Pros And Cons Of Living In Wake Forest North Carolina - Things Have Changed!

 Are you considering relocating to the Raleigh area and you've heard of the suburb Wake Forest and you're wondering if it would be a great suburb for you and your family to live in? Now Wake Forest is going to be north to northeast of Raleigh and it's a really great location, has plenty of outdoor open spaces, restaurants and shops.

So today we're going to be going over the pros and cons of why you may or may not want to live in Wake Forest. To find out more about that information stay tuned. We're at it now

Hey y'all welcome to the channel or welcome back I'm, Brandy Nemergut a local real estate agent right here in Raleigh, North Carolina your connection to all things real estate and all things Raleigh if this is your first time to the channel Please click the like button and tap the subscription bell.

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I would love to chat.

Let's go ahead and jump right on in with pro number one, which is there's lots to do. Now there's so much to do in Wake Forest between the outdoor spaces, the shopping, and even the restaurants. I really feel like if you live in Wake Forest, You never even have to leave if you really don't want to wake forest has a really quaint and historical Downtown, it's actually one of my top downtowns that I love within all the suburbs outside of Raleigh They have a lot of great coffee shops like wake forest coffee.

They have some yummy danishes, of course coffee What makes this place really unique, they also have art there and then they have days that they do live music. Another coffee place I love to go to is Sugar Magnolia. Again, they do have live music sometimes. Some really yummy sweet treats between cookies, cupcakes, or if you want to grab a sandwich, they have some delicious sandwiches as well.

Now when it comes to shops, you're going to have all the big box chains that you can think of. You're going to have Target, Walmart, and then as far as grocery stores, you're going to have like Publix and even Waitmans. Now if you're coming up from the east coast in Jersey or New York, you're going to love that we have Waitmans.

Not only do we have Waitmans here in Wake Forest, But we also have one in Raleigh as well. And then of course you have many Starbucks, Chick fil A, and one of my favorite, Cold Stone ice cream. And then you also have the local farmer's market. Every Saturday, you're going to have fresh produce, fresh meat.

There's jams and honey and flowers. I just love all our farmer's markets. And then one of my favorite places to visit is Hillridge Farms. There's so much to do there. I know. Seasonally when you go there for say your fall pumpkins, they have the pumpkin patches, they have hay rides, you can do a little train ride with the kids, and then Christmas everything lights up.

It's like a winter wonderland. And then during normal times of the season they have, I don't know, they have goats that you can pet, they have the playground you can play on. I know the last couple years our daughter has even had like a back to school fair night there. Definitely a lot of things to do, outdoor space.

Gotta check that out. Then there's the local YMCA that's over 21, 000 square feet. And what's nice about this one is it has programs not only for the youth, but also for adults and seniors. And another pro, of course, is the good eats. There's so many great restaurants to eat at. One of my favorites is over the falls.

It's just a casual place. You can grab a beer. They have refreshing cocktails, fresh salads, sandwiches. It's really good food. And if you want a nostalgic twist, I have a hard time saying that word, check out Shorty's. If you want to have a hot dog, you can get a chili dog, but they also have good burgers and fries.

So it's like a blast from the past and they've been around since 1916. And if you want some fresh seafood, definitely check out Backfin's Crab House for some fresh seafood. But don't worry if you or your kids don't like seafood, they also do have hot dogs and chicken tenders. And if you're like my husband and you love oysters, check out Shuckers.

I guess it's oyster bar and grill. If you want some awesome wine and some tapas, Bodega's is definitely the place to go. And if you love great Italian food, you want some good lasagna or pasta, check out Emilia's. And I know in a lot of my videos I talk about how many breweries are always around and there's no shortage of breweries.

Wake Forest is no exception. We have White Street Brewing. Which is really nice because they do have live music on certain nights as well. So when I say that you can literally stay in Wake Forest and never leave if you didn't want to, I'm not kidding. But enough about food. You know, me and food, I could go on and on and on because I love food.

