Stonegate at St. Andrews

Stonegate at St. Andrews is a mix of townhomes and modest single-family houses off Capital Boulevard, near the Wakefield line, and it has one of the shortest Raleigh commutes you will find with a Wake Forest address. About 350 homes went up between 2004 and 2008. Prices run roughly $325k to $500k, dues are $85 a month, and the neighborhood has a pool and tennis. It is the sort of place people buy when the commute decides the search and the house still has to come in under a number. The townhomes do most of the work at the bottom of that price band.

Where it is

The neighborhood is off Capital Boulevard at the southern end of Wake Forest, right up against the Wakefield line. Capital Boulevard is US-1, so the road at the front of the neighborhood is the commute, and the southbound run toward Raleigh is shorter from here than from almost anywhere else in town. That is the trade the geography makes. You are closer to Raleigh and farther from downtown Wake Forest, so the trip north for coffee or a Saturday on Main Street is longer than it would be from the middle of town.

What to know if you're moving here

Build years of 2004 to 2008 put these houses around the twenty-year mark. The new-construction premium is long gone, and so is the window where nothing needs replacing.

• The roof and the HVAC are the first questions to ask about any house here.
• Dues of $85 a month are reasonable for a neighborhood with both a pool and tennis courts.
• Schools are Wakefield Elementary, Wakefield Middle and Wakefield High, so check that is the assignment you mean.
• Townhomes and single-family houses sit in the same association, and the streetscape is not uniform.
• The single-family side is modest by the standards of what gets built now, so see the mix in person before you commit.
• At $325k to $500k you are paying for the location and the square footage more than the finishes.

What to do if you're visiting

This end of town eats well, mostly in shopping centers. None of it is a long drive from the neighborhood entrance, which is the general point of living this close to the corridor.

• When a group cannot agree and something is on television, Carolina Ale House – Wake Forest is the default.
• Anyone who orders by heat level heads to Dave's Hot Chicken – Wake Forest.
• For something you will not find on every corner, El Chapin Guatemalan Grill & Catering cooks Guatemalan food and caters neighborhood parties.
• When the occasion calls for paper on the table and a mallet in your hand, Backfins Crabhouse handles the crab end of dinner.