Top Reasons People Love Living In Benson, NC | Country Living vs City Life

 Are you considering relocating to the Raleigh area and wondering where you can still find a quaint and affordable town to live? Known for its small town hospitality and charming downtown, Benson is a hidden gem located in the southwest Johnston County, and one of the fastest growing counties in North Carolina.

Home to the historic Benson Singing Grove, Great outdoor activities, local festivals, and affordable new home communities. Today we'll be talking about some of the reasons this town may soon have you coming to explore all it has to offer to call home. Located approximately 40 minutes south of Raleigh, it's an easy drive to downtown Raleigh, westbound on I 40.

And in less than 30 to 45 minutes, you can be to many of the popular neighboring Raleigh suburbs. with plenty of amenities like Garner, Clayton, Knightdale, Fuqua Verena, Holly Springs, Apex, and even Cary. That's one of the fun facts about the towns surrounding the Raleigh area. You can be in so many different towns in less than 30 to 45 minutes.

And if you're relocating from another state, like I did, we relocated here from California six years ago, 30 to 45 minute commute is nothing, especially when it's not bumper to bumper traffic and it's just an easy country drive. Population in Benson is still a relatively small town with a smaller population of approximately 4, 500 residents.

It's part of Johnston County with around 240, 000 residents. Which appeals to many who are looking for a suburban feel with spacious options versus more densely populated cities, but still within a reasonable commute time to those bigger cities. Niche. com gives Benson an overall rating of a B, with cost of living and jobs an A diversity an A, public schools, commute, and outdoor activities a B Niche.

com. two B's and crime a C plus. One thing you'll notice in many of the rural towns is the higher crime rates, but if you do your research, visit the towns and talk to local residents, like many other areas, you'll find many who feel safe living in the town, haven't had any issues and like other cities across the country have some areas that are better than others.

One of the sites that I like to use is. Spot crime.com. You can type an address in that you're interested in and see what's been going on in the area down to the neighborhood and the street. It'll show everything from domestic disputes, vandalism, shoplifting, and more serious crimes like break-ins, assault drugs, arrest.

Looking at Benson here, you can see a snapshot of the crime from last week. 30 days and up to six months, which are low when it comes to the downtown. Many fall in love with the quaint downtown area of Benson. There are some great small mom and pop shops and local businesses and restaurants here, and I especially love it during Christmas time when the lights and decorations are up.

I will say the downtown is pretty small and easily walkable, like you'll find in most of the other suburbs that surround the Raleigh area. Not many have very big downtown areas. Most are very quaint and easily walkable. It's a great way to explore each of the areas by visiting each of the different downtowns.

It's nice to see so many new businesses opening up in this area, which continues to grow. And with the completion of I 540 outer loop that will be completed in the next few years, it'll make it even more accessible to get to neighboring suburbs even more quickly. When it comes to outdoor spaces, if you love to explore the outdoors, Vinson is a quick drive to Raven Rocks.

State Park, which has 150 foot crystalline structure that overlooks the Cape Fear River. There you can hike, fish, paddle, horseback, ride, and even camp. And then east of downtown is Tucker Lake, which is a 30 acre lake fed by clear spring water with white sand beaches, which is a local favorite. Here you can plunge from a 167 foot waterslide, lounge on the beach, rope swing, grill, picnic, play beach volleyball, or even RV camp.

When it comes to festivals, one of the biggest local festivals here in Johnston County would have to be the Benson Mule Days. It's held every fourth Saturday weekend of September, and people from all across the states and beyond come to be part of this now 75th anniversary festival. annual tradition where festivities include a parade, rodeo, bluegrass music performances, and yes, even meal judging.

I can honestly say I didn't even know that this was a thing until we moved out here. For local restaurants, a local favorite would have to be Meadow Village Restaurant. known for its seafood buffet and famous chocolate pie. They're only open Thursday through Sunday, so check their website for hours before you head on over.

Then there's Cornerstone Cafe Coffee in downtown Vinson, which is a local favorite. Where not only can you grab a good old cup of joe, but they have really good sandwiches and my daughter's favorite, Belgian waffles with syrup. The staff is just the sweetest here and will make you feel like family from the moment you walk in.

If you love barbecue then you'll want to check out Redneck Barbecue Lab. They are famous out here and you can even buy their bottled barbecue sauce and rubs in stores all around North Carolina. And when I say they're famous. They have literally won national barbecue competitions and the owners have even been featured on the Food Network show Chopped Grill masters.

My favorite is their award winning brisket and hubby loves their ribs. It's a definite must stop when you're in town. And I can't stop before I talk about Sisters to ice cream. My daughter loves this ice cream. There's everything from milkshakes to scoops to banana split sundaes to ice cream sandwiches filled with delicious flavors from classic to creative seasonal flavors.

