I lived in Chapel Hill & Carrboro for 5 years before moving to Pittsburgh. SWMBO and I loved it -- the weather was awesome, fairly good job opportunities for me (software engineering), reasonable cost of living. If I could choose any place in the country to live, Carrboro would be a top contender: small walkable town, good schools, close to a big city (Raliegh), liberal community (not for everyone, I know, but perfect for us), 4 hours from the beach or mountains, good beer & food readily available. Compared to Pittsburgh, taxes and crime aren't bad, but that might not be saying much.
We rented for 2 years in Carrboro before buying a place. Definitely worth it for us, but we didn't own before we moved down there & didn't know the area that well. Those two years were long enough to get to know different parts of town & make up our mind where we wanted to look to buy. Waiting also paid off for us -- we timed the real estate marked pretty well & made a bundle when we left. If you have a good idea of the neighborhood(s) you want to be in, there's no reason to wait if there's something available.
The housing marked is pretty nasty now, and that might be something to think about before buying a place. Waiting a couple years may be worth it, although I don't know how stable things have been in central NC.