North Carolina: Last-minute Housing Edition
July 27, 2016 6:11 AM Subscribe
How to go about finding a place to live? Any recommendations?
My sister has decided to move to North Carolina and due to *reasons* she needs to find a place within the next 2 weeks. I have looked at Zillow, Hotpads, Trulia and realtor.com but we've called a few places she liked and have gotten the runaround. Either it's been rented already even though it says it was just updated on the website, etc. We have about two days once we get to NC to look around but would really like to have some legit places lined up first.
Any personal recommendations or somewhere to start? She has been looking around the Greensboro area but she's open to any other major cities that are safe/fun places to live. She just graduated with a nursing degree and is trying to get a job near a hospital or clinic, if possible. Farmer's markets, cafes, bookstores and libraries are the kinds of places she likes to go on weekends.
Preferences: ~ $800 - $1100/mo., cat friendly, in-unit washer/dryer, air conditioning, wood or tile floors but not necessary, and if possible, a newer, updated kitchen.
Thank you mefites! I am eternally grateful.
My sister has decided to move to North Carolina and due to *reasons* she needs to find a place within the next 2 weeks. I have looked at Zillow, Hotpads, Trulia and realtor.com but we've called a few places she liked and have gotten the runaround. Either it's been rented already even though it says it was just updated on the website, etc. We have about two days once we get to NC to look around but would really like to have some legit places lined up first.
Any personal recommendations or somewhere to start? She has been looking around the Greensboro area but she's open to any other major cities that are safe/fun places to live. She just graduated with a nursing degree and is trying to get a job near a hospital or clinic, if possible. Farmer's markets, cafes, bookstores and libraries are the kinds of places she likes to go on weekends.
Preferences: ~ $800 - $1100/mo., cat friendly, in-unit washer/dryer, air conditioning, wood or tile floors but not necessary, and if possible, a newer, updated kitchen.
Thank you mefites! I am eternally grateful.
Chapel Hill / Carrboro could also work. Major hospital, pretty walkable if you rent in Carrboro + free bus around town.
Also a craigslist town. I rented a condo in a complex called White Oak when I lived there (105 Fidelity St) and it was pretty great. They are all owner-maintained, so the condition of each unit can very. Good luck.
posted by rachelpapers at 7:40 AM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
Also a craigslist town. I rented a condo in a complex called White Oak when I lived there (105 Fidelity St) and it was pretty great. They are all owner-maintained, so the condition of each unit can very. Good luck.
posted by rachelpapers at 7:40 AM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
And of course also Durham, with Duke Hospital. Locals have safety concerns about some areas, but the town is changing a lot and is a neat place. Also craigslist.
posted by rachelpapers at 7:41 AM on July 27, 2016
posted by rachelpapers at 7:41 AM on July 27, 2016
Southeastern NC is expensive for cost of living. Just throwing that out there. But then rent is doable if you live in the county or Pender/Brunswick Cos. Also, hour plus commutes down here are common.
Staying in the Triad or Triangle would probably be preferable.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 12:21 PM on July 27, 2016
Staying in the Triad or Triangle would probably be preferable.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 12:21 PM on July 27, 2016
It’s not too unusual to move somewhere with no local connections and no job lined up, as your sister apparently is—but in combination with not knowing where she wants to be in a state that takes nine hours to drive across east to west…! Given that, the need to find an apartment rental in a mostly rural state, and her focus on the health industry, I would agree that what she needs is options. This means focusing on the three major metro areas: the Triad (Greensboro / High Point / Winston-Salem), the Triangle (Raleigh / Durham / Chapel Hill), and Charlotte. These all have heavy concentrations of hospitals and medical-sector jobs, including major research hospitals, affordable neighborhoods, a reasonable amount of apartment housing, and adequate cultural opportunities.
In particular, she may be shocked by the scale and full-time nature of the state’s regional farmer’s markets if she’s from an area where farmers’ markets are small, weekly affairs. These places are amazing.
