Moving to Raleigh Area - Need your feedback regarding surrounding cities

[TarHeelNick]

Originally Posted by Francois

I am thinking maybe Durham? Downtown Durham has grown terrifically recently with Arts offerings, the Durham Performing Arts Center which gets all the Broadway shows like Hamilton, Wicked etc. and The Carolina Theatre which has both movies and live shows. There are walking trails galore, not to mention the Duke University campus as well as Duke Gardens. The Ninth Street area is quirky and full of neat local businesses, as is the Brightleaf Square area (though we are losing my favorite store, the very unique Morgan Imports, due to COVID ).

I know many Seniors who live in the Croasdaile community north of Durham, which is quite large. There are apartments and small houses that are all part of the community, but they do have a "Community center" with pool gyms, etc and many recreational programs. I don't know the cost.

I also know a lot of folks who belong to the Jewish Community Center (you don't have to be Jewish--most of the ones I know are not) for its pool and facilities. But there is also a YMCA in downtown Durham not to mention other gyms everywhere.

Durham county is generally considered cheaper than Wake or certainly Orange, from the reputation that the public schools aren't quite as good. That of course is moot to you.

I've also visited The Forest at Duke a lot. Another of those "Senior communities" that has various living arrangements.

All valid; but $225k isn't going to cut it to get into the type of community they are looking for in Durham.

Clayton or Fuquay is probably the best bet given the pricerange OP has given. Clayton having closer proximity to a YMCA.

[rnc2mbfl]

I'd look in Garner. It's going to give you the most bang for your buck in an older home while being right under downtown Raleigh's nose. There's a YMCA there, and more older, modestly sized homes on larger wooded lots to choose from than you'll find in other closer suburban locations.

[owttahere]

I just realized there was another page - Duh - I thought the comments had stopped on "page 1! Like I said, this site is new to me.

So much eye-opening info!! You're correct about - no kids - and internet is super important to me as I will be keeping my clients in Florida because everything I do is online / in the cloud (QuickBooks Online), Zoom meetings or remote access.

You've all given us new things to consider. We don't mind the traffic, we do not like the HOA idea, we should forget about nearness to Raleigh -not that important.

We do have a question about septic & well water. Is that something that is common everywhere? Or just in rural areas?

[rnc2mbfl]

Originally Posted by owttahere

I just realized there was another page - Duh - I thought the comments had stopped on "page 1! Like I said, this site is new to me.

So much eye-opening info!! You're correct about - no kids - and internet is super important to me as I will be keeping my clients in Florida because everything I do is online / in the cloud (QuickBooks Online), Zoom meetings or remote access.

You've all given us new things to consider. We don't mind the traffic, we do not like the HOA idea, we should forget about nearness to Raleigh -not that important.

We do have a question about septic & well water. Is that something that is common everywhere? Or just in rural areas?

I don't think that you have to give up on closeness to Raleigh since you want an older home anyway. This is why I recommended Garner. You can be close to the city and have what you want at the same time. The Raleigh area is growing like a weed, and Garner has still been largely overlooked by those who have been pushing prices upward, mostly because it's more of a legacy suburb with much of its housing being older, smaller, and on larger pieces of property. However, I suspect that the time is limited to get into Garner in your price range. IMO, it's just matter of time before the prices start escalating there due to its location. Already homes in your price range go quickly.

If you are hesitant and want to rent first, I suspect that Garner will soon become out of reach, and you'll be pushed east of Raleigh toward Wendell, Zebulon and Rolesville.