Johns Creek Homes and Real Estate (Atlanta, Roswell: 2013, apartment, refinance)

[mrpanda]

GeorgiaLakeSearch,

I am not arguing with you that Druid Hills, Buckhead... etc. real estate prices may kill Johns Creek & S. Forsyth or has more demand. Just do a simple search and you will see homes valued a $18M in Buckhead while the most expensive home in Forsyth County may be $3M. I just don't really care nor do i have any interest in studying the real estate in Druid Hills, Midtown, Buckhead and the others you have mentioned. I am only interested in the real estate market in the northern suburbs of Atlanta. So please, start your own real estate thread for the cities you mentioned.

As as Buffalo mentioned.. if i was an empty nester and had the $$$$$ to buy in Buckhead... there is no way I will be retiring in Georgia, I will be buying a multi-million dollar estate somewhere in Southern California. To Spend couple of million dollars on a home in Georgia just seems plain stupid to me, but what do i know.

To each his own! Like my mother used to say what i was little, "Whatever floats your boat!"

Originally Posted by livinginbuffalo

I saw that and those people are just what we are talking about, empty nesters who wanted to live in the city but I see you ignored the other article in the same section of Sunday's paper that talked about the S. Forsyth couple who sold their home in six days to a relocation family coming here for the excellent schools. The sellers originally came here from Kentucky to for a job transfer and purchased here for the great schools and then sold their home in six days to another relo family. Nice cherry picking!

Well-regarded school district aided in sale *| ajchomefinder.com

Why is one better than the other? They are both great options depending on what you want for you and your family. It's very possible that when my husband and I are empty nesters, we will move into the city or maybe move to another state for that matter! But for now, we are happy in our soon to be home in the golf community with top schools that we wanted. To each his own!!

[Majorflaw]

I have an ITP house and am trying to move to one of the northern suburbs soon. I see value in both ways of living. To say Johns Creek is great doesn't exclude the fact in-town living has huge benefits too. There will always be different opinions as people ferociously defend their own. However, to thread-crap constantly in one titled Johns Creek real-estate is getting a little old for me.

When you stop being reasonable, people stop listening to you.

[chalvey]

Originally Posted by Majorflaw

I have an ITP house and am trying to move to one of the northern suburbs soon. I see value in both ways of living. To say Johns Creek is great doesn't exclude the fact in-town living has huge benefits too. There will always be different opinions as people ferociously defend their own. However, to thread-crap constantly in one titled Johns Creek real-estate is getting a little old for me.

When you stop being reasonable, people stop listening to you.

IMO, this is how it statred. There's one poster who constantly wrote that J.C. is the best, the wealthiest, &I offers the best lifestyle. His posts are quite informative though & I do look forward to reading them. An opposition came up to balance his views & yes it has definitiely snowballed out of hand.

I have recommended J.C. to several people on CD, that being said I would never move their for four reasons: 1: everything looks the same, 2. Not enough trees, 3. Snobbery (i do not know what its like for parents, but as a kid in high school & now uni it was how big is your house?, what car is your dad getting you?, J.C girls ), 4. Location (it needs to become more accessible, if property values are to really increase)

Positives: 1. Excellent schools, 2. Safe, well maintained, the epitome of a suburb.

[chalvey]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaLakeSearch

I agree where will they move next? In my opinion it shows a lack of commitment to the community. It does not help the Asians build a strong community. MrPanda confuses me because he wants to be apart of Atlanta or Johns Creeks(which is in Fulton not Forsyth) yet he lives too far from Atlanta for a reasonable commute. He thinks the drive to the airport is bad, and that is why Forsyth is an exurb. I still loved hearing that Forsyth or Johns Creek was a "tier one" area of Atlanta. Why do I not meet any Forsyth or Johns Creek people at Atlanta events(Charities, the Clubs(and no not the clubs where they talk about "popping bottles"), or supporting the arts)?

I went to Vanderlyn, and our class made it a blue ribbon school. Ever since then, a lot of Indians have started renting apartments zoned for Vanderlyn and save money in order to buy a house in either Alpharetta, J.C., suwanee, forysth. The ones who spend more than $400,000 can buy a house in either Austin or Vanderlyn but don't for several reasons (less sq for the price, older homes (most indians struggle w/ DIY), more yardwork. Its a personal choise, but you stated it brilliantly, a lack of commitment. If they had stayed in the cluster amd put that same effort in the middle school, Dunwoody would be even better. If one of those school systems starts declining, asians will starts leaving.

On the topic of the arts. I can only speak from my perspective. All the people I know personally in J.C are indian. I can assure you that most of their parents do not know where the high museum/ atlanta symphony are located, much less know who Rothko was. That being said, as the other poster mentioned, maybe they have their own functions?

