Rental housing in/near Chapel Hill (Greensboro, Durham: apartment complex, condo, townhouses)

[CHwboy]

Hey there,

My husband and I are moving this summer. We're both grad students at UNC and are looking to move in June. We're DINKs and would like to live somewhere a bit nicer than we have been.

Our pretax monthly income is above $3000 but less than $4000. We're facing a bit of a financial crunch soon (will need new car and maybe some medical bills). I'd say our housing budget it $800 pcm, but could go as high as $1000 for something we really love.

We'd like a 2br so we can use the second bedroom as an office (a 1br with a den would do, too). We'd like to stay wherever we go for 3 years or so.

The way I see it, we have three main options:

1. somewhere small but central in Carrboro. There are a few places on n/s Greensboro st. Here I think you trade size and quality for a great location. I'd love to be able to walk to weaver street, though!
2. One of the apartment/'townhouse'/condo complexes that rings Chapel Carrboro. On the cheaper end, but a bit soulless, and probably not walkable. Likelyc heap utilities.
3. A place a bit out in the countryside: within 20 miles S and W of Carrboro (towards pittsboro and saxapahaw) there are loads of really nice looking small houses for less than $1k (but fewer for less than $800). You get a garden (yard), maybe a woodstove, etc etc.

I honestly don't know what to go for. Anyone else have any insights/experience? My gut tells me that 1 or 3 would be the best -- 2 seems like the worst of both worlds.

chwboy

[Elizabeth_John]

We're renting in CH now and have been looking to buy sometime later this year. We've ruled out the idea of going very far outside of CH because the traffic isn't great coming in and going out. There are only a few ways to get into CH so the roads get pretty crowded at peak hours.

From your list, I would think #1 would be the most enjoyable. I think I saw a few duplexes in the $1000 range that looked quite nice.

Another possibility (especially since you're not worried about schools) might be Durham, on the CH side. There are some lovely homes, townhouses and apts that would be significantly cheaper but still within easy driving or bus distance of CH/Carrboro.

[nelsonkh]

We live on the east side of Chapel Hill, in Booker Creek. They are 2 BR townhomes that are about in your price range, and we have a walking trail right outside our place that leads down to Whole Foods and Trader Joes. We spend a lot of time in Carrboro (love Weaver Street!) and it is not too far of a drive, but we are also close to Durham (which we have found we love too!) Good luck!

[CHwboy]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys! I think we've decided against anywhere broadly east of Campus, because we have lots of friends in Carrboro -- so if we're going to be in or near town, we want to be near them. It may be the European in me, but I really dislike driving, too.(Since we're elderly grad students, we'd only have to go into campus once or twice a week).

I do feel the pull of being near to Durham, and the east side has the advantage of also being easier for Cary, where there are lots of places we love.

At the moment I'm thinking S Greensboro St would be good, since with the junction with 54-15/501 Durham and Cary are a bit more accessible than from northern parts of Carrboro.

About the traffic into Chapel Hill -- yep it does suck a bit, though I find it's not so bad along highway 54 westbound. So it wouldn't be too bad if we were 4-6 miles west of Carrboro (I'd love to live in the area near fiesta grill!).

But in the end, it seems like most of those cool houses are 3bedrooms and ever so slightly out of our price range. But when it comes to places to live, compared to some dreary apartment complex, this would be an absolute dream:

Beautiful Passive Solar House (http://raleigh.craigslist.org/apa/2181589302.html - broken link)

Hubby and I both want to avoid the ubiquitous cheap north carolina apartment carpet, and I want a woodstove, and he wants gas hobs instead of electric, and we want a screen porch, etc etc, but at the end of the day we're grad students and we have to cut the suit to fit the cloth