Sounds like you have a warm season grass, and I bet it is bermuda. If you keep it cut short, water appropriately, and fertilize it every 3.5 weeks with N2 during the time that it is green, it will look good. However, it will go dormant during the Fall and it will stay brown through the early Spring. If you don't want it and prefer cool season grass, I suggest Tall Turf Type Fescue (TTTF) as that is the most popular type of grass in the triangle area. You'll have to kill off the bermuda with Round Up in late July and August with multiple applications. Then, in September you can plant the TTTF seed. Select a species that has proven success by searching the NTEP trials for the Raleigh area. Keep in mind that you may never completely kill off all of the bermuda, but you can discourage its growth by having a healthy, full fescue lawn. Use this site to see what you need to do whether you stay with the bermuda lawn or change to fescue. I have a rental property that I am going to change over from bermuda to fescue so you and I will be going through the same thing. We should keep in touch since we may be able to give each other some advice on where to buy seed and where to rent equipment at.

1st things 1st...
Identify what sort of grass you already have and get a soil analysis done by the UNC Ag extension service (Cost is cheap).....

If it is Bermuda or Centipede -- You can start immediately working to improve what you got without too much trouble... Especially so with Bermuda because it will spread amazingly fast once it is happy.

If it is a cool season grass (Bluegrass or Fescue) -- Now is the time to do nothing but add water and mow at the highest setting on the mower... Even if it is weedy and looks rough... You need to work now on keeping healthy roots in the ground until September -- when the real work starts....

Either way, you should take a soil sample over to your local UNC ag extension office for a soil test.

Key things you are looking for in the soil test:
Mineral deficiencies -- Calcium, Phosphorous, and Potassium and Minor elements...
PH problems -- You need to make sure your PH is within the recommended range for the grass you have...

Get that grass identified and tell us what you got on the soil test.

Thanks

To expound a bit more...

The reason I mention identifying your grass first... Depending on what it is -- your renewed interest in maintenance could easily have it turn the corner and become a healthy, beautiful lawn within a year or two without the $$$ outlay and headaches that go along with a complete renovation or sod job.

Contractors frequently use Hybrid Bermuda sod like Tifway 419 because it is fairly cheap and it grows like CRAZY with some care on your end... and it is a *BEAUTIFUL* Warm season grass when you maintain it properly... It is one of the most drought-hardy turfgrasses in existence for our area.

Literally, it will grow right over gravel beds and buried junk and rocks and stumps.... It will spread quickly and heals bare spots within a short time... The short mowing heights and huge fertilizer loads tend to kill off most weeds.

And.. When you maintain it properly -- it looks like a well-kept golf course fairway.

Also.... something to bear in mind...

It can be *Very* hard to kill off completely with most readily available herbicides... so it won't be completely gone unless you *Nuke* the whole yard with a "Scorched Earth" philosophy...

The downside is that it doesn't grow well in shade... and you will see it get very patchy/ugly there... This is where you could plant out a carefully chosen Zoysia grass to match the look of the Bermuda -- but it will do fine in the shade.

Thanks

John

I prefer bermuda, I have it in my own lawn. However, if your not going to give it the proper care, it will look terrible. This is why I am renovating my rental property because tenants tend to not properly look after a lawn at a place that they rent. Also, a green lawn is more desirable to renters during the winter and fall than a dormant one. If the OP does not want a dormant lawn during the non-summer seasons of the year, his only choice is to establish a cool season lawn.

Well if it goes tan colored in the winter it is a warm season grass without a doubt. If this is a tract home built by a builder we can eliminate it being Zoysia because Zoysia sod is fairly expensive. My bet it is Bermuda grass or a slight chance Centiweed, ur I meant Centipede.

The good news is if it is Bermuda, you can have a beautiful lawn if you care for it correctly. The bad news if it is Bermuda, and you do not like it, sell your home because you are stuck with it for life. In your area it is almost impossible to eradicate and switch to a cool season grass like Blue Grass, Rye, or Fescue. It would be a life long battle.

Take a close up picture and post it. We can at least tell you what kind of grass it is. Then we can tell you your options.

Not all grasses that turn brown in the winter are warm season, many cool seasons grasses do it, too - specially if they are not fertilized during the Fall and Winter.

Most of the Turfgrasses grown in the Raleigh area are a mixture and blend of Tall Fescue and Kentucky Bluegrass. Few Fescue straight blends, and the rest is Zoysia, Bermuda, and about 5 Centipede lawns in the entire county if not the whole area.

However, based on your description of the grass, I say is some common Bermuda grass the builder seeded with that hasn't have the proper care and therefore it looks like "crud".

Take a picture or two and post it here so we can identify it correctly. If is Bermuda and want to change over to Fescue/Bluegrass, then start thinking about spraying it with Roundup in the next 2 weeks. Three or more applications maybe needed in order to get rid of it. It is possible, I've done it sucsessfully several times, but it must be done right.

Soil test is a must, but forget the local lab. Use a private lab, out of state if you must.

Do you have irrigation?

I'm familiar with the Wake Forest area, I have a friend that lives in the Heritage area/subdivisions.