Real estate advice - 2 areas opposite side of Raleigh (Cary: sales, appliances)

[pale saint]

Greetings everyone - transplant from York Co SC and CLT. My family rented for the past year near Duraleigh/Glenwood and now ready to purchase. We had a little over an acre in SC and would like to stay around 1/2 ac or more here, if possible. Have large dog and want fenced prop to run around

Anyway, wife found 2 houses/properties she loves

1. North Ridge area of Raleigh - old house 30 yrs but property is over half ac and gorgeous. House is liveable but 70's style split ranch and we would eventually want to update it. Neighborhood is mature both house and landscaping. Close to everything. Fenced. House is overpriced I think based on past sales over the year and the way houses have depreciated.

2. Ten Ten/Sauls Rd house which is over half ac - house is gorgeous and no quibbles except for a little larger kitchen. Property is a blank slate which is no problem to us as we like gardening and would relish landscaping our own yd plus we would be neighbors with Plant Delights!! No fence and have to add one - no shade either. Low taxes obviously. Neighborhood is "new" with little landscaping and trees. But I hear Garner schools suck and would worry about resale at some point in the future but not near future. Plus I hear 540 is coming thru if govco has their wish.

I work near NCSU and we go to Prov Bap on 70 and would like to try to stay there. Have 3 kids who are homeschooled right now but not necessarily in the future. Private school is possibility.

Real estate agent does not want to sway us so will not offer her opinion. Any big deals with either these areas other than taxes? Will garner schools affect possible resale in future? 540?

Thanks for any advice

[mjohnson185]

The one thing I would keep in mind with an older home is energy costs. Our first home was 10 years old and 1100 square feet. My utility costs were double in my 1100 square foot home than my current 2300 square foot home. My current 2300 square foot home is only 3 years old... has gas heat and my heat bill has been $120 every month in the winter months keeping the heat at 71 degrees at night and during the day. My electric bill has been around $70 a month and water bill $38 per month. We are not big energy conservers or anything. We do have energy efficient appliances and a front load washer and dryer.

My mother in law lives in a 1700 square foot home built in the 1950's and keeps the heat at 68 degrees and her winter heat bill by itself has been upward $500.

My 10 year old 1100 square foot house averaged $289 per month for our old heat bill in the coldest winter months.

My father has a 2500 sq foot house built in the 1930's and keeps the heat on 60 degrees and uses plug in heaters for a supplement and their heat bill is $600 in the coldest winter months.

I rented a 900 square foot home built in the 1960's for a small amount of time and my heat bill in the coldest months was around $400 a month.

Just saying that there Could be more costs associated with an older home as far as utilities....Utilities are public info. You could always call the gas or electric company and find out what the bills are. You may be surprised.

[Francois]

Well, remember that there is technically no such thing as "Garner schools", just "Wake County schools". However, the new Board is moving toward neighborhood assignments, so being in Garner would likely put you in the Garner schools.

I love North Ridge, but I am biased since I grew up in that general area, went to NR Elementary, etc. You don't say how old your kids are, but if they went there (and it's walkable, so I'm sure they would), you should be just fine with NR Elementary (my ex-neighbor, who attended NRE with me in the 1970s, has kids who go there now and is on the PTA and she still loves it.). The commute to NCSU wouldn't be fun, but you'd get used to it and there are many shortcuts you could take if one road were blocked due to an accident, etc. Falls Village and Sutton Square shopping centers are extremely convenient to North Ridge. If they liked NR Elementary but you wanted to opt for private schools in Middle School, Ravenscroft is VERY close (I also went there, so 'full disclosure' ). You could be squirrling away the $$ for Ravenscroft while they were at North Ridge

Garner would be much closer to NC State and as you say, have a great yard. Not sure about the schools, but since you mention private schools, I don't know of any well-known ones that are near Garner, so you'd have a hike to school, perhaps. Garner is definitely more of a "blue collar" kind of town, which many find refreshing. North Ridge is solidly in affluent territory and may have more of the Keeping-up-with the-Joneses vibe there.

I dunno--make a list of what is nonnegotiable, what is important, what is desired, and what is not as important, and compare each item in both places.

[pale saint]

Thanks from both of you. I hadn't thought about the utility bills and old house connection. I was seeing shade so thought the AC bill would be cheaper at least.

The houses, I know, are two diff worlds but we like being close to everything for the past year as we were out in the country in York Co. Certainly the North Ridge one would give us that plus the yard but the house doesn't "fit" with what we were thinking of - we'd be effectively choosing property/amenities over house. So we've been looking all over the area just to see what's out there. The area on Sauls Rd is similar to the area in SC we were in. We really love the semirural/country feel.

Francois, the house has a Raleigh address but it says Garner schools. probably no chance to go Middle Creek or all the way over to Apex/Cary. O i think Ravenscroft is hyperexpensive, is it not? The 401 area from what I can find has only Wake Christian of which I know nothing about. Just concerned of the long term value of the unincorporated area south of raleigh/garner esp if 540 comes thru

[FVmommy]

Unless you're within about 1/2 mile of 540 if/when it comes through, I think it will only help property value. The areas along the northern stretch of 540 have benefitted greatly, I think, except maybe those adjacent to the highway.

What school is the Sauls Rd property zoned for? I lean toward supporting the old school board in general, but I think Garner will actually benefit from the new board's proposals - the schools there have had lots of kids bussed in from SE Raleigh and the school demographics really don't match the town's demographics - I think Garner stands to benefit from community schools if/when they happen.

[nipsip]

Northridge. No question.

[pale saint]

FV Mommy - they Rand, North Garner Middle and Garner. All 3 kids are elem or younger. As for 540, according to maps it could be anywhere between dotted lines so it's a real crap shoot trying to guess in 2010. then again, they may never build it. I agree with you though that it would push values up if 1/2 mi away or more - I'm not sure about the "risk" of choosing a house in the dotted line area - b/c it sure looks that way on the map