Has anybody moved to Atlanta from Chicago and have regretted their decision? (Alpharetta: rental, HOA) - Georgia (GA) - Page 5 - City-Data Forum

mrpanda · 01-02-2011, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by livinginbuffalo

summer as well. Just starting to look around and did look in St. Marlo where you bought but my husband is an avid golfer and he prefers Laurel Springs to St. Marlo so we are going to be looking in that area this spring. I think we have both made a good choice as far as the areas and the schools. We will be in the same high school district as you but not sure about the elementary or middle. Our biggest concern is also the traffic and my husband is going to have to be sure the commute will work for him from Laurel Springs before we buy but I think he's willing to be in the car a little more to get on a good course. We have also looked into St. Ives which would be a closer commute but the dues are much more and the taxes are too.

Try not to worry about your decision too much. We are both moving from snow and cold weather climates to warm and sun so much more of the year, how could we hate that? So many people that live in those areas are transplants so I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends. I'm just worried about finding all new doctors, dentists, and everything else we do day to day!

Good luck to you!

Nice to meet you. I think the schools are excellent in S. Forsyth. In St. Marlo,, the schools feeds into Johns Creek Elementary, Riverwatch, and Lambert High. If you look at schooldigger.com the schools are top notch. My wife and I also visited Shakerag Elementary school and it was amazing how different the ethnic make up of the school was compared to Johns Creek Elementary which is only 1/2 a mile away across the McGinnis Ferry border. The Shakerag teacher who was giving us a tour told us that 60% of the school are Asians where half of the 60% are represented by Indian students. I was just amazed to see how internationally diverse the school was.

I really do think that we are making a good decision on the schools. I can only imagine that Lambert High School will be just as good as Northview and Johns Creek High as the elementary and middle schools that feed into Lambert are top notch. We chose St. Marlo due to their low taxes and at the same time easy access to Johns Creek and North Fulton.

What is really interesting about our location is that you can pay 7% sales tax in anything you buy in Fulton and Forsyth County but drive 10 - 15 minutes to Gwinnett County Suwanee or Duluth and buy things at 6%. Here where i live the sales tax is 9.75%, and Cook County is so large you would have to drive forever to get out of the county.

I am waiting to buy my new Toyota Sienna mini-van in Gwinnett County at 6% tax rate in the summer.

Johns Creek Elementary ranks 7th of 1097 Georgia public elementary schools.

Johns Creek Elementary School, Suwanee Georgia / GA School Profile, Ranking, and Reviews - SchoolDigger.com

Riverwatch Middle School ranks 3rd of 467 Georgia public middle schools.
Riverwatch Middle School, Suwanee Georgia / GA School Profile, Ranking, and Reviews - SchoolDigger.com

livinginbuffalo · 01-02-2011, 02:46 PM

Laurel Springs also has the Riverwatch Middle School and has Sharon Elementary school which ranks sixth. What ages are your children? We have one that is in first grade (starting second in September )and one that will be in preschool (4 yr old) in September.

How did you decide on St. Marlo? Were there any other neighborhoods that you looked at that you liked or didn't like for any reason? We are just beginning our process and are waiting to get the official job offer!

mrpanda · 01-02-2011, 03:03 PM

Our twin boys are only 9 months old. It will be awhile until they start school. We chose St. Marlo as my wife and I both like new homes where we can customize our option and upgrades. We didn't consider buying there before as the home price range was from $600,000 to $3 Million three years ago. We looked at Travistock by Peachtree Residential and Madison Park by Aston Woods in Johns Creek. Travistock was really nice but i felt that the prices were atleast $150,000 to $200,000 higher than that of St. Marlo. Travistock feeds into Shakerag, Rivertrail, and Northview. When i did my research on the street we bought in, atleast half of homes were sold at the 2007 peak prices in the high $700s and some right at $800k. We bought our home after all the upgrades in the high $400s so we felt that we were getting a lot of value for what we are paying. I don't have a crystal ball, but i really do think the property values in this area in S. Forsyth is going to do really well in the next 5- 10 years. Because Northview High School is already well known to be such a star school, it felt like the "Northview High School" premium was already added to the Travistock's home price. These are the reasons we chose St. Marlo.

