18 February . 2011
An Insider Look at Building a New Home - Volume II
by Kristy Yule
In my last blog I shared with you how my family and I decided to take the plunge and purchase a home. Today I'd like to share with you how we narrowed our choices and decided where in the Triangle to buy.
As a member of the Newland team, simply living in Briar Chapel might seem like the obvious choice. While that would certainly make for an easy commute for me, there were several other factors to consider. I will say that I was concerned about maintaining professionalism at meetings and then having some of those same people see me sweaty and make-up free at the pool!
We prioritized our list as follows:
Location - We currently rent our home in a beautiful neighborhood located in Chatham County. My husband works over in Durham near South Point mall. My job is mostly in Chatham but also takes me to Charlotte and Wilmington from time to time. Based on our commutes we decided to check out SW Wake, Southern Orange Co. and Chatham Co.
Community - What we were looking for in a community? As a busy family of four we really valued the sense of community we experienced in VA. Some of the things that are important to us are: parks & trails within walking distance, a neighborhood that is child friendly and encourages family interaction and of course nearby shopping.
Schools - We have 5-year-old and 9-year- old daughters, and we want them to be active in their school and get a good education.
First up, Orange County. The location in Southern Orange County worked well for both of our commutes, and we loved the vibe in Orange County. It has a vibrant arts community, lots of local restaurants and shops. And the school system is top notch! In our search for a home we considered both resale and new homes in the beginning. However, we quickly moved to only looking at new homes. Purchasing an energy efficient home not only made sense from a monthly cost standpoint (I believe that energy prices are heading up in the next several years), but it also matched with our family's view on the environment.
As we began to research the different areas of Orange County, we quickly discovered that there aren't a large variety of new home communities. One of the pluses of the area is the school system. The schools in Orange County are highly acclaimed, and they are very stable. Having said that, as we continued our research we felt that the taxes were too high for our family, and the school scores were not enough of a benefit for us. My husband and I are both products of public primary and secondary education so we felt that with our guidance we would be able to give our girls a good foundation and support no matter where we chose to live. That left only SW Wake and Chatham County in our original desirable geographic areas.
That's my opinion, now I'd like to hear from you. Some of you may live in Orange County. Were there things we didn't consider that we should have? Share your comments below.