So let's skip on next. To the next pro is going to be great schools. Now, this is probably one of the number one questions that I get asked all the time. What are the schools like? Are they good schools? Now, according to niche. com, it gives our school rating here in Wake Forest an A, and there's going to be a lot of great options here between the public school, charter schools, and even some private schools.

Another pro is going to be the outdoor activities. Now one of the great things about Wake Forest is there's a lot of open green spaces here. I know I talk a lot about that in my videos as well, about the great outdoors and the, the greenways. Wake Forest is no exception. Now here there's going to be over 560 acres of park.

Open spaces and trails. You'll also find baseball fields, soccer fields, tennis courts, you have dog parks, and then there's even a six mile greenway trail to walk. One of my favorites is Joyner Park. What's really nice about this park, you have the walking trails, you can bike, you'll see people on the weekends running.

And recently they even have a community gym there. Now the Neuse River Trail is a 33 mile trail that runs right along Wake Forest, along the river. And there's even a dam that dams up the river to create Falls Lake. And speaking of Falls Lake, that's another great oasis getaway if you're all about the outdoors.

So you can escape to their 12, 000 acre lake. There's 26, 000 acres of woodlands. You can boat there. You can swim there. You can fish, walk, take your mountain bike out, and you can even camp. So if you love camping, fun fact, you know I don't love camping, but if you do, that's the place for you. Or you can head up to the Wake Forest Reservoir.

If you love kayaking and just want a peaceful view, it's beautiful there. Another great pro about the area is there's a lot of great communities. And if you're looking for a new construction home, there's a lot of new construction going on still in Wake Forest. So whether you're looking for a new or house or just a resale or new construction, you're definitely going to be able to find a house here.

And a lot of them have some great amenities from either being on a golf course, being a community pool, or even just the beautiful green views of the landscaping. Okay. So we've covered a lot of great pros, but you're probably wondering when am I going to hear about the cons? So let's go ahead over the cons now.

First off, we're going to have distance. Now with the continued growth in traffic, it's going to take a little bit longer to get out of Wake Forest to Raleigh. And if you're commuting downtown Raleigh, you're going to be looking at about 30 minutes. And if you have to head into Durham, about 35 minutes, and that's going to be without traffic.

So if you're commuting during rush hours to and from work, you may want to add some extra time. The reason why is because the main thing to get out of Wake Forest into Raleigh is going to be Capitol Boulevard. Now, Capitol Boulevard has a lot of stoplights, a lot of traffic. Well, I don't know how to drive.

Sorry, but When y'all come down and go in there's people trying to merge this way this way and you're like, oh my gosh What is going on? So you definitely have to pack your patience and a little bit of extra time Going into downtown Raleigh during rush hour now I know I moved here about five years ago and people complained about the traffic going from wake forest to downtown So it definitely hasn't gotten better.

It's gotten even worse, especially with all the new construction going on more people moving into this area You If you're not remotely working from home and you do have to commute for a job, definitely take that in consideration if you're going to want to battle the, the traffic or not. Now, if you're heading into Durham, you can take Highway 98, but again, it's a two lane highway.

Who designed that thinking that it wasn't going to grow in the future? I have no idea. So again, during rush hour, Getting to and from, you want to, you know, set aside some extra time because again, it's a two lane highway. So again, if you get to work remotely or maybe locally, you'll have a job within Wake Forest and you don't have to commute, definitely a great place.

as far as location, but if you don't like rush hour traffic, you don't want to pack your patients, then you may want to reconsider, you know, it may be a deterring factor for you. The next con is going to be higher cost of housing. Now on average, Wake Forest is going to be a little more expensive than some of its surrounding suburbs.

Now in early 2023, which is where we are right now, the average house is going to be about 615, 000. And that's with townhomes. So if we take out townhomes, it's going to be a little more expensive, right around 658, 000. Now, as far as townhomes, you can get townhomes starting in the low to mid 200, 000. And of course, you can get some way bigger homes and even some mansions here.

And of course, the price is just going to keep going up. Now, currently again, in first quarter, there's about a little over 200 homes on the market. About 175 of those are going to actually be single family residents. And the others are going to be townhomes. And again, you're going to range from low to mid 200s all the way up to over 3 million.