livinginbuffalo · 01-02-2011, 03:51 PM

We have a five year old house up north with all the bells and whistles that we custom designed so I'm worried I won't find something I really love but hope to find something as close to this as possible down there. Laurel Springs does have some newer homes and the oldest they have were built in the late 90's but I know St. Marlo does have a lot more newer homes. If only my husband would go for it but St. Marlo has a public course and he just doesn't like it as well as Laurel Springs.

mrpanda · 01-02-2011, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by livinginbuffalo

We have a five year old house up north with all the bells and whistles that we custom designed so I'm worried I won't find something I really love but hope to find something as close to this as possible down there. Laurel Springs does have some newer homes and the oldest they have were built in the late 90's but I know St. Marlo does have a lot more newer homes. If only my husband would go for it but St. Marlo has a public course and he just doesn't like it as well as Laurel Springs.

Are you going to rent our your home up north? Property values have come down so much in the Chicago suburbs that we will be renting out our town home before moving down to Atlanta?

I don't know anything about Laurel Springs, but hopefully someone who does will chime in.

RainyRainyDay · 01-02-2011, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrpanda

What is really interesting about our location is that you can pay 7% sales tax in anything you buy in Fulton and Forsyth County but drive 10 - 15 minutes to Gwinnett County Suwanee or Duluth and buy things at 6%. Here where i live the sales tax is 9.75%, and Cook County is so large you would have to drive forever to get out of the county.

I am waiting to buy my new Toyota Sienna mini-van in Gwinnett County at 6% tax rate in the summer.

Georgia has special sales tax rules for new cars. By all means purchase your minivan in Gwinnett County, but when you do, you'll find the dealer is obliged to collect the sales tax based on your county of residence. So you'll pay 7%.

OhioNative · 01-02-2011, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrpanda

Are you going to rent our your home up north? Property values have come down so much in the Chicago suburbs that we will be renting out our town home before moving down to Atlanta?

I don't know anything about Laurel Springs, but hopefully someone who does will chime in.

The only thing I know about Laurel Springs is its reputation for a "swinging good time," and I don't mean with a golf club...

billl · 01-02-2011, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrpanda

Bill, Thank you. I was afraid my thread was hi-jacked into a Georgia Tax thread, but what you are saying carries a lot of weight to me as Arlington Heights, IL is literally my backyard. It appears the traffic is the biggest problem for the commuters.

When I lived up there my wife commuted to Northbrook and I commuted to Evanston. My drive was pretty bad, with lots of traffic and no highways. When I changed jobs to Joliet I had a drive that was more miles but about the same time and much less congestion (so lower stress).

I never had to commute to downtown Chicago but on the few times when I did have to drive the route I'd say it compares with what we have in Atlanta. The big difference is.....in Chicago you could take a train from the suburbs. Not true around here.

Quote:

Did you know anyone moving to the area?

Only my wife's boss and his family. We made friends pretty quick, tho.

livinginbuffalo · 01-02-2011, 05:50 PM

is that our neighborhood is full of swingers too. I mean, everyone supposedly has heard about it and realtors supposedly tell their clients about it but I have lived here five years and I really think it is rumor. There was some swapping going on here but not both spouses were aware when the other was having an affair with one of the spouses across the street. Needless to say, there has been some divorce turn over but not because of swinging more like cheating. lol Anyway, our neighborhood has about 110 houses and I know many of them so I'm confident that it is just rumor. As a matter of fact, we were talking about it with our neighbors on NY Eve here and how the saying was that if you left your flag up on your mailbox, you were open for business as they say. I just got home from church and noticed my friends put our flag up as a joke. ;-)

So, I think it's funny you say that and can't wait to pass that along to our friends here that we're moving someplace just like home..........though they don't like hearing we might move.

Anyway, good laughs and I'll believe it when I see it. From what I understand that neighborhood is much larger with about 800 homes (correct me someone if I'm wrong) so maybe there are some swinging pineapple lamps going on. lol I have heard that on here before but betting it might have been you that I read it from. Anyway, any more info on Laurel Springs is appreciated!

livinginbuffalo · 01-02-2011, 05:55 PM

no, we won't be renting our home. If we move, we will have a relocation package but besides that, our housing never really had a bubble in western new york. Values have stayed about the same. We never went way up so nothing to come back down on. Not sure we'll get everything we put in but that's to be expected when you build a brand new custom home. I think we'll be happy with what we get out of it (I hope!)