Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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My wife and I are seriously considering moving from Maryland to Raleigh. We have been checking out the home prices, and they are incredible -- almost too good to be true. This has caused me to be a little skeptical. Are there areas of Raleigh that we should stay clear of? I am seeing single family homes for well under 150K. In Maryland that won't even get you a condo. The photos of these homes look great and most of them have a little land as well. Many of them were also built very recently. My wife and I plan to travel to Raleigh a few times over the next several months to check things out, so hopefully we will see these area in person soon. In the mean time, any advice would be more than welcome. The houses that we were looking at were in the following areas: Maybrook Crossings, Walnut Ridge, Farmington Woods, Taylors Creek, Eagle Chase, and Amber Acres. Any feedback on these areas would be appreciated. Any areas that you recommend would be welcome as well. Thanks in advance for the advice!
My wife and I are seriously considering moving from Maryland to Raleigh. We have been checking out the home prices, and they are incredible -- almost too good to be true. This has caused me to be a little skeptical. Are there areas of Raleigh that we should stay clear of? I am seeing single family homes for well under 150K. In Maryland that won't even get you a condo. The photos of these homes look great and most of them have a little land as well. Many of them were also built very recently. My wife and I plan to travel to Raleigh a few times over the next several months to check things out, so hopefully we will see these area in person soon. In the mean time, any advice would be more than welcome. The houses that we were looking at were in the following areas: Maybrook Crossings, Walnut Ridge, Farmington Woods, Taylors Creek, Eagle Chase, and Amber Acres. Any feedback on these areas would be appreciated. Any areas that you recommend would be welcome as well. Thanks in advance for the advice!
When you find out what local pay rates are, if you can even find a job at all, you won’t think the house prices are so low. Nonetheless, I still find Raleigh, NC to be much more affordable than most worthwhile parts of Maryland.
Many northerners tend to migrate to the Cary area but I chose Wake Forest because it reminds me most of my former home town Crofton, MD. That is… it’s close to everything yet it still kinda feels like you live in the country.
Do you already have jobs lined up? The job market has taken a pounding here and it is not as easy to get a job as some magazine articles may make it sound. Housing prices are all over the place and the lower it is priced, the more likely there is an issue. Issues can be in a bad neighborhood to very far away from everything. Please do not jump at this area based on what you see on websites or in magazines. Take a few vacations here first and judge the situation after you see things first hand.
I would visit the area and see if it agrees with you. What are you looking for? How does the Triangle meet your needs? What kind of stuff do you need access to? These days no matter where you are moving employment is a big consideration. Will you be bringing your current jobs with you or do you plan to apply for jobs here?
I own a home in a sub-$200K neighborhood. Nice homes in the $150K range do exist but they move quickly in desirable areas. I highly suggest you include existing resales to your consideration as this widens your options. Some of the dominant factors relating to home prices in general once you get past the size of the home itself relate to school rankings, crime rates, and access to employemnt centers like RTP and downtwon Raleigh. You can find homes for below $200K in nice areas, but like I said before they can move quickly since that price range is very attractive to the large pool of first time buyers.
Good luck with your search. If you have more specific questions you should post more threads to this forum as I am sure you will find it to be a wealth of information.
Thanks all. My wife and I currently both work at the same company, and we both have the option of working from home. This will allow us to keep our MD salaries, which are decent in MD and very good in NC. This will be our first home, and we are hoping to buy something relatively inexpensive. We want to make sure that it is a home that we can live in for at least a few years, and then sell for a profit when the market turns around. Then the plan is to have our dream house built down there, if we like Raleigh. I have several friends who are from Raleigh, and I have heard incredible things about the town. What about those areas that I mentioned in my first post. I have seen single family homes for less than 115k. Whats wrong with the area or is it just the recession taking a toll on the home prices?
Thanks all. My wife and I currently both work at the same company, and we both have the option of working from home. This will allow us to keep our MD salaries, which are decent in MD and very good in NC. This will be our first home, and we are hoping to buy something relatively inexpensive. We want to make sure that it is a home that we can live in for at least a few years, and then sell for a profit when the market turns around. Then the plan is to have our dream house built down there, if we like Raleigh. I have several friends who are from Raleigh, and I have heard incredible things about the town. What about those areas that I mentioned in my first post. I have seen single family homes for less than 115k. Whats wrong with the area or is it just the recession taking a toll on the home prices?
You are looking at SE Raleigh and Knightdale areas.
Generally they have been among the most affordable in the region.
There are some neighborhoods with high rates of foreclosures.
That helps hold prices down. Whether those areas are desirable for you is up to you to decide.
It may be better to get into housing at the bottom of the ladder in another area, or you may find a great deal in those areas.
Come down for the tour, and see what clicks for you, and talke a look at general available housing in those areas to see if you can find something in your price range.
Thanks all. My wife and I currently both work at the same company, and we both have the option of working from home. This will allow us to keep our MD salaries, which are decent in MD and very good in NC. This will be our first home, and we are hoping to buy something relatively inexpensive. We want to make sure that it is a home that we can live in for at least a few years, and then sell for a profit when the market turns around. Then the plan is to have our dream house built down there, if we like Raleigh. I have several friends who are from Raleigh, and I have heard incredible things about the town. What about those areas that I mentioned in my first post. I have seen single family homes for less than 115k. Whats wrong with the area or is it just the recession taking a toll on the home prices?
It's probably the area....but it would be hard to know without knowing what area you are talking about.
Oh, and I wouldn't count on buying a cheap home and turning it around for a profit a few years down the line.
This area of NC is not going to support your "flipping" dream at that price point.
It's probably the area....but it would be hard to know without knowing what area you are talking about.
Oh, and I wouldn't count on buying a cheap home and turning it around for a profit a few years down the line.
This area of NC is not going to support your "flipping" dream at that price point.
Zoya, I hope I didn't offend with my statement. I wasn't really talking about flipping as much as buying an affordable starter home, making a little profit off of it to use as a down payment on my next home. I want to make sure that we want to stay in Raleigh before we make a huge financial investment. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression with my earlier post.
My wife and I are seriously considering moving from Maryland to Raleigh. We have been checking out the home prices, and they are incredible -- almost too good to be true. This has caused me to be a little skeptical.
You are wise o sensei. As has been said here before, it's easy to make a house look great on a website/MLS listing.
Careful what you ask for and don't let greed do all your thinking for you.
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If it seems too good to be true it probably is
