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Hello! I'm new to this Board...and very thankful I found it! I currently live on the coast of MD...my husband's new job will be bringing me to the Raleigh area (his office is in Garner). He started about a month ago...my toddler and I are still in MD with the house on the market.
I have made one 4-day trip to the area and, honestly, it overwhelmed me! The area is so vast with so many surrounding towns...my head was spinning when I left! I spent many years in Charlotte not very long ago and thought relocating to Raleigh would be easy peasy...I was wrong! I am amazed how different the Raleigh area is...there is just so much to absorb in comparison to Charlotte.
Anyhow, I spent those 4 days looking at houses with an agent. I did not get a good grasp of the various areas at all. Sure, I loved several of the homes I saw, but I really don't have a clue about the towns/areas they are in. I am planning to return next week and am considering doing a self-guided tour of sorts (with my young one in tow). Is that a crazy idea? I'd like to get a feel for the N. Raleigh, Holly Springs, Fuquay, Cary, Apex and Clayton/Garner areas. (BTW, I absolutely loved the little I saw of Wake Forest, but I worry the commute for my husband may be too much.) I thought I could possibly do one area per day and plan a fun pit-stop for my child each day...maybe a good park, library or kiddie joint.
So what do you think...doable or nuts? If I move forward with it, I am hoping you all would be kind enough to help guide me a bit!
It depends on if you are looking for new homes/construction....then I would say yes....Especially if you look on the weekends....most builders/onsite agents will open the inventory homes up just for that reason......you can wander in and take your time. Also, if the homes are locked and there is an onsite agent you can ask them to open them up.....we never had a problem and they are usually very willing to help, but let them know that you are working with an agent and that you were just taking a trip out on your own to look around.
If you see something you are intersted in have your agent get all the info for you and possibly show it to you again.
I think it was actually easier to look at homes on our own since we were able to spend more time in each home and take our time without the rush of onto the next home.
If you are planning to look at Clayton, I may be able to give you some info on homes/subdivisions we visited....We were down in February and then 3 weeks ago.
We are planning on moving in the next 6 months to a year.....Wish I was there now!!!!
Hello! I'm new to this Board...and very thankful I found it! I currently live on the coast of MD...my husband's new job will be bringing me to the Raleigh area (his office is in Garner). He started about a month ago...my toddler and I are still in MD with the house on the market.
I have made one 4-day trip to the area and, honestly, it overwhelmed me! The area is so vast with so many surrounding towns...my head was spinning when I left! I spent many years in Charlotte not very long ago and thought relocating to Raleigh would be easy peasy...I was wrong! I am amazed how different the Raleigh area is...there is just so much to absorb in comparison to Charlotte.
Anyhow, I spent those 4 days looking at houses with an agent. I did not get a good grasp of the various areas at all. Sure, I loved several of the homes I saw, but I really don't have a clue about the towns/areas they are in. I am planning to return next week and am considering doing a self-guided tour of sorts (with my young one in tow). Is that a crazy idea? I'd like to get a feel for the N. Raleigh, Holly Springs, Fuquay, Cary, Apex and Clayton/Garner areas. (BTW, I absolutely loved the little I saw of Wake Forest, but I worry the commute for my husband may be too much.) I thought I could possibly do one area per day and plan a fun pit-stop for my child each day...maybe a good park, library or kiddie joint.
So what do you think...doable or nuts? If I move forward with it, I am hoping you all would be kind enough to help guide me a bit!
Doable if you do your homework.
We just got back from doing a tour completely on our own and it was just fine. However, we had really done our homework. I had been researching on this site for a few months (lurking and posting), I had maps, been online to new developments, etc. So, in the end, we came down with the hopes that we could narrow our choices down to a town. We visited Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Cary, Morrisville, and Raleigh. I think we got a pretty good feel for each area on our own and it was nice because it was at our own pace.
I should state, for the record, that we could not have done this if 1) we did not have our trip planned out first and 2) we did not have a GPS. These two things were important for us to be able to get around efficiently. In fact, hubby used GPS and I had a map in the passenger seat verifying where he was headed. In the end, we were able to narrow our list of areas down and realize what areas we don't like and what areas we do like--we even found a neighborhood that we just fell in love with (Heritage @ Wake Forest).
This site has been KEY in helping me get to know insider info. on areas. Do lots of searching here to get an idea on what areas are really like. Then look them up on Google Earth & a map to get a sense of direction. You'll be fine.
