Moving from NY to NC with 3 kids (Raleigh, Franklin: sales, houses)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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Youngsville and Franklinton are cheaper and next to Wake Forest but are in Franklin County school system which is not nearly as good as Wake.
You'll regret not renting for 6 months to decide which area you like better.
You probably just think moving a 2nd time is too big of an ordeal, but I recommend storage unit and manintenance free apartment living just for a few months.
Maybe maybe not.
No such certainty is said statement.
In a group of 11 or so couples at our corner of Heritage, 6 of us are transplants. None of us rented first.
if I might impart some "wisdom" to any consumers who are reading...
Quote:
Originally Posted by GVoR
Happy to help where I (admittedly limited) can.
We had 5-6 "must haves" on our list; dedicated office, fenced in yard, light and bright kitchen to name a couple.
please don't make a fenced yard a "must have", for several reasons, in order:
1. fencing is easily done by the next owner/before you move in. Even in an HOA neighborhood, almost all will be agreeable to approve such a request before you're the owner. Caveat - there are some lots in some neighborhoods that aren't ALLOWED to have fences ... so in this case, it's a perfectly-understandable deal-killer.
2. Not all listings have complete data. Garbage in = garbage out. "Fenced yard" is a data point Realtors can complete, but it's not a required field. Therefore, many do not input the data.
3. Even give 2, not every home includes enough photos of the backyard to tell whether there's a fenced yard. Nor can you rely on the remarks field - where your agent can check for "fenced yard"
Would you trust your husband to buy a house without you seeing it before contract, while he is settling in at the potential new position?
I've seen it done. And, it would let your family respond to market speed more quickly.
Lately that is what I have been thinking may happen since the market seems so competitive right now. We are generally on the same page about things so I think looking at pictures and video along with his opinion would be adequate.
Youngsville and Franklinton are cheaper and next to Wake Forest but are in Franklin County school system which is not nearly as good as Wake.
You'll regret not renting for 6 months to decide which area you like better.
You probably just think moving a 2nd time is too big of an ordeal, but I recommend storage unit and manintenance free apartment living just for a few months.
Thanks for your input but to be honest, when we bought our home we did the same research when determining where to live. My sister just bought a second home, moved from Queens to LI and she did the same thing also.....looked online to find the best school districts, commuting time, and low crime. We asked family, friends, and our realtors their opinions of the area we considered and then made the move after a few drives around the area.
I realize this is not exactly the same but I really have no interest in moving twice, i know the practical thing to do but yes I do think it’s a big ordeal.
One can only plan but who really knows how everything will work out. Realistically my Husband will most likely move prior to me because he will have to start his job, we still have to sell our home, once his start date is finalized, I have to get licensed in NC, and I don’t want to leave my job till his health insurance starts so we don’t have to pay $2600/month for COBRA. Hopefully he will have some time to decide what areas he feels we would all like; of course if the house sells quickly, then we just won’t have much time to deicide by living in the area.
Thanks for your input but to be honest, when we bought our home we did the same research when determining where to live. My sister just bought a second home, moved from Queens to LI and she did the same thing also.....looked online to find the best school districts, commuting time, and low crime. We asked family, friends, and our realtors their opinions of the area we considered and then made the move after a few drives around the area.
I realize this is not exactly the same but I really have no interest in moving twice, i know the practical thing to do but yes I do think it’s a big ordeal.
One can only plan but who really knows how everything will work out. Realistically my Husband will most likely move prior to me because he will have to start his job, we still have to sell our home, once his start date is finalized, I have to get licensed in NC, and I don’t want to leave my job till his health insurance starts so we don’t have to pay $2600/month for COBRA. Hopefully he will have some time to decide what areas he feels we would all like; of course if the house sells quickly, then we just won’t have much time to deicide by living in the area.
You won't regret not renting. In a perfect world that's possible, but it's not always feasible. We didn't rent when we moved here with 3 kids, neither did my sister. Moving interstate with three kids is a HUGE undertaking, it is so much more than just packing the house and calling the moving van. When all was said and done and we were here I was soooo happy we were not looking at another move. Honestly, if you do your research and know what you want and are willing to be flexible, there's no reason not to pull the trigger. My only advise is to make sure you have COMPLETE faith in your realtor and they are able to advise you on things to be aware of with houses here WITHOUT fear mongering. Every area has its issues, every era of housing has its issues. At some point no matter how long you look it becomes a leap of faith and unless you have a limited budge you are always going to reach a point of compromise.
My sister actually picked the area we live before we moved here. We looked around a lot of place and ultimately settled in the subdivision she thought we would love when SHE first moved here. And as I've driven around this area plenty since then, there are other areas that I really like, but I'm perfectly content with where we ended up. Some people ALWAYS take the grass is greener approach no matter what, even down to coveting what the other people at the table ordered for dinner. If you're like that, understand it about yourself and adjust. If you're not like that you will likely be happy with the choice you end up making. As I said before, this area is about 95% good-to-great areas and about 5% you-don't-want-to-live-there. It's not that complicated here.
Lately that is what I have been thinking may happen since the market seems so competitive right now. We are generally on the same page about things so I think looking at pictures and video along with his opinion would be adequate.
The risk is that you may not really care for the property upon seeing it, but you should be able to visit and view it during your due diligence period.
