Moving from NY to GA (Atlanta, Lawrenceville: short sales, real estate, foreclosures)

[TriV E uhM]

Hey guys,

My wife and I are currently residing with in-law's in Long Island, NY, and within the next few months will be moving to Georgia. The family consists of me, wife, and one year old son. Our focus is to move in Grayson, Gwinnett County. Below are the details. Feel free to comment, as this is an important move for us. Thanks guys.

1. Budget: $100,000.
2. House/Condo/Townhome? House.
3. Employment Status(commute/work from home): 38K, work from home.
4. Children(public school vs. private) - One child, one year old. School is N/A atm.
5. Suburban or Urban lifestyle preference or a mix of the two - either/mix.
6. Easy access to public transit, important or not? Not important.
7. Preferable demographics of desired neighborhood. Low crime is all I care about.

Your comments will be appreciated. Thank you.

[Atlanta_BD]

On that budget you won't have too many options for decent places larger than a one or two bedroom or in a good school district and there are many parts of Gwinnett that aren't safe.

Maybe someone knows more about that area and can tell you but $100k is extremely low expect to pay for a decent home in a good area for a family. Maybe you can find a foreclosures.

If you don't plan to stay in Georgia for the long haul then school isn't an isssue. But if you plan to stay,your child will be school age before you know it and finding good school districts AND affordable housing will NOT be synonymous. You may be better off renting.

See the discussion Places to Live in Gwinnett County .

I don't you will find anything in your price range in the best parts of Gwinnett. Do some research though. Maybe you'll get lucky.

[testa50]

Is there a reason you're looking at Grayson in particular?

My understanding is that folks on very limited budgets can still get pretty good schools and safety by moving to one of the oodles of stalled housing developments on the exurban frontier. The houses won't be fantastic, you'll be a heck of a long way from Atlanta, and you'll definitely put some miles on the car (even working from home), but it'll certainly be cheap!

You might want to expand your search to include nearby portions of Barrow and Walton counties. Once you get that far out there aren't really "rough areas" anymore.

[researchnerd]

Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD

On that budget you won't have too many options for decent places larger than a one or two bedroom or in a good school district and there are many parts of Gwinnett that aren't safe.
Maybe someone knows more about that area and can tell you but $100k is extremely low expect to pay for a decent home in a good area for a family. Maybe you can find a foreclosures.

Grayson is not a high-crime area of Gwinnett, it's quiet and pretty. There are definitely single-family homes in your price range, although some may be small, short sales, or need a bit of work. You may also want to take a look at nearby Loganville, which has a few more options and is a teensy bit closer to the city.

Since you are moving from out of state, I recommend renting for a year before you buy. This will give you an opportunity to check out different areas in detail (hard to do from far away) and decide where you want to live longterm before making an investment.

[TriV E uhM]

Thank you for your feedback. We prefer to live in Grayson, because I have lived there for 8 years. I am now in New York with my wife and kid for approximately 3 years now. Also, our son will be Home Schooled and/or attending a private school which is located in Grayson. So, schooling for our little one will not be an issue.

Going forward, there are plenty of houses in Grayson which are 100K and below which offer 3beds/2baths with decent amount of space, and are in reportedly-low crime rate areas. This has been confirmed with my real estate agent. I know of the small pockets of Grayson to stay away from. I am leaning to avoid areas close Lawrenceville, and staying away from getting into Snellville or Loganville as recommended by other posts on the forum (due to rednecks, and it being "run down).

My question really breaks down to what area are your ideas about Grayson, Snellville, Loganville, and 5-miles-surrounding areas with respect to demographics (race), and crime rate. That is all of my concern. I apologize for my vague post and not providing clear enough information. Thank you!

[cittic10]

Personally I'd pick Buford but that wasn't one of the options.

I agree there's a lot here at the moment for around $100k. Grayson I don't know so much about, but towards Buford there is. Nice neighborhoods.

[TriV E uhM]

Personally I'd pick Buford but that wasn't one of the options.

I agree there's a lot here at the moment for around $100k. Grayson I don't know so much about, but towards Buford there is. Nice neighborhoods.

That's something I'd consider. Why Buford? I haven't much discovered anything about that area other than driving pass the area. Thank you.

[researchnerd]

There are numerous websites where you can research crime rates by location. Here's a start:
Gwinnett County, GA Crime Map - Showing Crimes in Gwinnett County - Crime Statistics, Alerts and Reports - Crime Stops Here
CrimeMapping.com - National Map
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

Ditto for racial demographics:
Loganville (city) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau
Grayson, Georgia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://www.gwinnettcounty.com/static...ity_report.pdf

[TriV E uhM]

Just a follow-up. We have purchased a house in Gwinnett. We are pleased with our purchase quite a bit. Thanks everyone for the information.

[SlowDriver]

Good to hear! Welcome back to Georgia.