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Family with two small children relocating from MA to Raleigh area, would like recommendations on small towns with character, strong local schools, 30 minutes from Raleigh
Hi MA!
Clayton is in Wake County which is a wonderful area. Chapel Hill, on the other hand is in Durham County. First and foremost if you have school age children, then schools are obviously very important to you and Wake County Schools are far superior to Durham. In addition to this, while Chapel Hill is a lovely area (and college town) the nice areas can be very, very pricey. Now Raleigh (a college town also) and it's surrounding communities (such as Clayton) offer a wide variety of homes, price ranges and communities. What's great about Raleigh is that while it does have many big city amenities (high end shopping, superior restaurants, top quality schools, etc) you can be in your car and out in the country in just minutes. It's wonderful.
I would be happy to send you more information as well as you can visit my website at http://www.carolinapinesrealty.com and click around. There you will find links to many communities in and around Raleigh.
Good Luck!
Cathie R (e-mail: cpines@nc.rr.com)
Cathie,
Chapel Hill is located in Orange County. Its school district is Chapel Hill/Carrboro (a city district separate from Orange County), which is the most respected school district in the southeast, let alone the state. Wake's schools are very good, yes. But Chapel Hill/Carrboro has exceptional schools. And you do pay the price for them in higher property values and taxes.
I noted in another thread that you are a Realtor who serves both areas (Durham and Raleigh), but I noticed that your web site only lists information about Wake and Johnston Counties. Wake/Johnston are great places to live, but there are some great sites out there about Durham, Orange Counties and Chapel Hill, too. PM me if you'd like suggestions on ones to add.
I recently moved here (big move, from all places, Raleigh!) and I have to agree, you defintely get more house for the money! Its definately building up, alot of people are starting to buy houses out here because it is so cheap. My 9 yr old daughter is doing EXCELLENT in school compared to what she was doing (not soo good) in Raleigh (Wake County). Everything you need is here (Walmart, grocery stores, Target, movie theaters, parks, etc). Raleigh is actually about a 20-30 minute drive in so the commute really is not that bad. I live in Cobblestone Place off of Hwy 70 but I work in RTP, closer to Durham. It takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to get to work in the morning but thats mostly due to the "stop & go" traffic near Cary on I-40.
Honestly? The house we moved into...we are STILL shaking our heads weeks later because its the house we always wanted, and we are amazed we could even afford it. (It wasnt that expensive) Everyone in Clayton is extremely nice, excellent selection of restaurants and we occasionally drive into Raleigh on the weekends to go to Frankies or play putt-putt or something.
Check out some of the houses on craigslist.org for Clayton, or even hit up the KB Homes, Anderson homes (where I live), Centex, etc.
You'll see what I mean!
Thanks for the info. I will definitely consider Clayton in my search. The only way we're going to be able to judge the commute/traffic is to do a dry-run when we visit. no idea when that will be yet, but we'll check out Clayton. Thanks.
Hi MA!
Clayton is in Wake County which is a wonderful area. Chapel Hill, on the other hand is in Durham County. First and foremost if you have school age children, then schools are obviously very important to you and Wake County Schools are far superior to Durham. In addition to this, while Chapel Hill is a lovely area (and college town) the nice areas can be very, very pricey. Now Raleigh (a college town also) and it's surrounding communities (such as Clayton) offer a wide variety of homes, price ranges and communities. What's great about Raleigh is that while it does have many big city amenities (high end shopping, superior restaurants, top quality schools, etc) you can be in your car and out in the country in just minutes. It's wonderful.
I would be happy to send you more information as well as you can visit my website at http://www.carolinapinesrealty.com and click around. There you will find links to many communities in and around Raleigh.
Good Luck!
Cathie R (e-mail: cpines@nc.rr.com)
So....you call yourself a "triangle" realtor and you are absolutely clueless about Chapel Hill.....or are you purposefully trying to misinform folks??
Either way not a great selling point.
You really don't know that Chapel Hill is NOT part of Durham County and that Chapel Hill schools are more highly rated than Wake?
Not to mention that there are some very good schools in Durham but again as a "triangle" realtor you know all about them, right?????