And, as long as you're not paying an exorbitantly unjustifiable price, or buying a property with incurable deficiencies, you should be able to re-sell at some point without terrible financial injury. If you were in the $800,000+ range, that would be less likely.
if I might impart some "wisdom" to any consumers who are reading...
please don't make a fenced yard a "must have", for several reasons, in order:
1. fencing is easily done by the next owner/before you move in. Even in an HOA neighborhood, almost all will be agreeable to approve such a request before you're the owner. Caveat - there are some lots in some neighborhoods that aren't ALLOWED to have fences ... so in this case, it's a perfectly-understandable deal-killer.
2. Not all listings have complete data. Garbage in = garbage out. "Fenced yard" is a data point Realtors can complete, but it's not a required field. Therefore, many do not input the data.
3. Even give 2, not every home includes enough photos of the backyard to tell whether there's a fenced yard. Nor can you rely on the remarks field - where your agent can check for "fenced yard"
All good points. #2 resonates with me on a professional level for sure. I would maybe clarify my verbiage a bit.
We weren't disregarding houses without a fence or where the presence of one was unknown (bad data). We looked at many who didn't have one.
It was on the list of things a person/couple puts together for things they are hoping to get in their next house; i.e. "must have" is probably a little strong.
I guess if I am being completely literal, the only really must have were 4 or more bedrooms, 3 full baths and an upstairs master.
The house we bought had none of the "things we preferred"; light kitchen, fence, office et al.
Thanks for your input but to be honest, when we bought our home we did the same research when determining where to live. My sister just bought a second home, moved from Queens to LI and she did the same thing also.....looked online to find the best school districts, commuting time, and low crime. We asked family, friends, and our realtors their opinions of the area we considered and then made the move after a few drives around the area.
I realize this is not exactly the same but I really have no interest in moving twice, i know the practical thing to do but yes I do think it’s a big ordeal.
One can only plan but who really knows how everything will work out. Realistically my Husband will most likely move prior to me because he will have to start his job, we still have to sell our home, once his start date is finalized, I have to get licensed in NC, and I don’t want to leave my job till his health insurance starts so we don’t have to pay $2600/month for COBRA. Hopefully he will have some time to decide what areas he feels we would all like; of course if the house sells quickly, then we just won’t have much time to deicide by living in the area.
You may have answered, but are you guys planning a look see down here?
As I mentioned above, we didn't rent, nor have any of our friends who have moved here from somewhere else with kids.
I agree with others, a good RE agent goes along way; even if you personally would rely on them less than average.
We had tickets to go and look at houses in the suburbs of Denver (if you can call Castle Rock a suburb - in January of 2016 Raleigh wasn't even on the radar). It snowed the weekend and flights got cancelled. My buddy, who had moved here the year before was renting in Fuquay Varina (yes they were renting, but they had never been home owners before, so I put that into a slightly different bucket). We came down to visit him instead and he got us in contact with a RE Agent who is friends of his in-laws (They live in Southern Pines, the agent they are friends with is focused out there, so she recommended someone with a Triangle focus).
Be that as it may, we researched the hell out of houses and areas. I talked to the agent once on the phone to lay down what in general we were looking for (vibe/area wise). She came up with a plan of areas to visit; which excluded Cary completely for some reason which at the time seemed odd but what did I know.
We were here for a long weekend at the end of January. Looked at about 25 houses. Fly back to MA. Whittled that list of 25 by half. Came back down for a one marathon look again focusing on 10 of the houses that we liked and were still available. The house we ended up buying wasnt in that list, but had come online the day before we got here and my wife added it to the list.
The rest felt like a setup. It was a perfect 81 degrees on the Saturday in February we were here. We went to our #1 house and did as close to an "inspection" as two none professionals could. Noted water stains in ceiling, settling/foundation cracks around door jams, tile issues in showers, wood rot along the roof line and the condition of the deck. Things we would focus a true inspection on and then potentially deduct money from the offer. When we finished up there, my wife handed the "new listing" to our agent and she was like "that's literally around the corner". We pulled up, two girls across the street were doing a lemonade stand. We walked in. I saw the backyard through the window and that was pretty much that.
In our case our agent didn't find the house we ended up buying. She was able to provide local expertise on inspectors and explain the due diligence process here (which is very different than MA). She came to closing and she listened to what I claimed we wanted in and area allowing us to focus on those areas.
I still am baffled as to why she completely excluded Cary; not that I think we would have loved Cary more than we do WF, but rather was there an ulterior motive for her. She always claimed it was "too keeping up with the Jones' for what you're looking for". Once we went under contract I was researching more about Heritage and found her on some site that was discussing some rewards ceremony for the "Best partner realtors in Heritage" and she won the/a reward a couple years before.
Long story short, you can do a lot from a far and with the help of a local to help narrow down some things, shouldnt have a ton of trouble in finding something you love. If you can make it down here for a visit even better.
I mean we went from "hey we're moving to Denver, but can't get there this weekend, lets go see Larry and Jen in Raleigh" to putting an offer on the nicest house I may ever own in 4 weeks and 2 days and closed 4 weeks later.
... Once we went under contract I was researching more about Heritage and found her on some site that was discussing some rewards ceremony for the "Best partner realtors in Heritage" and she won the/a reward a couple years before.
I can laugh about it now, because in the end we really couldn't be happier about where we are (or maybe we could but we just don't know it ). But it was always something that seemed "odd".
Ironically, she ended up being the agent for our friends who were already here, when they started looking. They found a really nice house on the Franklin County side of WF. Her interaction with them was completely different than us.
My buddy even quipped at the time "it almost seems like shes mad at us for not looking in Heritage".
She was a sweet person, and very professional, even admitting I had the "questions" that I did. Certainly better than the seller's agent, who also apparently wins awards, and I wouldn't hire her to screw in a light bulb.
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). But it was always something that seemed "odd". 
