Best living for young teacher in Jacksonville area? (Henderson, Half Moon: real estate, apartment complex)

[lindsayk]

I am most likely accepting a teaching position in Onslow County starting this fall. The school is up near Half Moon; I don't want to live right by the school but I don't want a long/traffic-filled commute everyday either. I am 25 and single; moving there by myself so I want to be in a safe area. It's tricky however because my rent needs to be $650/$700 (not incl. utilities) max. It seems like the nice apartments in Jacksonville are super expensive and the ones I can afford are dirty or dangerous :/ If I need to live somewhere on the outskirts to have a more affordable and decent place, then I will... (like I said, I just don't want to commute too far). I've seen alot of posts about living in Sneads Ferry or Swansboro; How long would it take me to get to the school? Would a young single girl want to live in those areas or Jacksonville? I'm not sure what to do because I would enjoy being close to the beach but I don't want to be too far from my school (or night life/ shopping/ young people)... If anyone has any suggestions on a specific area or apartments/townhomes etc, please let me know! I appreciate it

[goldenage1]

I would not suggest living in Sneads Ferry, as you would be about 35-40 minutes to Half Moon. Swansboro is a nice area, and if you find something that looks good, check how long the drive would be. In Jacksonville itself, I have seen decent looking apartments along Henderson, Gum Branch and Country Club Road. The Brookview Apartments also get 100% ratings from Apartmentratings.com There were some nice looking townhouses in Hubert on Craigslist which would not be too far to the job.

Don't rely completely on Craigslist, as there are some junky looking properties. I'd suggest also looking in the classifieds of the local newspaper at News Source for Jacksonville, North Carolina - jdnews.com . Also check realtor.com , which has Windsor Place and Liberty Crossing. They look pretty good, and are in safe areas not too far from your school.

[glamatomic]

I live in the Brynn Marr area (not the Brynn Marr apartments). We pay $650 a month for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath duplex here. It's an older duplex but suits our needs. It's also relatively safe here. Although we got our house through a private landlord there are plenty of duplexes around here through real estate agents for around the same price which would be within your budget. Also, it's only about 6 minutes from Jacksonville Mall and the restaurant options along Western Blvd (not a great selection and not a great mall- but this is Jacksonville after all!). I'm guessing it would be about 20 minutes from Half Moon- of course you're going against the rush hour traffic, not with it, so it shouldn't be too bad.

The houses are older- 60s, 70s and 80s but I really haven't had any major problems since living here. You get the odd crazy Marine shennanigans from time to time- but that's going to be anywhere in this region. My husband was deployed for 8 months last year so I was obviously on my own and never felt 'unsafe' or insecure here. If you can put up with old Kitchen & Bathroom Decor they may suit you.

As for Windsor Place & Liberty Crossing- I've heard iffy things about both on apartmentratings.com. Also, the apartment complexes seem to have a higher concentration of Marines (in my experience) than in the neighborhoods- which is good or bad depending on which way you look at it.

I found our house on lejeuneyardsales.com and it frequently has area rentals. Obviously there are benefits to an apartment complex (gym, pool, etc) but I prefer the privacy and 'quiet' of a house/duplex. If you need more specifics about the neighborhood I live in, Direct Message me and I'd be happy to take notes of real estate phone numbers of area houses up for rent in my subdivision (there's a few houses up for rent right now).

Good luck to you! And good luck with the new job!

Kindest Regards,
Amber

P.S. Swansboro would take 35-40 minutes depending on where in Swansboro you lived. It's a super pretty little town though! Far nicer than Jville!