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Yikes...that's a pearl-clutch-worthy comparison right there. Also I hope the town where you lived in MA had a little more to brag about than Hennisen does...
Merely a comp as it pertains to distance. We lived in the town that Arron Hernandez decided to murder his buddy in (literally across the street from the development he lived in...genius)...was the first murder in something like 40 years in the town (at the time).
It's not unique, but most people don't need to drive much more than 15-30 minutes to get anywhere in the Triangle. I've worked with people in RTP who commuted from Wilson every day (over 60 miles) a few people from Clayton (generally around 40 miles) and scattered locations outside of the Triangle proper, but none of them acted like it was no big deal. They all acknowledged that they had to time their daily commute to avoid heavy traffic, needed to factor in the drivetime when planning for doctors appointments or child-related events, and none of them acted like it was no big deal. But what was amazing to me is that those who I knew best weren't even living in houses or communities that were particularly more affordable or unique, it's just where they landed years ago when settling into the area and at that time was close to their jobs. They freely admitted that their commute was a drag but moving would be even worse.
So sure, you can live in Wake Forest and drive to Duke Hospital every day and get accustomed to it, but you're going to be in the minority and likely eventually come to hate having to do it.
From the 50K foot level, basically my position as well.
The house we sold in MA was 48 Miles from downtown Boston (I worked in Southie). My commute was ~2hrs each way.
I didn't live that far away because I wanted that commute, or because the town we bought in had a great school district. We bought the house we did because it was the nicest house, in a town we could live with, that we could afford. Given the choice, I would have preferred a shorter commute...but I didn't have twice the down payment and twice the income to afford a home in a nearer in suburb.
This metropolitan area eliminates much of that; sure you can spend a Mil in Hasentree in WF or you could spend 900K plus in McGregor Downs in Cary...but most suburbs around The Triangle have options across the spectrum; i.e 350-500K can get you into WF, Cary, HS, FV, Clayton, Knightdale, Garner (even accounting for the insane market out there now).
I had to look ~50 miles from Boston because and towns inside that radius were out of my price range (in so much as what my money got I wasn't willing to go with). I could look within 20 miles of Raleigh in largely any direction and be in roughly the same cost range I was in there (realizing that every burb still has neighborhoods beyond my reach)
Having spent 4 years here now, I would not apply the same calculus (as it pertains to "willing commute") I did in MA that I would here. I accepted 1.5-2hrs there because I couldn't afford anything less. If I had to go to an office here, not sure I would accept anything over a half hour because "i can afford not to".
ETA - Like for like - We lived in a town equidistant from Boston as Henderson is from Raleigh. Simply no need apply the same mentality here.
I love your use of the term "calculus" because that best explains the approach when we lived up north. My wife and I were just talking about how insane it was that I commuted 4-5 hours every day, five days a week (because WFH was not quite there yet) and accepted it as normal. But we had to live further out on Long Island in order to be able to afford what we wanted and that was just the reality of things.
Someone she works with is considering building a home in Benson despite working in Raleigh. In his case, he has family land he already owns and so would be able to build into home ownership much cheaper than if he bought something closer to the city. He asked my wife if she thought that was a long commute (about 40 miles each way).
There is nothing so super unique about Wake Forest that it's worth having a longer or more stressful commute. There is absolutely nothing so special about Apex, Holly Springs or West Cary that justifies paying insane premiums to gain entry. There is however something special about having a manageable commute where you maximize your time out of a car and at a price point that doesn't needlessly siphon money out of your bank.
I love your use of the term "calculus" because that best explains the approach when we lived up north. My wife and I were just talking about how insane it was that I commuted 4-5 hours every day, five days a week (because WFH was not quite there yet) and accepted it as normal. But we had to live further out on Long Island in order to be able to afford what we wanted and that was just the reality of things.
Someone she works with is considering building a home in Benson despite working in Raleigh. In his case, he has family land he already owns and so would be able to build into home ownership much cheaper than if he bought something closer to the city. He asked my wife if she thought that was a long commute (about 40 miles each way).
There is nothing so super unique about Wake Forest that it's worth having a longer or more stressful commute. There is absolutely nothing so special about Apex, Holly Springs or West Cary that justifies paying insane premiums to gain entry. There is however something special about having a manageable commute where you maximize your time out of a car and at a price point that doesn't needlessly siphon money out of your bank.
One option for the OP to check out is Dominion Park in North Raleigh. It is near I-540 and should give your wife a commute time of 30 to 35 minutes, not counting the time spent parking and walking to the hospital, with multiple routes to choose from. Schools are good, and shopping is convenient. Prices should be in the mid-to-upper $300K range, around 2000 SF, and likely have 3 bedrooms (though you may find some homes with 4 bedrooms).
