Movng to Raleigh... What Town Should I move to? (Durham: to rent, HOA)

[sandonn]

I'm planning on moving to Raleigh.
Doing as much research as I can.

My question for any of those who can help is what area should I move to?
Apex, Cary, Garner, Wake Forest, Knightdale?

I've been looking online at house prices and it seems like the cheapest NEW houses are in the Southeast area.
Is that for a reason? Is that area not so nice?

Any insight you can share on any of the areas would be appreciated

thanks

[ferrickhead28]

Originally Posted by sandonn

I'm planning on moving to Raleigh.
Doing as much research as I can.

My question for any of those who can help is what area should I move to?
Apex, Cary, Garner, Wake Forest, Knightdale?

I've been looking online at house prices and it seems like the cheapest NEW houses are in the Southeast area.
Is that for a reason? Is that area not so nice?

Any insight you can share on any of the areas would be appreciated

thanks

Southeast Raleigh you mean?
Where are you planning on working at? That might help us give you some suggestions.

I would also throw Clayton into the mix. You can get a really good size house, on a good size lot for alot less.

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by sandonn

I'm planning on moving to Raleigh.
Doing as much research as I can.

My question for any of those who can help is what area should I move to?
Apex, Cary, Garner, Wake Forest, Knightdale?

I've been looking online at house prices and it seems like the cheapest NEW houses are in the Southeast area.
Is that for a reason? Is that area not so nice?

Any insight you can share on any of the areas would be appreciated

thanks

Any of those towns have attributes that appeal to various peoples' varying needs. It is necessary to have more information to narrow it down a little.
The question is:
What will you do and need in the Wake County area?

Will you work, go to school, send kids to school?
Do a long commute or good schools matter?
Are you looking for urban or rural lifestyle?
Large home, small home?
Large lot, small lot?
Is the least expensive housing the most important thing, or do other items factor in?

[Waterboy526]

Originally Posted by sandonn

I'm planning on moving to Raleigh.
Doing as much research as I can.

My question for any of those who can help is what area should I move to?
Apex, Cary, Garner, Wake Forest, Knightdale?

I've been looking online at house prices and it seems like the cheapest NEW houses are in the Southeast area.
Is that for a reason? Is that area not so nice?

Any insight you can share on any of the areas would be appreciated

thanks

How about Raleigh itself? It's OK to actually live in the city limits. It's not like some other bigger cities where people moving in usually move to the suburbs (I grew up in the suburbs of DC). Most of the city limits of Raleigh look suburban anyway, that's what really drew me to live in Raleigh instead of an outlying town. I'm sure Cary or Apex would have been fine also, but our realtor knew what we wanted and she suggestted we not look into Holly Springs or Fuquay because those towns were not really our pace...boy was she right. I don't think there is too much going on there after visiting the other day and I like my Centralized location halfway between Raleigh and Durham downtowns. DOn't get me wrong HS and Fuquay are nice, safe little towns, but just too far out and not the kind of atmosphere I was looking for.

I actually drove the new section of 540 to 55 on Sunday and took 55 all the way down to Fuquay, which is the first time I've even been to Apex, HS, or FV and I've lived here over a year. Along the way I stopped in Apex & Holly Springs. I really liked Apex, I liked the feel of the area and it was bigger than HS and FV which I liked. I wonder why we never looked down there? Although we are much closer to RTP where we live now and we wanted to keep the commutes short, because we could afford to live where we wanted.

Overall I love living in North/Northwest Raleigh and I'm glad we took a lot of time to research where we wanted. We looked everywhere throughout Raleigh (all sections), Garner, and Knightdale and we decided to pay a little more and live off Leesville Rd. in North Raleigh and boy and I glad we did. Couldn't be happier on the location of my house. My wife works in RTP and she doesn't even need to get on the highway, except a little portion of 70. It takes her 12-15 minutes to get to work. I work in southeast Raleigh 19 miles from home and it takes me 23-25 minutes to get to work in the AM...you can't beat those kinds of commutes coming from the DC area...hell you can't beat those commutes coming from almost anywhere!

So while looking at all towns is a must, I would give Raleigh a try as well. I hope You'll find someplace that is right for you.

[saturnfan]

We love North Raleigh.

Although we've preferred to rent for 18 years, there are still affordable homes to buy in neighborhoods such as Brentwood. They are lower middle class with no HOA to be in your way if you want to remodel.

Reasonable crime level in the city and a top notch city police department & fire department.

Don't overlook Raleigh.

Now SE Raleigh can be very edgy and high crime.

[RBGchick]

I just bought my first home in SE Raleigh. I love it and it was very afforable. No regrets!