My goal with this trip is to see the town areas and to get a better feel for the proximity of each area to the conveniences and amenities I value. Not so much to house-hunt. I think the town area speaks volumes about a city, and I am hoping that by doing some "touring", I can narrow my list down.
My goal with this trip is to see the town areas and to get a better feel for the proximity of each area to the conveniences and amenities I value. Not so much to house-hunt. I think the town area speaks volumes about a city, and I am hoping that by doing some "touring", I can narrow my list down.
I'd do some informal house hunting as well - get a GPS, punch in the address of a house or two you think you might like and then go for a drive. The reason why I say this is that the actual town area may not be anything like the houses/neighborhoods in your price range (or the ones that have the amenities you like). For example, Apex has a really quaint, historic downtown. But many of the houses available in Apex are in newer (1990's and up) subdivisions. If you wanted an older home with a large lot, you might wind up in a totally different area altogether.
Just my $.02 anyhow! Have fun with your trip, and *definitely* get a GPS if you don't already have one. I've been living here for 2.5 years and still use mine to get around when going someplace new!
You should totally do this - it's so hard to visualize the area - get yourself a map too - don't rely on GPS - otherwise you'll have no frame of reference of how close one area is to another.
You previously mentioned Wake Forest from Garner...
Yeah, that would be an extremely long commute for some. I live in Clayton and drive to RTP but its mostly interstate driving.
It also depends on what you want to spend, what you are looking for, etc.
Seriously, the best bet is to ask alot of questions on the board. Everyone on here is extremely friendly and will be more than happy to help!
Heather
PS- I think you should take up on the previous posters advice about a GPS..my part time job needs a map book of sorts and even that is kind of outdated with all the new subdivisions popping up. A GPS would be a good investment!
My goal with this trip is to see the town areas and to get a better feel for the proximity of each area to the conveniences and amenities I value. Not so much to house-hunt. I think the town area speaks volumes about a city, and I am hoping that by doing some "touring", I can narrow my list down.
Keep in mind that as you are viewing "towns" that some of our towns are just bedroom communities and not really a town, in itself.
Raleigh DOES have a downtown, although the only time I go downtown is to see a play at Memorial Auditorium. Other than that...I want to avoid it!
Cary used to be the bedroom community to Raleigh, 20 years ago. It now has a cute downtown.
Wake Forest was a bedroom community to Raleigh, 6 years ago. It has always had a bit of a historic downtown.
Holly Springs is now a bedroom community to Cary...does it have a downtown???
Apex was a bedroom community to Cary and has a cute downtown with shopping.
Fuquay Varina has TWO downtowns!
I'm not really a downtown person. As long as I live within 10 to 15 minutes of a mall, and 5 min. to a grocery store, I'm a happy girl!
You previously mentioned Wake Forest from Garner...
Yeah, that would be an extremely long commute for some. I live in Clayton and drive to RTP but its mostly interstate driving.
It also depends on what you want to spend, what you are looking for, etc.
Seriously, the best bet is to ask alot of questions on the board. Everyone on here is extremely friendly and will be more than happy to help!
Heather
PS- I think you should take up on the previous posters advice about a GPS..my part time job needs a map book of sorts and even that is kind of outdated with all the new subdivisions popping up. A GPS would be a good investment!
I've lived here for 30 years and would get lost on a daily basis if not for my GPS!
However, there are some tricks that you need to know...
If you are punching in an address that is listed as "Cary", the GPS may not know it as Cary. It may have a Cary address but is REALLY located in Apex or Holly Springs so if you don't find it the first time, you may want to punch in "all cities".
Since the GPS maps are updated by satellite and Garmin (my GPS) says they are at least ONE YEAR behind, you won't find the newer streets. So, if you have written directions (as on MLS sheets), punch in the street before the one you are looking for and GPS should get you close!
The best thing about the GPS is that if you go into a large neighborhood like Bedford and can't find your way out...you can punch in your hotel address and you'll get out of the neighborhood without going round and round the roundabouts!
Hubby has mine set for "go home" so anytime I can't get back out of a neighborhood, I punch in "go home" and I get back to the main road!!! I think he was worried that I wouldn't get home sometimes!
Vicki
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Have fun with your trip, and *definitely* get a GPS if you don't already have one. I've been living here for 2.5 years and still use mine to get around when going someplace new!
