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Hello, I am moving back to the area in August and I will be looking for a place to rent with my 10 year old son. I am a single father and am looking to land in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro/Hillsborough area. I went to graduate school in Raleigh but was moved to Boston with my family 10 years ago. I am also quite familiar with each area and have spent significant time in each, but this was years ago.
I currently live on the Outer Banks, where I work from home. This is not the place where we want to live full-time. I work for IBM and would like to be able to go into an office every now and then--perhaps once or twice per week. I have an office in RTP.
I am hoping that some of you may be able to help me to find some suitable locations to consider given the following criteria. I am willing to consider a single family home or complex; single family homes I have figured out; my questions center more on suitable complexes. There appear to be an inordinate amount of options but it is hard to sort out what is best from a distance. We will be in the Triangle on Friday and are hoping we can look at a few places, and as we will only be able to look around on Friday, I would like to have some viable options to optimize my time.
1) 2 or 3 bedroom
2) Budget: would prefer to keep my rent around $800-1000; I could pay more but am trying to get ahead of student loans; this budget appears quite viable in the area;
3) If we live in a complex, I would prefer one that is family-friendly; I have no aversion to students and recognize that all complexes in the area will have some students; however, I would prefer a place that has a good number of children around so that my 10 YO son has some kids to play with;
4) My son is an outdoorsy child, so I would prefer a place where he felt comfortable playing outside, riding his bike, etc...he is also used to either walking to school (when we lived in Boston) or riding his bike to school (since we have lived on the Outer Banks); therefore, proximity and a safe path to ride his bike or walk to school would be nice, but are not key;
4) Schools are important but I am not crazy picky; I know about the quality of Chapel Hill/Carrboro schools but have heard that Orange County tends to be fine too; I would consider a place in Hillsborough if it was a particularly striking place;
So basically, are there any complexes in particular that would seem to represent a good fit for us? I have heard back from several places with open apartments but cannot find much information regarding the aforementioned.
I would greatly appreciate any assistance or insight anyone could kindly provide.
I think your price may be low, but I haven't rented in a long time. Maybe check out Glen Lennox?
Hillsborough is very cute and would give you access to the Eno River. I'm guessing if you've been living on the OBX (where exactly?) then you like water.
Checking Craiglist, I find the Booker Creek Townhouses in Chapel Hill. They have a playground and are near a bike trail. They advertise bike to schools, but it looks like too much traffic. Is your kid in middle school or elemetary?
800 - 1000 isn't going to get you anything good. When I first moved here in 2004 I rented briefly until I bought a house and it cost me in that range back then for a 1 bedroom rental. The market here is red hot for rentals now and landlords have the leverage to charge a lot more.
The thing about Chapel Hill and Carrboro is there are tons of apartments that aren't in complexes. You'll just be driving down a residential street and boom there's a duplex, or two quad apartments, and then it goes back to SFH. The duplexes and little apartments like that don't have names, so i can't refer you, and they're all over town, especially in the older sections, but the newer neighborhoods like Southern Village and Winmore also have apartments/condos/and townhomes. You _might_ be able to find something like that in your price range, but I wouldn't know how to look except Craigslist and online and driving around looking at "for rent" signs.
Don't rent at "Collins Crossing". Bad landlords, decrepit buildings.
Location: Sodo Sopa at The Villas above Kenny' s House.
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That's more of a one bedroom budget. 1000 might get you a decent 2 bdr but for 3 expect to pay closer to 1100-1300. I would also expect Chapel Hill to be more expensive then Raleigh/Durham. Low inventory and high demand due to the college.
Thanks a ton. Some useful information here. It looks like I may up my budget some to find what I need--not the end of the world, as I was low-balling my figures trying to sort out some finances related to a separation. Some responses had questions...
poppydog: my son will be in 5th grade; also, I live on the OBX more because I have a family home here and less for the water...although, I do like water somewhat.
Generally, as many of you have noted, the red hot rental and student market does seem to be a factor pushing up prices. However, as I lived in Boston up to a little over a year ago, the costs are NOTHING.
Thanks again for the information. We were able to find a small 3BR place at Glen Lennox, which should work perfectly for us. We like the cottage feel of the area and it is close to everything.
I like Glen Lennox. It's very cute, retro but updated, and has room for a kid to roam a bit. Nice lawns. They do look like little cottages. Hope you enjoy it here.
I completed my housing search last month and I can tell you that Booker Creek had renovated 2-bedroom townhouses for $950 and unrenovated 2 bedroom townhouses for $850. I saw small kids at Booker Creek.
I saw a GORGEOUS 2 bedroom townhouse right next to Meadowmont for $1100 (which probably could have been negotiated down to $1000). We ended up renting a privately owned townhouse for $950 in a very convenient location next to a Harris Teeter.
Your budget is very doable! I found many excellent options on Craigslist when I was searching and we were happy with all of them. It was a tough choice.
Last edited by Shoes-on-fire; 07-26-2015 at 09:13 AM..
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