Areas with with nice, newer homes betw $600 and $700k with a reasonable commute to Midtown? (Sandy Springs: new home, school district)

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Dkeating

The heart (and the OP) wants what it wants, and some people just prefer new.

I understand that and of course people should get what they want. It just seems to me that in a quality renovation the things that could go wrong (roof, appliances, systems, etc.) are going to be new anyway.

[EarlofCardigan]

Part of the allure of a "new city,"'like Atlanta is a home with a two-story living room, coffered ceilings, etc., which one does not find on homes built in the 1970s and 80s. That's why I like newer homes.

[timtemtym]

I REALLY miss living in new shiny areas. When I worked in Texas I moved out farther every few years for the nice apartments in new building areas. It was so nice having everything in the neighborhood clean and working with people who looked clean and working.

In LA that is not a possibility unless you have millions to spend buying, tearing down, rebuilding. There is no more build-able open land in the basin and when something comes up like an old oil field or office park, the land is usually pretty gross. They built a new shiny neighborhood over a capped oil field and now are having to buy back those homes because cancer rates are off the chart. Anyways!!

If I moved to a city like Atlanta or Dallas, I'd want to live in something new and shiny. Otherwise why leave NY or LA where everything is old and dirty or new and severely overpriced? That's the allure that drags Californians to the South.

[deacongirl]

Originally Posted by EarlofCardigan

Thank you.

Is the 45 minute commute applicable even at 7:00 am?

No. It would be slightly less. But I would def. leave by 7. But, tons of people do it. My husband commutes to downtown.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by EarlofCardigan

Part of the allure of a "new city,"'like Atlanta is a home with a two-story living room, coffered ceilings, etc., which one does not find on homes built in the 1970s and 80s. That's why I like newer homes.

I gotcha. I was actually thinking of homes older than those from the 70s and 80s.

[EarlofCardigan]

Originally Posted by deacongirl

No. It would be slightly less. But I would def. leave by 7. But, tons of people do it. My husband commutes to downtown.

Thanks.

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by EarlofCardigan

Part of the allure of a "new city,"'like Atlanta is a home with a two-story living room, coffered ceilings, etc., which one does not find on homes built in the 1970s and 80s. That's why I like newer homes.

Ok, so you really do mean new-ish in some cases. My early 2000s home in Smyrna has all of the aforementioned.

Note that some of the homes in Buckhead and Vinings built in the 60s/70s have those things too, through significant renovations and additions. However, you wouldn't be able to afford those homes either since the cheapest are over a million and the more expensive ones are typically over 10 million :-( That's why Smyrna and East Cobb are attractive to people.

The "in" thing in Smyrna is to have a small builder like Traton Homes build you a custom home on a tear-down lot. Tear-down rebuilds are nothing new. It's just filtering over from Vinings and Buckhead to Smyrna since things have gotten largely too expensive in Vinings and Buckhead.

[10 feet tall]

Originally Posted by EarlofCardigan

Part of the allure of a "new city,"'like Atlanta is a home with a two-story living room, coffered ceilings, etc., which one does not find on homes built in the 1970s and 80s. That's why I like newer homes.

I suppose it's all a matter of perspective. To me, nothing says "dated" like a 2-story living room or vaulted ceilings. What is this, Falcon Crest?

I don't see the allure personally, but to each his own. If this is what you want, you will find no shortage of these homes in Atlanta and I think you are going to love it here. Indeed, many people in Atlanta actually complain that they cannot find the type of home you are trying to get away from, and bemoan the fact that all they can find are newer suburban homes with vaulted ceilings and 2-story living rooms.

It sounds like Atlanta is your oyster, and you shouldn't have any trouble finding a perfect home.

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by 10 feet tall

It sounds like Atlanta is your oyster, and you shouldn't have any trouble finding a perfect home.

Confused about this. Atlanta has more older homes. The newer homes that meet these requirements are largely in the north metro.

Heck, there are $600k to $1 million dollar townhomes just outside of Smyrna in Ivy Walk with coffered ceilings, suade paint and marbled pillars and they aren't brand new. Many of them were built before I moved to metro Atlanta in '05. I live right near there.

I don't get the whole fixation of move-in ready. That's pretty typical in Smyrna and most buyers are looking for move-in-ready nowadays here. I don't really get it.
Although my house was built in 2000, there are a decent number of 70s/80s Georgian style colonials, such as in Pebblebrook and East Cobb, which look pretty much the same as newer homes in these regards, just without the detail work that can easily be added later. So it shouldn't be assumed that an older home doesn't have the capability of pretty inexpensively becoming something that looks brand new.

Transforming a house is actually fun. It is more cost-effective too. But no house would be considered finished to me. There's always something you can improve. Yes, my house came with some of the upgrades such as trey ceilings, coffered ceilings, judges panel, marble fireplace. Therefore, it wasn't as much of a blank slate as a Georgian style colonial from the 80s that just tended to have high ceilings and not much else in terms of details. However, it had a lot left for me to do myself and I love having control over what's done and nit-pick every little detail. I just can't help myself. I'm taking my current bonus and finishing my basement with a 3d HDTV movie screen, and a whole bunch of other things. I intentionally bought a home without a finished basement since I would have just torn apart whatever it came with, though while looking, I got plenty of ideas. I'm starting that project next week. I'm still going crazy hiring people to work on a never-ending terraced garden project in my backyard (I keep coming up with new ideas) with goldfish pond, fountains and misters, built-in outdoor kitchen area, water misters, stonework with moongate arches and accent lighting built into the stonework. It's starting to look amazing, but it'll never be truly done :-) I have plans to extend my 10x10 master closet to be 20x20 with galley containing built-ins and adding an observatory with dormers in the attic with Atlanta skyline view (since there's virtually no stars), and at some point solar panels before I buy my Tesla Model S or X next year. It seems a lot more fun to me than the house just coming with it and it satiates my extremely picky tastes to have it perfect in my eyes.

[Smokipenelope]

This neighborhood has new homes being built in Brookhaven, assuming they still have single family homes left. We looked at them and they were very nice:

Reserve at Brookleigh SF New Homes: Brookhaven, GA Custom Builders | Ashton Woods

I am assuming they will be zoned for Montgomery Elementary, but not sure.