Moving to North Carolina (Raleigh/Durham area) next year, any advice?

[Trikat]

O yea Cary's population is really exploding so traffic is getting worse excpectially where all the stores and highways are. For example at Cary, NC there is this place called crossroads. I has a good amount of shops where the big ones are Best Buy, Circuit City, Office Max, Office Depot, Linen Things, Bath and Beyond, etc , a couple or a few car dealers, Crossroads 20 movie theare, and a good deal of restaurants.
But the traffic is absolutely horrible around that spot since the city planners didn't plan to have a population explosion this big.
One of the first things I saw around crossroads when I came back from UNC-C was a car accident. Figures since there are quite a bit of dummy drivers and more cars won't help them get smarter.
Traffic will hopefully get freed up quite a bit when they actually finish the major highway ramp deal by crossroads.
Cops are also abundant in Cary as there isn't a lot of crime so they spend a lot of their time doing stuff like catching speeders.

 

[UNCjigga]

Please don't eat any of our kids, okay?

 

[trmiv]

We're going to have to see how the traffic is when we visit. My parents are headed there for 6 days next month, we hope to join them for 2-3 days so we can look around a bit.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

I suggest to look elsewhere as Cary, Morrisville, Chapel Hill and Carrboro real estate has gotten pricey lately.

With advice from other folks I looked into Apex, Holly Springs and Pittsboro. They are right next to Cary and the land prices and property taxes are decent.

I ended up buying a property in Holly Springs. It's huge.......19-foot ceilings for the grand living room, custom-built after 7 months construction, all wooden floors on first floor, etc. I made it into a nice rental property but probably use it as residence in two years or so.

And I bought it "dirt cheap" relatively speaking compared to my SFO properties........East Bay (Union City), Brisbane and Sausalito.

 

[trmiv]

Apex is a consideration too, as are Holly Springs, Knightdale, and some other areas around there. Basically a place we like with a house in our budget thats not too bad of a commute. We figure our max is about $175,000, but we want to be around $150,000-$160,000. Of course cheaper than that in a nice area is gravy.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

trmiv ygpm

with that kind of budget, i have a few suggestions

 

[AmigaMan]

geez people, you anti-durham people are really off your rockers. It's not a war zone. Sure it's got crime, just like Raleigh and Chapel Hill and Apex and Morrisville. You're not going to die if you move here. I've been in Durham 5 years, Raleigh for 1, Cary for 2, Chapel Hill for 1 and Wilmington for 3. Each place has it's bad areas and good areas. If you're really that concerned with crime, then central Durham is where the worst of it is. But unless you're living in the projects, you'll be fine. South Durham near Southpoint is a nice area and rapidly growing. Plus the traffic isn't as bad as Cary and Raleigh. North Durham is nice as well, a little more rural than south Durham. The taxes are higher here, but it's offset by the cheaper housing compared to Cary and Raleigh (not much but it's a difference).

Now if I had a choice, I'd move to Chapel Hill in an instant. UNC FTW! NC State can SUCK IT! And you DOOKIES can kiss my Carolina Blue behind

 

[aircooled]

I live in Holly Springs and it's great. Apex still has some good housing prices too. Fuquay Varina is a little too far but has some cheap land. Cary is expensive, but if you can afford it then go for it.

 

[Eltano1]

Most of you guys might know that I'm looking for a job since I was outsourced, and I'm considering to move to NC as well as OP. I need to convince my wife (she is a banker and makes good money), so the condition is to find a good banking job as well. I might go first alone and test the area for jobs and where we would live, so this thread is great for me.

Eltano

 

[trmiv]

Originally posted by: Eltano1
Most of you guys might know that I'm looking for a job since I was outsourced, and I'm considering to move to NC as well as OP. I need to convince my wife (she is a banker and makes good money), so the condition is to find a good banking job as well. I might go first alone and test the area for jobs and where we would live, so this thread is great for me.

Eltano

I've heard Charlotte is where you want to be if you're looking for a banking job. 2nd largest banking headquarters in the US.

 

[AmigaMan]

Originally posted by: trmiv

Originally posted by: Eltano1
Most of you guys might know that I'm looking for a job since I was outsourced, and I'm considering to move to NC as well as OP. I need to convince my wife (she is a banker and makes good money), so the condition is to find a good banking job as well. I might go first alone and test the area for jobs and where we would live, so this thread is great for me.

Eltano

I've heard Charlotte is where you want to be if you're looking for a banking job. 2nd largest banking headquarters in the US.