The next con that we have is that it feels like a suburb. Now, what do I mean by that? A lot of people that visit here tend to say that it's a more cookie cutter type community, which is either going to be a pro or a con depending where you are. Really great landscaping, but people describe it as living in suburbia.

But it's a suburb. And like I mentioned earlier, it has a lot of great restaurants. It's not gonna have that big cultural scene Whereas you're gonna have that like in Raleigh or Durham or even Cary. It's just a completely different vibe. Not that it's a bad thing It's just different. So depending what you're looking for.

Now this next one can either be a con or a pro Depending where you're coming from and that's going to be our weather now One of the things I love about our weather here is that we actually have four seasons Sometimes it's three because we have some pretty mild winters, but overall we do have four seasons now it's Very green very lush and beautiful and that's because it rains a lot so on average here We have about 47 inches of rain whereas I previously lived in California and there was less than 12 inches You annually.

So we definitely see a lot of rain, but I feel like as quick as it comes, it can go. So it's not bad. There's always a joke that the weather's always having, you know, fits coming in and out because you can literally have four seasons in one day, depending what season it is. Now, my favorite times of year are definitely spring and fall.

love spring weather, but not the pollen season that comes with it. So we have about a three week window where you're just going to get this yucky yellow film over everything. And then when it rains, you're like, Oh my goodness, I'm going to get relief from this. But no, you don't. Your allergies are still all over a hot mess.

You have just streams of yellow water rolling around everywhere. So once you get past that fallen season, then it opens up, it's super nice. As soon as you're starting to get relaxed, then summer comes. Summer is hot, and muggy, and humid. Your clothes will stick to you, you'll be sweating. If you're like me, beet red face.

But, the good news is, as quick as it comes, it goes. So, usually about two and a half months of it, and then we start to see some relief again. With the summer hot months, of course, come the big bugs. There are some very big bugs here. There's cicadas singing in our forest, which when I first heard them, I had to look it up.

I'm like, what the heck are these little chirpies in my forest at night? They're so super loud. And one day I was walking outside and one flew in my hair and got stuck. It was screaming. I was screaming. My husband and son thought I was being attacked or bit by a snake, but no. It was a cicada stuck in this hair.

But then again, fall, absolutely beautiful. And I'm sorry if you can hear my dogs over there. They're trying to wrestle a bone away from each other and squeak their little toy. But winters are pretty mild. On average, you're looking around 50 to 60 degrees, but we can have times where we dip into the thirties and forties like this week.

We're in the thirties. It's cold. We want it to snow, but it hasn't snowed all year. Um, so since I've been here out of the five years, it's has snowed twice. Uh, I don't think I said that word right. Snow, snowed twice. So as quick as it comes, it goes, it usually lasts 24 hours, sometimes 48 hours, depending where you live.

But again, as soon as it's here, it's gone. So it's enough to get excited, but then you can drive. The one thing I will warn you though, if forecast even says there's a snowflake coming in the sky in two weeks, You'll go to the store, no milk, no bread, absolutely ridiculous. And then if it does snow, everything shuts down because we don't have the equipment to clear out our roads.

So a lot of people don't want to drive, especially on the country roads. It's slick. Again, we just don't have the manpower, the equipment like other places in the mountains or in the New York area. A little bit of snow, life is over. Just stay home and have fun with your kids, have some hot cocoa. And now so many people work remotely, so they don't even get a snow day.

They still have to work. So by now, I think you're starting to see what a great place Wake Forest really can be for you and your family to thrive in. Personally, I really feel like there's more pros than cons here in Wake Forest. If you found this information helpful, please click the like button so others like you can find this information as well.

And whether you're considering relocating to the Wake Forest area or within Raleigh or surrounding suburbs, we would love to help you. All you have to do is give us a call, shoot us a text, or send us an email. We would love to chat until next time. I'll see y'all later.

Brandy Nemergut, Realtor ~ eXp Realty Raleigh, NC

[email protected]

919-583-6895

LivingInRaleighNow.com