First and foremost North Carolina is a great place to invest. To go further I really like Alamance county which is where Graham is located. The downside is most people would not draw the connection that Graham is part of Raleigh. Graham is actually 3 counties away. It is a great middle ground that feeds both into the Raleigh Durham area and the Greensboro area. Its A lot more working class and primarily a cash flow market than the smoking hot Raleigh market which is much less a cash flow market but is appreciating a lot. Graham (Alamance County) and recently is seeing a good chunk of appreciation as affordable housing is getting harder and harder to come by in the Raleigh Durham areas. Over all if that all fits what you are looking for its a great place. I would just make sure you either fly out and look at the area yourself or get an agent you trust as there are pockets in the area that are better than others.
We also really like the Graham area. And to add to my friend Mitch's point, Graham is located west of Raleigh, but so is the major job center (RTP), and the City of Durham. So it's more attractive than first glance. I've seen several large garden style apartments go up along I-40 in the Burlington Graham area.