Be aware that you will hear air traffic from RDU, some of it quite loud, and some homes can be close to I-540 and it's noise as well. The homes were built in the early 1990s, so if interested make sure you check out the age of major expenses (roof, HVAC, etc.) and factor any likely replacements into the cost.
Moving to triangle allowed my family to live where we work. What an idea! We are more engaged from kids extra activities to everything else. No more wasted time on 95, 495, 93 nightmare! I don't see any reasons to live purposefully far away with a longer commute...
Moving to triangle allowed my family to live where we work. What an idea! We are more engaged from kids extra activities to everything else. No more wasted time on 95, 495, 93 nightmare! I don't see any reasons to live purposefully far away with a longer commute...
Yup! There aint no nightmare here like a 93 nightmare.
Thank you everyone, I've become a lurker on my own thread lol!
We are going down on 5/21-5-25 to survey the area and figure out what communities we want to be in. I've been talking to realtors down there the last week or so and think we found one we want to go with. Yesterday, up in NY, the professional photos were taken of my house and we have an open house this Saturday (yikes!).
In speaking with the latest realtor in NC they think we should focus on the Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay general areas. He also told us that the "winning formula" right now seems to be putting down $30k in due diligence and going $15-20k over asking price!
I already expected to pay about 10-15% over asking price but until recently had no understanding of the due diligence and earnest periods. Please tell me that this insane amount of DD money is not the norm... being that a few weeks ago we didn't even know we would be relocating I don't have that liquidity. Majority of my money is tied up in the home or other places we cannot take it out of. Is this maybe just going on in the areas I mentioned before and perhaps going out to Wake Forest or Clayton the market isn't as competitive?
I already expected to pay about 10-15% over asking price but until recently had no understanding of the due diligence and earnest periods. Please tell me that this insane amount of DD money is not the norm... being that a few weeks ago we didn't even know we would be relocating I don't have that liquidity. Majority of my money is tied up in the home or other places we cannot take it out of. Is this maybe just going on in the areas I mentioned before and perhaps going out to Wake Forest or Clayton the market isn't as competitive?
The DD thing is going on everywhere. You know it gets applied to the purchase, right? There's basically no chance of getting an inspection contingency anyway. This is why everyone is telling you to RENT FIRST, so you don't lose a crap ton of money you don't have on a house or area you end up not caring for. It's alot easier to part with that money when you've had a year to look at houses and you know EXACTLY what and where you want to be. As I mentioned before I have been a hardcore advocate of NOT renting in the past, but in this market I cannot state strongly enough you are setting yourself up for potential misery by buying in this market practically sight unseen. You simply cannot grasp what you are getting into from one short trip. This area is hugely spread out and you cannot possibly hit Cary, Apex, HS and FV in one short trip. Cary alone could take a couple days.
When we moved here I came for a weekend and spent a day driving around with my sister (who had already moved to Apex) and went through probably 20 neighborhoods in mostly Cary (a couple were probably in Apex) collecting flyers outside homes for sale (that used to be a "thing", not sure it's still done). That took an entire afternoon and I had my sister who knew exactly what I wanted and exactly where to take me (in other words not a stranger trying to gauge my wants and needs from a couple of phone conversations) in one fairly small area of Cary.
RENT.
Yes it's insane. I would love to sell my house and take advantage of this market but then I'd be dealing with the insanity on the other end. Not up for that plus the overall stress of moving. Eleven years ago is fresh in my mind still LOL.
Thank you everyone, I've become a lurker on my own thread lol!
We are going down on 5/21-5-25 to survey the area and figure out what communities we want to be in. I've been talking to realtors down there the last week or so and think we found one we want to go with. Yesterday, up in NY, the professional photos were taken of my house and we have an open house this Saturday (yikes!).
In speaking with the latest realtor in NC they think we should focus on the Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay general areas. He also told us that the "winning formula" right now seems to be putting down $30k in due diligence and going $15-20k over asking price!
I already expected to pay about 10-15% over asking price but until recently had no understanding of the due diligence and earnest periods. Please tell me that this insane amount of DD money is not the norm... being that a few weeks ago we didn't even know we would be relocating I don't have that liquidity. Majority of my money is tied up in the home or other places we cannot take it out of. Is this maybe just going on in the areas I mentioned before and perhaps going out to Wake Forest or Clayton the market isn't as competitive?
You'll get some great answers on the DD question from our resident RE experts here. But I will say that WF, anecdotally, is crazy right now (maybe less so than Cary/HS/Apex) but crazy nonetheless. Houses going for 5-10% over ask within hours of being "officially on the market". Not sure about the DD magic and what levers you can pull on that side of the equation. We paid $138/sq ft in March of 2017. My buddy bought on the other side of our neighborhood last July for $172/sq ft. And the RE "estimates" (for whatever they're worth, which could be nothing) are north of that number for his place and mine currently.
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