream house for cheap.

[breji]

Originally Posted by saturnfan

What about employment and salaries in that area?

Could negate the cheaper home prices.

Also, my mother bought a brand new house (not cookie cutter, vinyl, and not slab) 7 years ago for $88,000. Very nice home and here at that price you could an "as is" or tear down. Most people that my sister knows and including my sister are stay at home moms, because they can actually afford to do so without breaking the bank. The average cost of a home in Boiling Springs is 108,000. For $200,000 you can get a beautiful high end home in a great subdivision. If the average cost of a home in Raleigh is 230,000, in boiling springs you can get a 230,000 home here for 108,000 in Boiling springs.

[packfan8019]

2809 Smoke Place, Raleigh, NC, 27610 - MLS ID#1664666 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com®

This right here is a good example of a extremely cheap house that I think is very nice.

Would this area be considered "not safe"? I mean that looks like a unbeatable deal.

Thanks!

[mishellina]

We moved here from NJ 4 years ago and love it! The 2 items which help in the afford-ability - property taxes and house prices. NJ is high for both. Not to mention congestion and we where getting tired of the snow..lol! With that said for 230K you can still get a nice house here! Now, if you looking for new construction...depends where you live. I'm in Apex and for that price you can get a nice existing home. Also consider where you will look to work. Apex and Cary and parts of Raleigh are great to commute to RTP and Durham. I work in Morrisville and my drive is only 20 minutes. I also work early 7am-4pm. After 5pm you will hit the usual rush hour ( nothing like NJ ) and it may add 10 minutes if you are going back to Apex. Parts of Cary are more congested so you may hit more lights. Could be a lot worse huh? lol. Charlotte is more congested I heard and that the roads where not planned well...sorta what I also heard for the Atlanta area. The schools here ( not all but a lot ) are year round to accommodate the people moving here. They have so many new students ( that has slowed a bit now) and at one point could not keep up with getting new schools up. I like Apex for the small town feel. Only has 34k ish people and with an existing home you usually get to attend a school within the town. I say they because some parts of Raleigh and just Wake County in general have reassigned many kids as well. If they start that with my daughter's school we would have to move - which would kill me to leave but I don't want her to be going all over the place either.

[Alicia64]

Thanks everyone, you've been so helpful!

Packfan ~ yes, that house looks a little under what I'd hope for, but great. My worry has been that some people on City Data say that yes, some of the houses on MLS look good, but once you check them out, there's no way. That's what has confused me.

Apex sounds like a perfectly fine commute to Raleigh. Is that right.

How to define safe? It's an important point b/c I've known people who rented a beautiful home -- with a contract -- in Sac only to find out that it's a street or two away from a bad area. (A really bad area. As a teen two punks tried to jump my husband and he dropped his backpack and just ran. And he's a big guy at 6'1, 200 lbs. They still tried to jump him.)

So, in defining safe, I'd say: I can stay alone in the home while my husband is away on business and feel comfortable.

That people aren't casing the place when they drive down my street.

That the next door neighbors aren't fighting so much that the police are called at least once a year.

That kind of thing. But understandably, nice neighborhoods are robbed. Someone tried to break in to our next door neighbor's house when we were eating dinner on a Sat. at 6 p.m. My husband said, "that helicopter is really low over our house.) The police caught the guy as he was climbing in.

The neighbors across the street are both young lawyers and teens apparently broke into their home and stole all of their computer equipment.

And -- sorry for the novel -- I do know a nice couple with kids who bought in a very bad neighborhood. It looks fine from the pictures, but when I was in it, the streets are eerily quiet and everyone just gets into their house and keeps their curtains closed.

Alley

[beckycat]

Originally Posted by packfan8019

2809 Smoke Place, Raleigh, NC, 27610 - MLS ID#1664666 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com®

This right here is a good example of a extremely cheap house that I think is very nice.

Would this area be considered "not safe"? I mean that looks like a unbeatable deal.

Thanks!

Do a search for the zip code on CD. I've heard that area is questionable from other OP.

[Francois]

^ Many of the bad parts of town are, indeed, in 27610, but it doesn't mean it works the other way (i.e., that 27610 is all "bad").

The best thing to do is go to Google Maps, put in the address, then click "Streetview", where you can actually "travel" the streets and literally see photos of the street and nearby streets. The part you mention appears to be a new area outside of the traditional quote-unquote "Southeast Raleigh" where some parts are in fact not where you'd want to be, but it could be far enough out that there wouldn't be problems (some of the most desired parts of town, such as Oakwood, are right up against "bad" neighborhoods, and generally there aren't really problems, thanks to very good neighborhood watch programs, etc).

[JohnNC]

I think you can definately find something nice for $230. Try looking in the North Raleigh area. There are some real nice neighborhoods that will fit what you are looking for.

John

Originally Posted by Alicia64

Hi Everyone,

My husband and I (and six year old twins) would like to get out of CA and we like Raleigh.

But I can't tell -- does $230 buy a nice house in a nice area -- meaning safe? Very safe? I'm not looking for snooty, but a nice area.

What do you think of Charlotte? Is it more affordable than Raleigh?

Alley

[JohnNC]

Here is a good example in an great neighborhood!!

7521 Wilderness Road, Raleigh, NC, 27613 - MLS ID#1646883 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com®

John