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My husband is interviewing next week for a company in the RTP area. I have been searching real estate pages and reading any posts on here to help. If he takes the job, we will be looking to move in the next 6 months. We have twin 3 year olds so schools are very important. We would love a great neighborhood for kids but also that provides some nice back yards and no busy road sounds. We would like the commute to RTP to be under 30 minutes. Price range 450-550K.
Thanks. We definitely will if we accept the offer. We will actually be assigned one with the relocation. I have been just trying to do any prep work on my own to help. We will have two trips for house hunting so I wanted to be able to narrow down to some towns. So far, I have read a lot about Cary, Apex, Raleigh, Chapel Hill....?
We were there this weekend...scouting out in advance for a possible relo. Looked primarily at Cary. Our original budget was the same as yours...but we found out that we can get what we want 4-5 BR in a great neighborhood with a nice yard for $325-400. We had an awesome agent referral from our home real estate agency. Shoot me an email here if you want her name/address...
You might want to look at Cary. I don't live there but many people on this board seem to like it. Chapel Hill is nice and has good schools, but there is a ridiculous amount of traffic to/from RTP. That might get better once they finish the road renovations on 15-501 but they seem to be going pretty slowly.
Morrisville is at RTP. You could ck out Kitt's Creek subdiv there. And NW Raleigh, and Brier Creek area which is a few minutes from RTP. These areas are the closest. Then you have Durham & Cary.
you have many options, and everyone you ask may have a different opinion! People seem to LOVE the small towns they live in that make up the triangle area. Many many commute to RTP, and each town has its own kind of vibe. I have lived in holly springs, apex/cary and now wake forest. My husband works in RTP and his drive is about 35 minutes, but he doesn't get on the interstate and tends to just go back roads.
Much of the commute time will also depend on where you will be in RTP (or the park as many people call it). I would dare to say that you will find great neighborhoods in many of the towns that give you the commute time you would like. The key factor may be that when he gets the job, you come and visit. I have had clients who are determined they will live in cary when they come for a visit, and they end up falling in love with north raleigh. It really depends on you!
Some towns to consider: apex, cary, morrisville, wake forest, holly springs,
Thanks for all your time, I really appreciate it. Im going to have him drive around this week while he is there for interviews. Obviousely, if he takes the job we will do more visits but at least I have a good start.
It would help if you could say what else you would like in a place to live. I think your price point will get you a nice house in any area of the triangle.
For example, if you like a bigger city you'd go with Raleigh or maybe Durham.
If you prefer a small, progressive, politically liberal college town then Chapel Hill or Carrboro are your best bets.
If you want to be close to malls and shopping, the Southpoint area of Durham, or Cary might be a good bet.
If you'd like a smaller town, but not necessarily a college town then maybe Wake Forest or Apex or Fuquay-Varina or Holly Springs. All these areas are growing, though, so not as small as they once were.
Different areas of the triangle really have different feels. "Raleigh-Durham" is such a misnomer since Raleigh and Durham are very distinct cities with different vibes. There are many other towns in the area, too, like Cary, Morrisville, Apex, Holly Springs, Wake Forest, and others east and south of Raleigh like Clayton, Garner, Knightdale, Zebulon, etc., as well as the other point in the triangle which is Chapel Hill.
I live in Chapel Hill and you couldn't pay me money to live in any of the above cities except maybe Durham. That's not to say that there's anything wrong with any of those places. They're just not a good fit for us. We have good friends who live in Raleigh, but it drives me crazy every time I go over there. Obviously more people like Raleigh and want to live and work there than in Chapel Hill, though, since the population is like 10 times the size!
Our friends in Raleigh lived in Carrboro for years, but moved to get away from the students and to be closer to his job. They couldn't be happier.
It really depends on the whole package. Chapel Hill/Carrboro has probably one of, if not the, best public school systems in the state, so a lot of people who move to the area for work pick CH/C specifically for the schools. But other towns have good schools, too. Wake county schools (Raleigh, Cary, etc) are in a bit of flux right now, but there are some really good schools there, too.
Anyway, if you could describe your ideal neighborhood and town then we might be able to direct you to a few that would be a good fit for you.
Me'thinks Panchodog hits the proverbial nail on the head ...
While the Triangle has a number of broad attributes its far from the homogeneous area that "Raleigh Durham" can sound like ... The cities of Raleigh, Durham, Cary, CH, etc have a different feel. Even similar subdivisions in each city (or county) have differences in terms of price, school systems, etc.
A touch more info about where in RTP might help with the 30 minute commute, but looking around the area is hard to beat for what "feels good" to you. You can easily scope the traffic patterns by checking any of the on-line traffic websites at the appropriate time for your commute.
Good luck with your search.
Frank
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