Prestwicke

Prestwicke is roughly 110 houses off Wait Avenue, north of Crenshaw Hall, on lots that run larger than the ones in newer subdivisions. The pool is shared with the neighboring section, which is worth understanding before you buy, because the amenity is not wholly yours and never will be. Building ran from 2005 to 2010, so the neighborhood straddles the housing crash and the houses on one street can differ in finish from the houses on another. Prices sit between $475,000 and $625,000, near the top of the established market in town. The feel is settled. The yards are finished, the trees are grown, and nobody is putting up anything new next door.

Where it is

The address is Wait Avenue, with Crenshaw Hall immediately to the south and Prestwicke beyond it. That position matters for one practical reason, which is the pool. It is shared between the two sections, so the walk or short drive to swim can take you outside your own streets. Downtown Wake Forest is a short drive, and so is nearly everything else a household needs in a week. These are car trips. The streets inside Prestwicke are quiet and pleasant to walk, but they do not connect on foot to anywhere you would shop or eat, so plan on driving out and driving back.

What to know if you're moving here

Lots here are larger than the current standard, which is most of what you are paying for. The shared pool and the age of the houses fill in the rest of the picture.

• Dues are $450 a year, and the main thing they buy is the shared pool.
• Sharing cuts both ways: the cost per household stays low, and so does your say in how crowded it gets on a Saturday in July.
• Schools are Wake Forest Elementary, Wake Forest Middle and Wake Forest High, all in town, which is part of why houses here hold their price.
• Confirm the assignment with Wake County anyway, since boundaries change.
• A 2005 to 2010 build range means original roofs and HVAC units are at or near the end of their service lives, so spend the money on the inspection.
• The honest drawback is that $475,000 to $625,000 is no bargain at this age, and you are buying the lot and the schools more than the finishes.

What to do if you're visiting

Plan on eating in town, because that is where everything is. A visit here is short, and what is worth doing depends on whether you are passing through or house hunting.

• For a fast meal with kids in the car, Culver's Wake Forest and MOD Pizza both work.
• The obvious stop after is Lumpy's Ice Cream, whichever of the two you picked.
• For anything with a date attached, look at what Arts Wake Forest has scheduled, since the calendar is the part of Wake Forest that visitors usually miss.
• If you are house hunting, walk the pool first and ask a neighbor from the other section how the sharing works in practice.
• That one conversation tells you more about living here than the listing photos will.