Nothing quite like seeing it all for yourself but for those unable to do so, here are some of my impressions of the above areas.
The area is already SO beautiful b/c of all the evergreens, and some of the trees and plants are starting to flower
There are pretty little brown creeks all over. Even the interstates are scenic, thicky lined with trees.
On Saturday we looked at homes in SW Durham, SE Chapel Hill, and Hillsborough (my husband's job is going to be in North Chapel Hill so these were our attempts to find a home close to work).
SW Durham had lots of very pretty communities, with trees everywhere. Lots of newer strip malls. It looked like typical suburbia, but with an above average # of trees. I STILL haven't seen Streets at Southpoint (
http://www.streetsatsouthpoint.com) but have heard so many good things about the shopping and fun things they have for kids. We drove right by it but there was a huge vat of trees between us and the mall so we couldn't see it
SE Chapel Hill looked exactly the same as SW Durham. Trees galore. Peaceful suburbia
Hillsborough has some
interesting shopping on it's main highway. The tourist trap area is just a tiny bit hokey (scary!)
But the southern downtown area is very beautiful with adorable shops and cute/quaint historic buildings and homes. We went to the Burkes Meadow neighborhood again. VERY peaceful and quiet. Almost TOO quiet
We kept looking around saying, WHERE is everyone? There were some twilight zone comments. Definitely the place to go if you seek nature and tranquility
But it took us 30 mins to get there from the Southpoint area so traditional shopping would be quite a trek. There's also the Northgate Mall 20 mins away, but from what I hear, it's worth the extra drive to get to Southpoint.
Apex I also commented on last week. Very pretty, lots of trees everywhere (the city has reqs about trees being left up). The shopping area at the corner of 55 and 64 is veeeeeeery nice. Lots of it, great chains as well as some local shops. We sa a lot of very nice subdivisions. One of our favorites was just SW of near the intersection of 55 and 64 and had lots of custom built homes. There are four subdivisions there that run into each other. Very pretty area, but a bit hilly so some homes have yards and some have cliff
We didn't actually look at homes in Raleigh but did drive quite a bit around the northern areas (ITB and just above the beltline). Same as everywhere else in the triangle - tons of trees, beautiful
We had dinner at Crabtree Mall, which is enormous. I'll definitely be checking it out in the future. Can you tell I love to shop?
We were priced out of Cary for the amount of square footage we wanted for our $$$ so we just zipped on through to Morrisville. There we saw new strip malls going up EVERYWHERE (much like in Holly Springs). Morrisville didn't seem quite as treed as other areas. Do they not have the same kind of leave-the-trees-up ordinances as other triangle cities? Speaking of...we went to see a house in Twin Lakes. Very barren looking (< trees) compared to other subdivisions. We didn't like it at all. The houses did not flow well together. There were ranches intermingled with two story homes and it looked really awkward. Also, the homes were so close together. I'm in a townhouse now and don't mind having a neighbor right next door. But I wouldn't want to look out my window and see right into my neighbor's living room
Or even worse, their bedroom
A note on the airplanes in Morrisville - I'm going to chime in with those who think the airplane noise is not a big deal. From what I'd read before I'd imagined the planes roaring a few feet overhead
I can understand that some are more sensitive to noise than others, but I think the average person would be fine. I'm near an airport now where I live and I think it's neat to see and hear the airplanes flying overhead
There goes one now!
My husband and I each had a favorite home in SW Durham, and by Saturday night we had done such a good job defending our favorites that we switched
But we wanted to give homes in the Apex-Cary-Morrisville a chance since although they would be a longer commute, the schools were better rated and we'd be closer to extended family (in Apex).
We tried to put in an offer on a home in Apex that we loved but it turned out it had sold on Friday and the real estate agent had "forgotten" to note it as such in the mls. She offered to let us put in a back up offer
So we went to look at our SW Durham favorites again. They were both really really really nice homes but we decided to put in an offer on my original favorite which was 5 years newer and more glamorous looking inside, but after the agent called to notify the listing agent the offer was coming, the decision started to feel WRONG WRONG WRONG. I eventually explained how I was feeling to my husband, and what it was that made his original favorite feel like home, and he immediately agreed it was a better choice for us. It had one more bedroom (we have four children) and a MUCH MUCH larger yard. While it was not as glamorous looking inside, it felt more cozy than showcase
We put an offer in a few hours ago so cross your fingers for us
I've looked into the elementary school my children would go to (Hope Valley Elementary) and am very happy with what I've read. But I just know my husband's grandma will faint when she hears we're trying to buy in DURHAM
I'm starting to feel really sad about leaving my best friend here, but am looking forward to finally owning our own home and living in the triangle area
PS. If anyone wants a referral to an exclusively buyer's agent who is the perfect mix of knowledgeable, patient, committed, candid, and fun to view houses with, PM me
Thanks for reading!!
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
