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We are house shopping here in Raleigh, having arrived here about 9 months ago. We now have a better feel for the parts of the city we're most interested in living in permanently. We recently decided to open our search to include townhomes in addition to free-standing houses. Our criteria include a location somewhere 20 minutes or less from downtown and 20 minutes or less from the airport. North Raleigh appears to be the most optimal location, although we have seen some houses that we really like in the Renaissance Park development south of downtown off Wilmington Street.
The specific purpose of this thread is to ask for input on small townhouse developments that we may have overlooked thus far in our search. We found one called Stafford Townhomes that is off Sandy Forks Road, and has nearly all the characteristics we seek but there isn't a unit suitable for us for sale there right now. Not far from there, also near Falls of Neuse and Strickland, is another development called Wethersfield. It was done in the 1980s by the same bouilders as Stafford, and we liked it as much or even more. We narrowly missed getting a unit there when someone else made a cash offer which the seller preferred to our mortgage pre-approval. We have seen a few others that are newer including Ashton Hall, the Townes at Crabtree, and Copper Ridge.
Our criteria include a moderate amount of privacy looking out the back off the deck or in the yard, that garage if possible (one car okay,) a finished room on the ground floor with a full bathroom or a full bathroom and a room that could be used as a bedroom on the main living floor, 1800 to 2700 square feet, a floor plan that has some sort of family room or dining area that is open to the kitchen, and a price range that goes between $250K and $320K tops.
The complexes we have already found were discovered mostly because there were units for sale there, although in most cases the units we were interested in had already gone under contract. Hoping that people here may know of some hidden gems we have yet to uncover. Ideally, our Target location will be between six forks and Creedmoor, with Glenwood as the southern boundary and 540 as a northern boundary, although we're open to other ideas. Thanks in advance for your input!
I think the best deals in the area are down here in Southwest Raleigh off Tryon Rd. There's a few brand new buildings being built down the road from me on the corner of Tryon and Trailwood Hills Dr. Nice neighborhoods over that way and convenient to the airport and downtown. Downtown takes 20 mins max from there and airport is around 20 mins if you're not in rush hour traffic. But even if you are it still won't be much more than that.
Prices are still lower down here compared to much of the rest of the area and you're basically right in Cary too.
I have lived in two townhomes near/off the Leesville Road Corridor and loved both locations for convenience. At the lower pricepoint I lived in Londonderry which was my first home. Smaller community but not much for amenities but it was generally pretty well maintained for the low price point.
The next one we lived in (Camden Park off Ebenezar Church Road) offered much more in regard to community events and amenities and we paid about the same in HOA dues. We liked that it was associated with the adjacent neighborhood's master association so it felt more like a community. In the past couple years, homes in there have been selling like hot cakes so it is pretty competitive. There is a nice amount of open space in the neighborhood and super short drive to Umstead Park and the airport which is great.
if you have an agent, or get a good agent, then they can tell you the myriad of townhouse communities that might fit your need. Then you can drive by, or just see where they are on google maps, and eliminate those of no interest.
the bedroom/full bath on the main (?) level is the greatest holdup, in your price range.
There are two new townhouse communities still under construction...and have been for a while located near Holly Springs road and Tryon Rd. Living in that area its less than 20min to both downtown and the airport. However the signs they have out front for the two complexes (one on either side of the street of Holly Springs Rd) lists the starting prices a bit higher than what you noted as your budget.
Apart from really really liking Renaissance Park (which surprised us in a good way,) we have not gotten the warm and fuzzies for the Southwest area. Technically it is super convenient, but we've been in North Raleigh since we moved here in October and just love the area and the central location. We come from a neighborhood with a mix of architectural styles, mostly older homes (1920's through 1940's) and lots of trees, hills, and curvy streets. North Raleigh feels like home to us. We've been working with a buyer's agent and doing a ton of research. Several days ago we found a townhouse in Wethersfield on Weathergreen Drive, which hit all the right points. Loved it, and put in an offer that was $3500 over the asking price (there were multiple bids). We had 20% down and a rock solid pre-approval but lost it to a bid that was 100% cash. IN a weird turn of events... had a phone call tonight from our agent, who asked us if we still wanted to proceed with the back-up offer we made a month ago the house that we REALLY want (not a townhouse.) Apparently there is a last minute snafu with the buyer, and the sellers are contemplating switch over to us as the buyers. Fingers crossed! We were strictly in research mode, looking at open houses for weeks, driving through different neighborhoods, and trying to assess the market. We walked into an open house at this place and both knew within 5 minutes that it was THE house for us. By the time we got our pre-approval letter a few weeks later it had already gone under contract, but stuff happens...
Apart from really really liking Renaissance Park (which surprised us in a good way,) we have not gotten the warm and fuzzies for the Southwest area. Technically it is super convenient, but we've been in North Raleigh since we moved here in October and just love the area and the central location. We come from a neighborhood with a mix of architectural styles, mostly older homes (1920's through 1940's) and lots of trees, hills, and curvy streets. North Raleigh feels like home to us. We've been working with a buyer's agent and doing a ton of research. Several days ago we found a townhouse in Wethersfield on Weathergreen Drive, which hit all the right points. Loved it, and put in an offer that was $3500 over the asking price (there were multiple bids). We had 20% down and a rock solid pre-approval but lost it to a bid that was 100% cash. IN a weird turn of events... had a phone call tonight from our agent, who asked us if we still wanted to proceed with the back-up offer we made a month ago the house that we REALLY want (not a townhouse.) Apparently there is a last minute snafu with the buyer, and the sellers are contemplating switch over to us as the buyers. Fingers crossed! We were strictly in research mode, looking at open houses for weeks, driving through different neighborhoods, and trying to assess the market. We walked into an open house at this place and both knew within 5 minutes that it was THE house for us. By the time we got our pre-approval letter a few weeks later it had already gone under contract, but stuff happens...
Good luck!
We had similar experience years ago on our first house. It gives a nice adrenalin rush when opportunity comes back around.
Smart to make a backup offer. Many people will not for some reason.
I'm finding that with our low inventory and buyers having to make snap decisions, there are more homes that fall apart during due diligence so now IS the time to put in a back up offer.
We also bought our home after another deal fell apart in due diligence. I think when something goes back on the market, there is a little less interest because people worry about something being wrong with the house.
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It gives a nice adrenalin rush when opportunity comes back around.
