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I will be relocating to the Raleigh area for a new job in 3 weeks (I just found out). My husband and three girls ages 7, 7 and 4 will be joining me when school ends at the end of May, beginning of June. We need to sell our house here and therefore feel it is best to wait to purchase a house in NC until ours sells.
We have been focused on Cary and Apex but would not rule out other town suggestions. Our main goal is to find the best schools for our children, who will be entering 2nd grade and pre-K, as the area we are from has great schools (ranked 9’s & 10’s). We’d like to rent in the school zone we will then buy in, in a year’s time. Given the fact we’ll carry a mortgage and rent payment for the foreseeable future, we’d like to rent a house, townhouse or apartment with 3b/2ba for up to $1,250 a month. Given that budget, I’m not sure we’d find a house to rent for that price in a highly ranked school area but I think we can swing a townhouse or apartment. Am I wrong?
From my research on city-data (thanks to so many of you!) and elsewhere, the best schools seem to be just east of 540 all the way from Morrisville to Cary down to Apex. What communities/complexes would you recommend that have a solid elementary and middle school and are suitable for a family to live in?
Thanks so much in advance! If there are any other details I can provide to help you give suggestions I’m happy to do that. I would have loved more time to plan for this… your insight will be a tremendous help! We’re hoping to come to Raleigh this weekend on a scouting trip.
Look for rentals around Davis Drive elementary and middle schools if you don't mind purchasing a resale when you are ready to buy. Zoned for these schools are Upchurch Farms (tends to have townhomes for rent) and Cornerstone Apt.
I'd rent a 3 BR at Cornerstone which will get you Davis Drive schools, but you don't give an ultimate housing budget so it's hard to say where you should rent to be honest.
The other elementary schools in that area are all good and shouldn't be a problem except townhomes may be hard to come by. Cedar Fork Elementary is capped and Mills Park Middle is as well. As someone pointed out, be aware of capping issues wherever you go.
People here will have various opinions on where the "best schools" are, so I'm going to skip past that part and just focus on the question you asked about rental prices. I'm not sure about Apex, but you're going to have a tough time finding a 3 bedroom rental in this area of Cary (27519) for $1,250. I think you're going to need to spend closer to $1,500-$1,700/mo to live in the area you're talking about. Where are you moving from?
I'd rent a 3 BR at Cornerstone which will get you Davis Drive schools, but you don't give an ultimate housing budget so it's hard to say where you should rent to be honest.
The other elementary schools in that area are all good and shouldn't be a problem except townhomes may be hard to come by. Cedar Fork Elementary is capped and Mills Park Middle is as well. As someone pointed out, be aware of capping issues wherever you go.
Cornerstone is probably a great bet.
$1250/3 BR is a tall order for DDES/DDMS.
More like $1350 and up.
Thanks for the responses everyone, this is really helpful!
MikeJaquish - no pets, 3 little ones is enough for us! I’ll definitely look into Cornerstone. I'm learning our budget of $1,250 might need to be reconsidered if it's the right fit. Still in fact finding mode which seems never ending!
Local2rtp - will look into Upchurch Farms at townhouses and thank you for the heads up on capped schools. I haven’t researched this fully yet but do understand the basics of it and want to make sure we avoid moving into a capped school area so thank you! Twingles - I’m going to research Cornerstone. I agree with you, it’s hard to say without an ultimate budget and we still can’t pinpoint what that will be. Worst case is we’ll have to rent longer than we’d like until we have enough saved up in addition to knowing what we’ll get out of our current home. WorkingMomof2 - I figured “best schools” would be hard to determine with so many opinions so I’m trying to base it off the GreatSchools.org rankings and am looking for a 10 rated school for elementary of which there are many it seems. We are moving from just outside the greater Memphis area which has a much lower cost of living than Cary (35% actually). We can likely afford more but want to be on the cautious side as we’ve never moved before, especially with three kiddos in tow. MammaLakn - Thanks for the link! We’ll look into this one as well.
Any other opinions and continued feedback is greatly appreciated.
I will be relocating to the Raleigh area for a new job in 3 weeks (I just found out). My husband and three girls ages 7, 7 and 4 will be joining me when school ends at the end of May, beginning of June. We need to sell our house here and therefore feel it is best to wait to purchase a house in NC until ours sells.
We have been focused on Cary and Apex but would not rule out other town suggestions. Our main goal is to find the best schools for our children, who will be entering 2nd grade and pre-K, as the area we are from has great schools (ranked 9’s & 10’s). We’d like to rent in the school zone we will then buy in, in a year’s time. Given the fact we’ll carry a mortgage and rent payment for the foreseeable future, we’d like to rent a house, townhouse or apartment with 3b/2ba for up to $1,250 a month. Given that budget, I’m not sure we’d find a house to rent for that price in a highly ranked school area but I think we can swing a townhouse or apartment. Am I wrong?
From my research on city-data (thanks to so many of you!) and elsewhere, the best schools seem to be just east of 540 all the way from Morrisville to Cary down to Apex. What communities/complexes would you recommend that have a solid elementary and middle school and are suitable for a family to live in?
Thanks so much in advance! If there are any other details I can provide to help you give suggestions I’m happy to do that. I would have loved more time to plan for this… your insight will be a tremendous help! We’re hoping to come to Raleigh this weekend on a scouting trip.
I would suggest buying as quickly as possible as rents have about doubled in most areas about the triangle over the past 3 years or so. Rent used to be incredibly cheap, but not so anymore. Buying with the still low interest rates will yield you a much lower monthly expense then renting.
As for your question, you can find a decent home in Holly Springs area to rent for your price range. But it will be a simple home.
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