[mrpanda]

Lambert HS Cluster:
As of May 30th, 2012
Median home price: $341,500 427 homes sold in the last 12 months

Highest Closing: St. Marlo Country Club $1,825,000
Lowest Closing: Riverbrooke $129,900

Seems like $130,000 is the new floor now in the Lambert HS cluster.

Here are the top 3 sellers in the Lambert HS Cluster

1) St Marlo Country Club 60 homes sold Average Home Price: $620,711
2) Laurel Springs 32 homes sold Average Home Price: $564,750
3) Riverbrook 30 homes sold Average Home Price: $191,956

[mrpanda]

Rents in Lambert are ranging from $1200 - $5450. St. Marlo has had 14 rental closing in the past 12 months, which is very unusual for a high end subdivision. Only 3 rentals closings in Laurel Springs in the past 12 months.

Median rent is $1788.

On the rent side there is currently 2.6 months of inventory
On the sales side there is currently 9 months of inventory

[mrpanda]

Average Closing Prices are moving up in the two subdivisions : Turnberry and Three Chimneys Farm.

Subdivision Three Chimneys Farm is the median home price of the Lambert HS cluster.

There has been 18 closings in the last 12 months: Average home price in Three Chimneys is $367,221.

Turnberry is a beautiful gated higher end new subdivision within the Lambert cluster. There has been 13 closings in the last 12 months at an average closing price of $448,055.

The lowest new construction entry into Sharon Elementary is Waterford Bluff. It is a small subdivision with only a total of 4 closings in the last 12 months.

[mrpanda]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/05/20/america-s-best-high-schools.html

How does Johns Creek's Northview High rank compared to some of the best public high schools in California?

Northview - Johns Creek - #99 (#2). Northview High School ranks 49 notches higher than Irvine's best high school : University High School. The median home price is $870,000 in the the prestigious Uni High zip code of 92603.

So in this study - National Rank and State Rank:
University - #148 (#21)
Northwood - #159 (#24)
Corona Del Mar - #202 (#31)
Irvine - #221 (#34)
Beckman - #284 (#44)
Woodbridge - #630 (#91)

[mrpanda]

Here is the list of the top ten most affluent cities in the state of Georgia.

[Tarzanman]

Wow. Having lived in Atlanta for 17 years, and north Atlanta for 10-11 years..... I would take any piece of advice from someone who has lived here only one year with a HUGE grain of salt.

No offense, Mr. Panda, but i think the people reading your posts might be better served if you would throttle back on any advice that doesn't involve hard numbers or pricing in North Fulton. Johns Creek is far from the end all of suburbia in the Atlanta area. I know that you're trying to hustle up interest & sales for your realty but I know restaurant servers and soccer moms that have a more accurate and objective perspective on the schools and overall housing market than yours.

The biggest minus to living in Johns Creek (depending upon your perspective) is that it does not abut any major interstates. Peachtree Industrial Blvd and 141 are the biggest arteries going north/south. Those at the southern end of Johns Creek (close to alpharetta/roswell, where i lived for a few years) can sneak by with a relatively short hop to GA400 via Mansell Rd, but everyone else has to deal with miles of surface streets (and surface traffic) to reach the interstate.

Much of Johns Creek is still currently relatively new construction, which makes it very visually appealing to many visitors... especially people from the NYC area who may not be accustomed to all of the green space. It is a fairly safe area and even though housing in the area is perhaps slightly inflated because of your zip code, it is still cheaper than areas like DC.

Having said that, commuting into Atlanta proper would be a 45+ minute ordeal. You would be in the heavier direction of traffic during rush hour (into the city in the morning, back out in the afternoon), and there is no viable mass transit alternative. MARTA rail stops in Doraville (still inside the perimeter) on one line and at North Springs (~5 miles outside the perimeter up 400), which is still a ~10-12 minute haul from the closest section of John's Creek in no traffic.

Atlanta traffic is not the worst in the country, but there are large, populated expanses not properly served by mass transit options. Living in Johns Creek and working in Marietta, Vinings, or even some sections of downtown would mean spending almost 2 hours a day in the car. The advantage that other suburbs can offer (Dunwoody, Norcross, Roswell and Alpharetta to some extent) are proximity to major arteries as an alternative to surface streets. The difference isn't always huge, but 15 minutes can add up over time.

Johns Creek is not a bad place, but I would be careful of buying in to the hype of JC as *the* hot place to live. It is a suburb...some parts far enough to be considered an exurb, which means that it there are fewer artistic/cultural/historical/social layers to it than less 'superficial' parts of the metro area. For example, if you want to play ice hockey then you'll have to travel to Duluth or Roswell. The closest malls are in Alpharetta, Lawrenceville, Suwanee, or Dunwoody, etc.

Each area has its ups and downs that are not easily gleaned from housing sales trends. As I have already said... it is probably not the best idea to take a 1 yr old transplant's advice as gospel on the ins and outs of the entire area.

Hope I haven't offended anyone