Home Ownership expenses + Six Flags Area (Atlanta, Mableton: mortgage, property taxes, insurance)

[BronxtoATL]

Hello everyone, so like most others on this board I will be moving to Atlanta and buying a house for the first time.

I have 2 questions: I am looking to move to the Six Flags / Austell / Lithia Springs / Douglasville area (Exit 41-49 of I20).
Can any one give some info about these areas? Crime, etc...

I have rented for all my adult life not sure of some the added expenses with home ownership, if you have bought a house in Atlanta or have some info I would appreciate it.
I know all the cost that comes with the mortgage, but what other expenses should I be considering and estimated cost? (Electric, Water, Gas, etc)

[plessthanpointohfive]

Mortgage, property taxes, home insurance, PMI (if necessary) are all usually rolled into your monthly note.

Cost of electricity and gas is dependent on the size and age of the house, age of the HVAC, etc. Water is usually pretty cheap unless you water gardens a lot, which isn't happening right now because of the drought.

The other expenses are repair and maintenance of the house. How this runs depends on the age of the house and the quality of construction. I bought an 85 year old house that had not really been updated. So, we're constantly spending money on it. Our last house was built in 1986 and we didn't have any repairs while we were there.

I can tell you that a new roof is expensive (7K) and so is new HVAC (11-12K for 2 unit system). So, make sure whatever house you buy has a relatively new roof and HVAC. Make sure it has copper plumbing and wiring. Make sure the foundation is sound.

Good luck! And make sure to get a home inspection!

[BronxtoATL]

Thanks for the info. My purchase will most likely be a new home or something built 2002 or newer. Will definitely get a home inspection.
Just dont want to get any extra bills, I figured the most common would be:
Electric
Gas
Water
Cable/Telephone/Ineternet
Association Fees
Which will probably total about $500/month or more. Let me know if I am missing anything, this will affect my purchase price and monthly mortgage.

[plessthanpointohfive]

The only one that's actually not a necessity is cable/telephone/internet....for me it's expensive because I have a unique situation... DirecTV for television - $70/mo. Verizon for phone and internet - $180/mo.

I own a duplex that I live in one half of...the bottom half...so I am not paying the full amount to heat/cool/light my 2300sqft entire duplex. My gas (heat) bill topped out at $130 this winter. I would guess my tenant (she) upstairs benefitted from my heat and she probably never spent more than $100, probably quite a bit less or I would have heard about it. For electric...winter it's about $75/mo. Her's is probably about the same. Summer my electric topped out at $200. That was before I got a brand new energy efficient AC...so this summer will be different. She didn't have AC last summer (does now) so her costs probably stayed the same.

Water - highest was $60 before the watering ban when I had new landscaping put in. Most times it's about $30.

I don't pay association fees and you may or may not, depending on if you choose that kind of place.

Good luck!

[netdragon]

I would really avoid getting too close to Six Flags (stay at least a half mile from the low income apartments near there). It's being improved but has a while to go. I'd shoot for the center of Austell or towards East-West connector, Powder Springs, or Mableton North of Gordon Rd or East of Mableton Pkwy. I'd stay away from the areas off Thornton Rd right near I-20 South of the shopping centers near Maxham Rd, especially as you get closer to Six Flags.

[mxd.Brit]

Another point if you are planning to buy a relatively new house watch out how they advertise the tax because the house we are in the process of buying was advertised as $500 ish (which we took with a pinch of salt anyway) but that's because the previous year the house had not been occupied since being built in 2006. The actual tax turned out to be $4000 ish - but it's in a good school district