Okay, enough about food. You know I can go on and on and on. When it comes to shops, while Benson doesn't have a major box chain stores, it's a fairly quick 25 minute drive. all the way up I 40 to Garner Wide Oak Crossing, which has a lot of major big box chain stores. You can think of things like Target, Kohl's, Best Buy, Dick's Sporting Goods, along with plenty of restaurants to choose from, like Logan's Roadhouse, City Barbecue, Buffalo Brothers, Carolina L House, and Ragazzi's.

So again, even though Benson is a small rural town, it's close proximity to many of the Raleigh surrounding suburbs. Make it a great option if you're looking for a quieter suburban lifestyle where housing is affordable with larger lot sizes while still being a short commute. To all the major amenities and conveniences to other up and coming small towns that are seeing a lot of growth and new construction development with larger lot sizes and affordable housing prices are the towns of Andrew and its neighboring town, Lillington, which is located around 20 to 25 minutes from Benson.

Both are located in Harnett County versus Benson, which is in Johnston County. If you want to know more about either of these towns, make sure to watch my videos where I dive more into each of these towns. When it comes to schools, you'll find the public schools within a 15 minute drive of downtown Benson.

And if you're interested in private school or charter schools, there are highly rated ones nearby options as well within a 25 minute drive. And if you're looking for an affordable community college close by, there's Johnston Community College located 20 minutes away in Smithfield, which was established in 1969.

Situated on a 175 acre campus boasting state of the art facilities with over 40 programs of study. There's also Wake Tech Community College which is North Carolina's largest community college with multiple campuses across the Raleigh Triangle area. And in less than an hour, you can commute to major universities like NC State, Duke University, or UNC Chapel Hill, just to name a few.

When it comes to affordability, many are starting to look on the outskirts of Raleigh for more affordable housing options, especially if you can work from home. Or don't mind a 30 to 45 minute commute to one of the nearby suburbs. Prior to the housing market booming crisis in the last few years, small towns like Benson weren't even on the radar for places to move.

However, many buyers that originally had their eyes set on Wake County and popular suburbs outside Raleigh like Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, and even Fuquay Verena are starting to push further out. crossing over into both Johnston County and Harnett County due to a combination of affordability and thanks to builders who have been building many new construction communities across these regions that are both more affordable and offer larger lot sizes on average.

And when you factor in Incent, you can still drive to those popular suburbs and enjoy all the amenities, shops, restaurants, or work within a 30 to 45 minute drive, many are now considering this location as a great option to afford to be a homeowner and no longer rent. While we've even seen some sell their homes in those areas and opt to push farther away to live a quieter lifestyle.

style and cash in on their equity and invest in a home with more land in a quieter town. Last I counted, there are approximately 20 new construction communities here in Benson with a median price point of approximately 370, 710 for a new construction, single family home and around 320, 000 for a resale home as of mid 2024.

For Just to show you a few communities, take a look at Akia Bluffs. It's a smaller community with around 42 home sites with both ranch style and two story homes, averaging just over half an acre to three quarters of an acre. 1, 500 to 1, 900 square feet, three bedroom, two bath. Prices range from low to mid 300, 000.

Then there's Benson Village. It's nestled in the heart of Benson, just a stone's throw away from downtown Benson. You'll find ranch style and two story homes by True Homes, which is a semi custom builder. These lots range from a quarter of an acre to a half of an acre, with square footage from around 1, 200 to 4, 800 square feet.

Two to six bedrooms. and two to four and a half vast. Prices range from mid 300's to 400, 000 based on current inventory advertised in the MLS. This community will have 165 homes once completed. There's even a three car garage option which is a hard, tough decision. thing to find around in the triangle.

These days, Daniel farms by Eastwood homes offering ranch and two story homes. If you're looking for a smaller lot size, you'll find ones from just under a quarter of an acre to just over with square feet ranging from around 1900 to 22 50 three bedroom, two bath with prices ranging from high three hundreds.

to mid 400s. This community also has a nice pool and it's conveniently located to shopping and dining and close to McGee Crossing Shopping Center along with the other suburbs we talked about earlier. And just as a side note, many of these builders may have larger square foot and more bedroom options, but I'm just currently going off of current inventory of the time I made this video, which is July 2024.

So if you want to know more about what's currently available and price points of upcoming phases, make sure to reach out to me and I'll be able to give you more information when you're ready to start looking to buy a home. From its small town hospitality and charming downtown, Vincent is a hidden gem that could be the next place you're You consider calling home.

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My number's right here on the screen, whether you wanna give me a call, shoot me a text, or send me an email. We would love to chat. Till next time, we'll see y'all later.