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We are a family of 3 (myself, my wife and a baby, plus a small dog). We will be looking for a house within $550k budget. We are planning to move sometime next year (perhaps summer), so we do not have an agent yet. I would like to ask everyone for suggestions while we're trying to do our own research.
1. House: We're looking for a single family house, sized more or less around 3500 sq ft., and with at least some small back yard space for our dog to play. Some space between houses would be great.
2. Location and School: With the baby, we're looking for a location with great schools. I'm working from home, traveling once in a while, so I'm somewhat flexible with locations. Right now Cary seems to be the top of our list, but we're also open to other locations such as Apex, Morrisville, etc. that has great schools. We're not planning for a private school option though.
We've visited Cary's 27519 area and we like the location. We've also visited Bella Cara area in Apex and we like the houses over there as well, but the location is a bit far from shopping/restaurant area.
3. New vs Resale: New house would be nice, but we're open to beautiful resale house (maybe <5 years old). Any chance we would find a beautiful custom resale house given the location and price range? We can give up some sq. ft for it.
4. Buy soon vs Wait: It'll take a few more years before my baby will go to school so we can certainly wait, but do you think the house price, and perhaps mortgage interest, will go up a lot by that time? On the other hand, we don't want to buy a house with great school now, to find out later that it'll go bad (not likely I guess?) or we're reassigned to some other not-so-great schools.
Please, any suggestions are very welcome. Thank you very much!
There are custom homes resales on the market in Cary Park in this price range. One big deterrent for CP is that Mills Park Elementary is capped but you have a baby and should not have any problems getting into Kindergarten....
Well, have I got a deal for you, you can buy my house for-sale currently in Highcroft :-)
Joking aside, you should have no problem finding what you need in the $550k range in West Cary, particularly in a resale. A whole lot will depend upon your definition of "custom", and what "some space" between the houses really means to you as far as lot size requirements.
I'm hardly an expert on the W. Cary area (unlike a few of the realtors who post on this board), but when I think beautiful custom, I think something like you may find in Copperleaf, or even Copperleaf Glen. Neither of which will be close to $550k (new or resale) I don't think.
Highcroft and Cary Park will have plenty of options in the resale space. Also check out the Reserve, lot sizes are typically larger. [I currently reside in Cary Park]
The other thing to consider is to look at 10-15 yr old homes who may have already done an appliance/mechanical system refresh. They may actually have more time until you need to replace something else major than buying a 5 yr old home. Any new construction in West Cary at that price range will come on a tiny lot.
Highcroft and Cary Park will have plenty of options in the resale space. Also check out the Reserve, lot sizes are typically larger. [I currently reside in Cary Park]
The other thing to consider is to look at 10-15 yr old homes who may have already done an appliance/mechanical system refresh. They may actually have more time until you need to replace something else major than buying a 5 yr old home. Any new construction in West Cary at that price range will come on a tiny lot.
Not to mention that those 10-15 year old homes are in many cases better built than newer ones at a similar pricepoint. The $550K pricepoint has many options but it is also a pivot point for lot size/build quality/age.
Not to mention that those 10-15 year old homes are in many cases better built than newer ones at a similar pricepoint. The $550K pricepoint has many options but it is also a pivot point for lot size/build quality/age.
In that same vein, have people noticed general quality differences in houses built during the last housing boom (early-mid 2000s) versus homes built prior to that (1990s) or newer homes (2010+)? I always wonder if those houses built during the boom were just quickly slapped together so they could move on to the next one and now, 7-10 years later, they're wearing prematurely.
Thanks cheapdad00, Funky Chicken and tkeru408, interesting point. I just thought that 15-year old home would have more wear and tears, possibly on the foundation, structures, etc. I guess I'm wrong here though if they're built with better quality back then. Another thing is that the decorations seem quite dated on those houses. Perhaps if I could find a nice older house with recent reno. and upgrades, that will be a great option.
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