Yup, although RBC Centura is based here in Raleigh. At least their IT ops are, not sure about the corporate headquarters (probably Canada). BB&T and First Citizens are also some of the bigger banks whose IT operations are located around here.

EDIT: also forgot about Credit Suisse First Boston has a significant IT presence here in the RTP. I think some other financial company is locating some operations here in the RTP as well in the next couple years.

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: trmiv
My parents want some land, like 2-3 acres. My wife and I don't want a big lot, just a normal house with a decent backyard. We've been looking a lot at Cary, NC, we've heard from people we know that's a nice place to live.

Yep, Cary is where its at! We moved here about 5 months ago. Absolutely love it.

And your parents can move to North Raleigh, or Hollow Springs, both about 20 minutes from Cary. They'll be able to get a house with a few acres.

 

[trmiv]

Thanks for all the advice in this thread guys. My wife has been reading it too, and it's really helped.

 

[MaxDepth]

$175K for a place in Cary?
Bwahahahahahahahahahaha

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
I saw a listing that ended a few weeks ago for a job that was basically setting up PC's and fixing simple Windows/hardware problems starting with a range of $40-60K salary :Q And full benefits of course

wtf... i need to move stat. I do more than that and am paid no where near that

 

[trmiv]

I've seen a few places around that price on the MLS listings, but they are smaller, usually around 1300-1400 sqft or smaller (which seems big to me now since I've been living in tiny apartments for years). We'll probably look elsewhere so we can get a bigger place for the same price. The thought of having a 2000 sqft or bigger house is mind boggling to me. Because of this thread I've found some really nice places to look at.

One thing is right now I look at prices with an SF Bay Area frame of mind. I'm used to 1500 sqft houses that cost $600,000-$700,000. So pretty much anything under $300,000 looks cheap to me. We've really got to get back there and look at the areas to see where we're going live, what we want exactly, and how much we're willing to pay. That's why living with my parents until we find a place is ideal. We don't have to rush and take the first place we come across just to get a place to live, we can take our time, explore some nearby cities, really look at houses and find a place we want to call home.

 

[CTrain]

May I ask how much your wife makes as a teacher ??
I'm considering teaching as my "retired" career in the future.

 

[trmiv]

In California she makes a bit over $45K. In NC I'm not sure exactly, she looked it up. You can usually find the salaries based on years of experience on the websites for the different districts. I think it was around $32-$35K in for a third year teacher in NC, or something like that. It also increases if you have a masters, etc.

 

[MiniDoom]

Fvck Raleigh/Durham move to Asheville.

 

[Mermaidman]

Originally posted by: trmiv
. . . we can take our time, explore some nearby cities, really look at houses and find a place we want to call home.

Charlotte's only a 3 hr drive away. Come check out the state's biggest tourist attraction: Concord Mills Outlet Mall.

 

[Trikat]

Originally posted by: rdubbz420
Fvck Raleigh/Durham move to Asheville.

Isn't that like one of the top 5 gayest cities in the U.S.?

Originally posted by: Mermaidman

Originally posted by: trmiv
. . . we can take our time, explore some nearby cities, really look at houses and find a place we want to call home.

Charlotte's only a 3 hr drive away. Come check out the state's biggest tourist attraction: Concord Mills Outlet Mall.

It is a 2hr-2hr 30 min drive from Cary, but 3 hours if you hit traffic.
And Concord Mills is kinda boring, just another mall.

 

[MiniDoom]

Originally posted by: Trikat

Originally posted by: rdubbz420
Fvck Raleigh/Durham move to Asheville.

Isn't that like one of the top 5 gayest cities in the U.S.?

Originally posted by: Mermaidman

Originally posted by: trmiv
. . . we can take our time, explore some nearby cities, really look at houses and find a place we want to call home.

Charlotte's only a 3 hr drive away. Come check out the state's biggest tourist attraction: Concord Mills Outlet Mall.

It is a 2hr-2hr 30 min drive from Cary, but 3 hours if you hit traffic.
And Concord Mills is kinda boring, just another mall.

Who cares? Allot of cities are. You aren?t affair of a few queens? Its also one of the most beautiful places in the country, has cheap real estate and very rich of culture and art. I would leave DC for Asheville in a second if I had the opportunity. Check out some of the pics I took last week right outside the city.

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[Glavinsolo]

I am also moving here in 2007. I have a Computer Science degree and hear there are plenty of IT jobs in the area. How are everyone's salaries who live and work in IT here?
Fiancee is going to work from home.

For 175-225k in a buyer's market I am looking at northern Raleigh, no Durham areas.