And of course also Durham, with Duke Hospital. Locals have safety concerns about some areas, but the town is changing a lot and is a neat place.
As someone who grew up in the Triad and now lives in a much larger metro area, I’ve come to realize that a lot of the safety fears I heard about certain areas were received second-hand from local conventional wisdom. In many cases, it wasn’t that the areas were really so unsafe—certainly not by national standards—but instead that white people were afraid of places where black people lived. Like most of the country, NC cities tend to be segregated enough that these assumptions can go unexamined and unchallenged. So it is wise to consider the opinion of locals, but also wise to consider the context.
Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and Durham have all gotten drastically more interesting in the last ten or so years and are pleasant small cities.
Come back when she’s found a place and ask about farmer's markets, cafes, bookstores, and barbecue!
posted by musicinmybrain at 8:53 AM on July 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
In particular, she may be shocked by the scale and full-time nature of the state’s regional farmer’s markets if she’s from an area where farmers’ markets are small, weekly affairs. These places are amazing.
And of course also Durham, with Duke Hospital. Locals have safety concerns about some areas, but the town is changing a lot and is a neat place.
As someone who grew up in the Triad and now lives in a much larger metro area, I’ve come to realize that a lot of the safety fears I heard about certain areas were received second-hand from local conventional wisdom. In many cases, it wasn’t that the areas were really so unsafe—certainly not by national standards—but instead that white people were afraid of places where black people lived. Like most of the country, NC cities tend to be segregated enough that these assumptions can go unexamined and unchallenged. So it is wise to consider the opinion of locals, but also wise to consider the context.
Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and Durham have all gotten drastically more interesting in the last ten or so years and are pleasant small cities.
Come back when she’s found a place and ask about farmer's markets, cafes, bookstores, and barbecue!
posted by musicinmybrain at 8:53 AM on July 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
In many cases, it wasn’t that the areas were really so unsafe—certainly not by national standards—but instead that white people were afraid of places where black people lived.
Exactly what I came here to say. I live in Durham. It's great.
posted by Stewriffic at 5:27 PM on July 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Exactly what I came here to say. I live in Durham. It's great.
posted by Stewriffic at 5:27 PM on July 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Looks like we've decided on Greensboro, and still looking. the place we put an application in got rented out.
posted by Zeratul at 4:09 PM on August 3, 2016
posted by Zeratul at 4:09 PM on August 3, 2016
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Then Greensboro is a great place to be, and with that kind of budget, she's going to be able to afford somewhere pretty nice (like, downtown next to the ballpark and walking distance to the bars kind of nice); I rent a three bed two bath house for $900 a month. The management sucks, but the house is decent. (I love Greensboro so much and expound upon that here).
Part of the problem re: run arounds and things being rented is that there are 4 universities, a couple of community colleges, and several proprietary schools in town, so stuff is start to turn over faster in anticipation of the semester starting.
If she's looking for a house or condo to rent, we're a Craigslist town (http://greensboro.craigslist.org/search/apa). (Craigslist also gets a lot of spam, unfortunately, but with some filtering most of that disappears). Also, if you just google "Greensboro property management companies" that list is pretty good for who usually has stock around here, and then it's just a matter of working down each website, looking at their list, etc. PITA, but what do you do?
But for in unit W/D, updated kitchen, etc, she's likely looking at an apartment. Apartments are also a little more likely to work with someone who's remote hunting (though just hitting the ground here for your two days and looking at a bunch of places is going to be your best bet, as you've noticed). Apartments.com is your friend here.
Also, I have some friends that work in code enforcement, so if there are specific complexes that look good to her, I can check to see if they can check to see which complexes are currently on the shitlist.
I'm getting ready to head out of town for about the next two weeks, but I'll memail you!
posted by joycehealy at 7:10 AM on July 27, 2016 [4 favorites]