If you can swing it, narrow down to a specific area, and see about doing a 6 month lease on an apt. Throw your stuff in storage while you determine where exactly you want to live. Then find your place to buy or build, and move.
My neighborhood has amazing middle and high schools, which we had to fight like hell to get zoned into. The area to the east and southeast of me is sketchy. There are chunks of each of the three cities in the Triad (winston, greensboro and high point) that have sketchy areas. The area where i live is exploding with new development. Our neighborhood was county only, but had city water and sewer. We were annexed into Greensboro 3 years later, and our taxes doubled. We did get snowplow action on the 3 days a year the snow actually sticks, and a new fire station about a mile away. Had I known about Summerfield, we would have built there instead. Oak Ridge is similar. Summerfield actually straddles both Guilford and Rockingham counties. Rockingham county's taxes are lower than Guilford, but youre out a bit further. Stokesdale is also a very nice area, about 15 to 20 mins out of town.
