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I'm surprised that no one said this... since it's just the two of you, I'd suggest renting first 6mo-1yr. It doesn't have to be apartment (though there are plenty of those). The whole Triangle metro is a giant suburb, but each city/town has different vibes. Since commute is not a concern, just pick wherever and take your time to explore the city/town/neighborhood. I hear the realestate supply is extremely low right now so especially for a first timer with lower budget buying would be tough (you'll likely get outbid multiple times). I'd suggest renting in probably downtown Raleigh or Durham that you are unlikely to live when it's time to buy and have fun while getting know the area.
Based on personal experience. I'd suggest renting as well for the same reasons. You're young and don't have kids yet, so you can take your time, relax, and enjoy looking around and figuring out what you really like before you commit to buying. That way you can make sure that you find a really good place you like and can avoid getting stuck owning a house in an area you're not happy with. It will be much easier to do all this now than after kids come along.
We did this as well, but with a [young] kid. We used our first scouting trips to identify potential towns we would like to live in. This was really “boots on ground” assessment of towns we narrowed down based on theoretical facts, stats, blah blah blah. Second trip we mainly looked at neighborhoods and apartment locations. 3rd trip we put down payment in apartment central to future home hunting. Lived there for about 8 months and then got the house we were looking for.
Schools are brutal burden to the search. We would find awesome house lovely neighborhood and then bam. Look at the school and realize we would have to go private which negated primary goal of house. NC is peculiar with schools in that their is not a lot of homogeneity across the primary admin/funding jurisdiction (county ). One house might be zoned to schools that are scored B+ to A+ and a house only 2 min away zoned to schools that are C-.
ALSO, wake county is a MESS. BEFORE you buy a home , research if the school you THINK you are zoned to is “capped” and instead they are shipPing your child Into the ghetto. We nearly bid on a house, but stumbled upon this exact situation. Nope. Guess we are just not that “woke”, and not sorry lol. Not spending half million dollars on a house in great area with great schools so my kid can get sent to crap school with disengaged peers in a high crime neighborhood.
We did this as well, but with a [young] kid. We used our first scouting trips to identify potential towns we would like to live in. This was really “boots on ground” assessment of towns we narrowed down based on theoretical facts, stats, blah blah blah. Second trip we mainly looked at neighborhoods and apartment locations. 3rd trip we put down payment in apartment central to future home hunting. Lived there for about 8 months and then got the house we were looking for.
Schools are brutal burden to the search. We would find awesome house lovely neighborhood and then bam. Look at the school and realize we would have to go private which negated primary goal of house. NC is peculiar with schools in that their is not a lot of homogeneity across the primary admin/funding jurisdiction (county ). One house might be zoned to schools that are scored B+ to A+ and a house only 2 min away zoned to schools that are C-.
ALSO, wake county is a MESS. BEFORE you buy a home , research if the school you THINK you are zoned to is “capped” and instead they are shipPing your child Into the ghetto. We nearly bid on a house, but stumbled upon this exact situation. Nope. Guess we are just not that “woke”, and not sorry lol. Not spending half million dollars on a house in great area with great schools so my kid can get sent to crap school with disengaged peers in a high crime neighborhood.
Thank you!! I will have to look into this for sure! As we do plan on starting a family very soon! This is why we want to get out of the apartment life and into a house.
We have been looking into Clayton and Wendell Falls now, seeing you can get much more for your money out there. Anyone have any opinions of those towns? and school systems?
Clayton is Johnson County Schools, but Wendell is part of Wake County Public Schools. Wendell does have a new magnet elementary school out there, but the area has only recently been built up. It's hard to assess how the schools are.
FWIW, I don't think capped schools send overflow students into the "ghetto", but you should be aware of capped schools if you are buying a house for the assigned school. The list of capped schools changes from year to year and you won't need to worry about it in Wendell.
Go to the local Wal-mart in those different areas to get a feel for what SOME of the locals in that area might be like. It was very helpful in our search.
Go to the local Wal-mart in those different areas to get a feel for what SOME of the locals in that area might be like. It was very helpful in our search.
That's a solid plan we do the same.
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