Where should I look for a house in Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill?

July 26, 2015 11:17 AM

I'm going to fly out to North Carolina, The Triangle, for a few days to start scouting for house. It's a big area. I'm not sure where to start. I work from home so the commute isn't an issue. It's more about finding a nice place to live.

Where I am now there's a cafe where everyone hangs out. They serve organic coffee and free-range muffins. Wednesday is craft night. Live music on Thursdays -- usually some kind of folk thing. Writers group meets on Tuesdays. I really like that cafe.

I'm looking for a quiet neighborhood with trees and parks but a short drive to the street where they have the chill cafes & used book stores.

My range is about $150 to $250K. I mean I could stretch it if I found The Perfect Place, but that's the basic range.

I expect I to make several trips out there it figure this out, but any idea where I should start?

posted by trevor_case to Travel & Transportation (12 answers total)

Carrboro. There is a food co-op there that I think you will like.

However, you will need to search far and wide for a house in that area at your price point.
posted by girl flaneur at 11:22 AM on July 26, 2015

Seconding Carrboro. Your cafe is Open Eye. Brunch at Weaver Street. Bluegrass everywhere.

Also, I was just down there last weekend, and you might want to also consider Durham (especially if schools aren't an issue). There's a lot of stuff happening downtown now (cafes, bakeries, bookshops, a bustling farmer's market, etc.), and the area just northwest has houses in your price range. However, this will also depend on your feelings about (potentially) being a part of gentrification.
posted by damayanti at 11:52 AM on July 26, 2015

You're not going to find anything in Carrboro in that price range. Durham is where you should be looking. Francesca's on 9th St could be your cafe. Or Mad Hatter. Or Cocoa Cinnamon. Or lots of other places that opened since I moved away.
posted by hydropsyche at 12:19 PM on July 26, 2015

Carrboro, C.H., or Durham. Don’t waste time looking in Raleigh.
posted by D.C. at 12:20 PM on July 26, 2015

For your price point in Durham, you're probably looking at Walltown, Burch Ave, or some of the gentrifying areas east of downtown.
posted by hydropsyche at 12:21 PM on July 26, 2015

Nthing Durham. I live in Raleigh and the only places you're going to find houses in that price range near the hipster parts of town are in kind of sketchy neighborhoods. I have friends who live in those areas, what I would call sort of pre- or almost-gentrifying, maybe? - and while they are very convenient to the center of town, they've all had break-ins and shootings and all sorts of similar things happen on their blocks. And in one case, in their own house.

I moved here ten years ago without knowing the neighborhoods, and we got a short-term apartment rental for a few months before committing to a house purchase. Is there a reason you can't do something similar? It's risky to commit to a neighborhood for the long haul when you don't know the area at all.
posted by something something at 1:21 PM on July 26, 2015

Your lifestyle says "Carrboro" or "Hillsboro" but your budget says "Durham". And if you want to be walking distance (to be less handwavy, less than half a mile) from where major social and music events are, Durham will bust your budget too.
posted by ardgedee at 2:09 PM on July 26, 2015

Seconding Carrboro. Your cafe is Open Eye

I'd say they are describing Johnny's Gone Fishing more. Which, by the way, has an AirBnB apartment above it, if you're looking for a place to stay and explore Carrboro, OP.
posted by thelonius at 2:18 PM on July 26, 2015

You'll get more house for your money in Durham, but I wouldn't give up on Carrboro. There are a handful of houses in or slightly over your price range currently on the market in Carrboro. If the school district matters at all to you, Carrboro is a better option.
posted by rhymeswithcheery at 3:42 PM on July 26, 2015

I used to live on the far northwest side of Durham, near the Orange County line. Wonderful older house (built 1960s) with a nice sized yard. It was walking distance to several forest trails, and very short drive to others at the Eno River. About a 10 minute drive to Francesa's Coffee, the Regulator Bookshop and other cool things. I bought it in 2007 for $175,000 and, because my life is bad and my luck is horrible, sold it in 2010 for $152,000. No idea what it would go for now. I refuse to look, for fear of becoming even more bitter about having to move when I did.

That home was in the 4600 block of Pinedale, and I'd move back there again in an instant. I loved being right on the edge of the city, close to the cool urban stuff but almost in the forest as well.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 7:47 PM on July 26, 2015

Thanks for the information, everyone. That's a huge help. It's good to have a starting point.

So the read I'm getting is Carrboro is pretty upscale & Durham is more up-and-coming.
posted by eeby at 10:07 PM on July 26, 2015

I'm in Chapel Hill now, looking around. The info people gave here is pretty spot-on. Thanks again!
posted by trevor_case at 8:50 AM on September 29, 2015