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Hey there...I just took a job in North Raleigh, near 540 on Falls of Neuse Rd. My fiance and I going to be moving to the Triangle soon after the wedding this summer, and we're thinking about buying our first home right off the bat. Looking at the real estate websites so far, it's looking like our options in the sub-175K range are pretty limited. A lot of new constructions in master-planned communities keep popping up. Townhomes are not ideal either, as we have a dog. We are coming from Boone and this will be a big change for us, so we want to avoid those types of neighborhoods...just not our style.
Can anybody provide any tips about older established neighborhoods to look for a small house below 170K or so, preferably older and with a back yard that we can fence in? In an ideal world, there would be very little commute, but that seems pretty tough to accomplish in the Triangle.
We were checking out Durham because the prices are lower, and I have a couple of questions. Would a commute from Durham to North Raleigh be ridiculous? What are some safe neighborhoods to check out for what we're looking for? I've read a little bit about some of the revitalization going on in Durham--areas that are close to the renewal but that still have some good bargain fixer-uppers? What about some areas of Raleigh that I might be overlooking?
I think you have quite a few options in North Raleigh.
Mine Valley comes to mind immediately.
It would only be a few miles to commute, is an older neighborhood, and has decent lot sizes and mature trees. It isn't Boone, but...
I did a quick search on the MLS and found 172 homes below $180,000, 99 @ $160,000 or less, and 53 @ $170,000 or less, built 1990 or earlier. This is the N. Raleigh area from the airport to US 401 area.
I'm not much help on home prices - besides, MikeJaquish has that well in hand as usual . Commuting from Durham to I-540/Falls of Neuse is possible, but not ideal. It all depends on how long of a commute you are comfortable with. But I've always been of the opinion that folks are happier when they can live reasonably close to where they work (< 30 minute commute, preferably < 20 minutes).
If you want to look farther afield, then IMO Eastern Wake makes more sense than Durham, especially now that I-540 has opened to Knightdale. Seems the commutes would be much easier.
The commute from my side of Durham would not be bad at all. I am out Hwy 98, like you are heading to Wake Forest. My husband used to work in that area and said it's only about 20 mins and you can take back roads and avoid the big traffic.
My house is for sale in your price range, and we have a fenced yard with trees. Our dogs love it!
You might want to visit the Brentwood neighborhood. It is a little closer in to downtown, but ranches and other older homes on established lots can be found there for below 170K. I don't know exactly what the area is like there, since I don't live there. Some say there are many rentals, but others ay younger folks are startign to move in and spruce up the place a bit. That may or may not be an issue, but it may be worht a look.
When we were looking this past summer we saw a few lovely homes in the older section of Neuse Crossings. This is in the Louisburg Road / Mitchell Mill Road area of N. Raleigh and conveinet to the new section of I-540. There is a cool looking small ranch on single leaf lane in that neighborhood that has mature trees and even has a nice shed and screened in porch. The pictures look pretty nice and it is only around $139K. Might be worth checking out!
With no traffic it takes me about 35 min to get from Chapel Hill (Exit 266 on I-40), to the spillway on Falls of the Neuse, so at the right time of day the commute from Durham wouldn't be horrific, but it definitely also wouldn't be ideal.
Working where you are, instead of looking in Durham for a fixer upper, I'd look in the five points/glen wood/cameron village area (I don't know raleigh well enough to know the exact neighborhoods) for one. Something along these lines (I think we met the folks who bought and renovated this house)...
I'm sure there's a number of houses like this in need of repair that can be had in your price range that would be a cool place to live and a decent investment if you put the work in to fix them up.
Thanks for the response everybody...I will do some further investigating.
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. Commuting from Durham to I-540/Falls of Neuse is possible, but not ideal. It all depends on how long of a commute you are comfortable with. But I've always been of the opinion that folks are happier when they can live reasonably close to where they work (< 30 minute commute, preferably < 20 minutes).
