Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
First off, thanks for a great resource. I've been reading here for a while and have taken many points of debate into consideration before ultimately deciding to move here. I have always found a great deal of helpful information and am hoping for a bit more.
I am a second time around student who has accepted a job in Morrisville in June. My wife and I will be driving down from PA over my spring break in a few weeks to check out the area and look at some rentals. While I have many questions, I will try and focus on finding a place to live.
In the one day that I was able to drive around when I interviewed, I only got the briefest drive through of Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh. I had the most favorable impression of Chapel Hill/Carrboro, but I know seeing/reading is different from living.
We are soon to be 30s, looking for a house rental (800-1000) that has access to a downtown atmosphere (walking or easy transportation) w/o being too close (understanding that convenience and location will = higher rent, esp. CH/Carrboro); typical young professional type area. We are resigned to the fact that this will be temporary, as we hope that the area will be a success and we will ultimately look for permanent housing after we live here after a year, so this rental doesn't have to fit all our needs immediately.
With only the information I've read here and "I know someone who knows someone...", and knowing that’ll we’ll probably do better just to check the place out for ourselves, what other places should we consider visiting/researching rentals when we come down?
Also in regards to house rentals, we’ve checked realtors, hotpads, ect., should we have planned appointments to see places, or play it by ear and contact places as we see viable areas? Is there an optimum time to sign a lease? Now when we visit? Closer toward June?
Apologies for the length and multiple questions. I appreciate any help, and will continue to check other posts for information.
I think craigslist is the best resource for rental properties. Mose rental agencies advertise their rentals in CL. You can then go to each individual rental agency (such as Bev Roberts Rentals and Henry Property Management) and see if they have anything else you didn't see on CL.
As for your lease, you probably won't find anyone willing to sign a lease with you until you are about 30-45 days out.
Do people recommend commuting from Chapel Hill to Morrisville? That's about a 25 minute commute on a good day, but mainly 54 from Chapel Hill to I-40 gets really backed up. Will you be able to work from home on some days? I mean, I know people who live in Chapel Hill and commute to downtown Raleigh everyday, so I guess it's done. But if you wanted to live in Chapel Hill or even further down in Carrboro, you're looking at sitting in a car for 1 to 1.5 hours a day.
The beauty about having a job in Morrisville is that sits practically smack-dab in the middle of the greater Triangle area. It will give you a lot of options on where to live. On the flip side, it's sitting in a place that really has very little identity other than newly built middle class suburban development. To find the sort of environment that you seek will require you to commute to Morrisville from more established areas of Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary or some of the older smaller towns in the area like Apex, Carrboro, Garner, Hillsborough or Wake Forest.
Thanks for the replies. I had looked at Craigslist, but wasn't sure how legit they were. Good to know about the lease. Won't worry about it on my visit down. Heck, some of the rentals I look at might not even be available come May. I guess it's best for this trip to just focus on getting a feel for the neighborhoods and not worry about actually checking out any places out.
As for commutes, I guess it's all relative to what you value. I wouldn't mind a 30 minute drive if the location met all my needs. However I agree, an hour or longer starts to really cut into personal time which is sometimes more valuable depending.
One of the guys I'll be working with lives in Hillsborough which I think is around the 30 min mark. It had a nice main street from what I drove through. I've read pros/cons about Durham which make it worth looking into. I've also heard mixed reactions to Cary. It seems to have a negative suburban rep, but also decent housing/location. If it does lack personality, I still may be willing to look into it as a temporary starting home to get my bearings of the area. Currently, we are isolated from everything, so being within walking distance/transportaion to anything would be a step up for us. Thanks again for the help.
You should check out Glenwood South and the 5 Points area in Raleigh. Still a 20 minute commute, but as someone who has lived in Carrboro, Chapel Hill, South Durham, and now Glenwood South, I love this part of Raleigh, and I am equally in love with my friend's 5 Points neighborhood. We're all late 20s/early 30s, like the community feel, ect. I sometimes felt a little too isolated in Carrboro and Chapel Hill, however other people would disagree. Just add Glenwood South and 5 Points to you list of neighborhoods to check out.
Also, if you're looking to meet people your age, just look at meetup.com and see how many more groups are concentrated in Raleigh v. Chapel Hill. It's a huge difference since the late 20s/30s crowd in Chapel Hill are usually in graduate school and can meet people within their programs.
Interesting note about meeting 20s/30s people in Raleigh vs CH. Makes sense. I'm compiling a list of neighborhoods to spend a little time in over our time and will add those to the list.
I'm a little overwhelmed by the number of neighborhoods, division, and sub-divisions each city has to offer. I feel like there are multiple areas in each of the cities that have little pockets that are places we could do well in. That's a positive in finding a place to live, but too many choices will make things difficult for this indecisive couple!
I think you might do well to start off renting right in Morrisville, so your commute is easy, and it is so central to the Triangle, you will find it easy to visit towns and learn the area from there.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