I'm not a realtor but there are a couple of really good ones that post on this site regularly( Mike J and Leighbe in particular) unfortunately your not in their league.....
Hi MA!
Clayton is in Wake County which is a wonderful area. Chapel Hill, on the other hand is in Durham County. First and foremost if you have school age children, then schools are obviously very important to you and Wake County Schools are far superior to Durham. In addition to this, while Chapel Hill is a lovely area (and college town) the nice areas can be very, very pricey. Now Raleigh (a college town also) and it's surrounding communities (such as Clayton) offer a wide variety of homes, price ranges and communities. What's great about Raleigh is that while it does have many big city amenities (high end shopping, superior restaurants, top quality schools, etc) you can be in your car and out in the country in just minutes. It's wonderful.
I would be happy to send you more information as well as you can visit my website at http://www.carolinapinesrealty.com and click around. There you will find links to many communities in and around Raleigh.
Good Luck!
Cathie R (e-mail: cpines@nc.rr.com)
Wrong county for Clayton and Chapel Hill! And I believe that Chapel Hill schools score ahead of Wake County schools. Thank goodness the other posters cleared this up for me! Because this post had me very confused after all the research I have done!
Wrong county for Clayton and Chapel Hill! And I believe that Chapel Hill schools score ahead of Wake County schools. Thank goodness the other posters cleared this up for me! Because this post had me very confused after all the research I have done!
Its people like her that give good realtors a bad name, what could be more important for a realtor to know then WHERE homes are located and WHAT those areas are like???
Trust your own research and ignore her post entirely.....
One other note about if you move to Johnston County (ie. Clayton, parts of Garner, parts of Willow Springs....)- if you are thinking you will be in the home until your children reach school age, you may not have to deal with the year round issues that are going on here in Wake County (with mandatory year round assignment happening at present).
I work closely with a realtor in Johnston county, and have sat in many absolutely beautiful new homes - there is a lot to choose from there and the prices are defintely better!
Hi MA!
Clayton is in Wake County which is a wonderful area. Chapel Hill, on the other hand is in Durham County. First and foremost if you have school age children, then schools are obviously very important to you and Wake County Schools are far superior to Durham. In addition to this, while Chapel Hill is a lovely area (and college town) the nice areas can be very, very pricey.
I would be happy to send you more information as well as you can visit my website at http://www.carolinapinesrealty.com and click around. There you will find links to many communities in and around Raleigh.
Good Luck!
Cathie R (e-mail: cpines@nc.rr.com)
I guess you're just a realtor in Wake County, I take it? Chapel Hill is in ORANGE County, not Durham. Orange County has the best schools in the Triangle.
I recently moved here (big move, from all places, Raleigh!) and I have to agree, you defintely get more house for the money! Its definately building up, alot of people are starting to buy houses out here because it is so cheap. My 9 yr old daughter is doing EXCELLENT in school compared to what she was doing (not soo good) in Raleigh (Wake County). Everything you need is here (Walmart, grocery stores, Target, movie theaters, parks, etc). Raleigh is actually about a 20-30 minute drive in so the commute really is not that bad. I live in Cobblestone Place off of Hwy 70 but I work in RTP, closer to Durham. It takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to get to work in the morning but thats mostly due to the "stop & go" traffic near Cary on I-40.
Honestly? The house we moved into...we are STILL shaking our heads weeks later because its the house we always wanted, and we are amazed we could even afford it. (It wasnt that expensive) Everyone in Clayton is extremely nice, excellent selection of restaurants and we occasionally drive into Raleigh on the weekends to go to Frankies or play putt-putt or something.
Check out some of the houses on craigslist.org for Clayton, or even hit up the KB Homes, Anderson homes (where I live), Centex, etc.
You'll see what I mean!
How do you like it over in cobblestone, me and my soon to be wife are moving into the KB section in August. The prices are pretty good and the same model in Raleigh, and Durham was $20,000 more dollars, so im sure these houses are going to appreciate. I timed a trip to the downtown Raleigh exit and it was only like 20 min. I noticed the high traffic areas are on 42 and 70. Hopefully the traffic will clear up after the 70 bypass is finished.
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