Communities like Seven Oaks (Atlanta, Roswell: houses, neighborhoods, buy)

[mtnbkr1]

My family is in the process of relocating to Atlanta and visited Seven Oaks in Johns Creek last week. Are there other communities that are similar? Things we like about the community are:

1) Large enough community - Many communities we saw were 20 homes on a single street, we want enough houses in the area where we can go down the street without hitting a major road.
2) Amenities - pool, tennis, etc.. We liked that the amenities looked well kept/maintained and we know we want at least pool and tennis.
3) Pricing - we're in the 350-400k range and there were some homes that fit this.
4) Schools - I know this goes to Northview. We'd like to stay near there but aren't tied 100% to Northview. From what we here, North Fulton schools are good, as well as neighboring areas. We've looked all through the general northern suburbs like Alpharetta, Roswell, Duluth, and Johns Creek.
5) Basements required - I know some houses don't have basements, but there were several options with basements
6) House itself - we liked the general size of the house and want something similar, no split levels, ranch/ramblers, etc..

From a school zoning standpoint, we noticed that Seven Oaks appears to be almost an island community that goes to Northview. Is this a recent change? Cambridge it right around the corner, closer to Northview but goes to Chattahoochee if I remember correctly. I'm using this map
http://portal.fultonschools.org/depa...iewHS_1112.pdf

[flamadiddle]

Deer Lake is right down the street and worth a look.

Also, check out St. Marlo. With the downturn in the economy, you can find homes around $400K there. Schools and amenities are excellent and you get low Forsyth county taxes. Schools in St. Marlo for reference are Johns Creek Elementary, Riverwatch Middle and Lambert High School.

[livinginbuffalo]

I don't think you will get into St. Marlo for $400K but there are definitely neighborhoods in the Sharon Elementary, Big Creek, Daves Creek, Johns Creek school districts in that price range. They are right across the county line in Forsyth County that feed into Lambert or South Forsyth high school and are about two-five miles from Seven Oaks. They all have large neighborhoods with pool/tennis with lower taxes and schools on par if not better. Have your agent search your price range with Lambert and South Forsyth High Schools for some options.

[LovelySummer]

MtnBkr1,
I don't live in Johns Creek but you have to know that the economy has hit Atlanta as hard as anywhere else and there is so much unobstructed land (unlike places like LA where the ocean is on one side and mountains on the other) so the builders just keep on building, and it is really easy to find a house that is just a few years old many times in the area that you want that is much less than the ones that are brand new. Ample opportunity for really good deals. I wouldn't buy anything brand new. It's totally unnecessary (unless you just want to be able to say that it's brand new).