Buying in Atlanta for under 100K? (Mableton, Dallas: mortgage, maintenance, apartment complex)

[LovinDecatur]

As far as buying a home goes, the rule here is simple: the further from the city center you go, the cheaper the land costs and therefore the house. You would probably have to go clear out to Walton County to find a safe neighborhood that met your requirements.
If you decide to rent, here's my suggestion: There are some older but well-maintained apartment complexes on E. College Ave. in Avondale Estates; they are relatively inexpensive, and are a hop, skip and a jump from the Avondale MARTA station. Avondale is a great community, and right next to Decatur, which is also great. You'll find a lot of people your age with small children there (the playground near my house is bedlam most days).

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

The MARTA east line deadheads at Kensington station, not far from some Stone Mountain neighborhoods...most of the neighborhoods around it are frankly dicey. I wouldn't want my stay-at-home wife and child living there.

Stone Mountain isn't what it was years ago. It's gone downhill quite a bit in many areas and the crime has gone up in many of the neighborhoods as well.

Honestly, you need to just rent for now. I live 25 miles outside of Atlanta now, and even out here you won't get any home (short of a single wide trailer - maybe) that's under $100,000 - and there's no public transit at all.

R-E-N-T is not a dirty word considering your budget.

[intoeyes2001]

I think that West End Historic District is the area that suites your requirements. You will find a lot of beautiful, historic houses selling for around 100K due to the mortgage fraud. Also, West End has a Marta station in walkable distance and it is located very close to downtown Atlanta. I do not use Marta, but it takes around 5 minutes to get to downtown from here.
If you love historic place - this is a neighborhood you may look into. It is a transitional area, so you will find a lot of renovated houses as well as ones that need tons of work. Every month the community is getting stronger by influx of new residents to the area. Please check out our new website: atlantawestend.com - Home - we are still working on it.
I understand your concerns about safety, but residents of West End are taking proactive approach to improve the area. There is a neighborhood watch plus off-duty security patrol is going to start on April 1st.
You are welcome to come to the neighborhood meeting on April 1st at the Public Library at Peeples Street.

[lastminutemom]

Why buy? There are a ton of financial experts who right now are encouraging renting... if you buy in an area like St. Mountain, you may not see appreciation for many years especially because of the high number of foreclosures.

I would rent, let your DH finish school and see where life takes you. If you have to leave in a couple of years, you may not even break even on a sale, depending on what the market does.

Thirty thousand dollars won't go very far in ATL. Will GA Tech be paying for his MARTA pass.. .if not that is over $50 a month The cost of groceries and gas goes up daily, so unless you have a lot in savings... I would seriously consider renting.

[plessthanpointohfive]

Since your husband is getting a PhD and generally that means going SOMEWHERE ELSE for a job I wouldn't buy. You're only going to be here at most 5 years. With this economy just rent something and save money for a home for when he gets his professorship or other job...

[netdragon]

You may find some fixer uppers around that price on Hollywood Rd, but I'd recommend living close to Bolton Rd (no more than a half mile away) and stay away from Bankhead Highway where it's more iffy unless you're really willing to be a pioneer. You also might find some around the intersection of Marietta Parkway and Marietta Street, though those are going up in price really quickly. Also, places near a MARTA station in that range will probably not be very safe. You'll also find cheap land in Lakewood south of Grant Park near the end of Langford Parkway.

With the housing prices now, if you're going to be here 5 years then it may not be a bad idea if you're willing to put some real sweat equity into it, but you may want to get a slightly more established areas like West midtown and Grant Park versus areas like Bankhead Highway and Lakewood which probably have more than 5 years before you'll see major increases in value and I don't consider it worth being in a more dangerous area.

Otherwise, you'll need to settle for an older small condo in the 'burbs to get anything in the $100ks. For instance, Smyrna has some in the $100ks on Spring Rd, which is pretty nice.

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

As far as buying a home goes, the rule here is simple: the further from the city center you go, the cheaper the land costs and therefore the house. You would probably have to go clear out to Walton County to find a safe neighborhood that met your requirements.

Actually, land is cheaper for a lot of the less established areas of Atlanta (Bankhead, South Atlanta, etc) than some of the close Northern suburbs (Smyrna, Dunwoody, Vinings, Sandy Springs, etc) since those parts of Atlanta are less established. They may be good for pioneers (like those first moving to Grant Park and "West midtown" part of Bankhead used to be). I think when ignoring the Northern suburbs and talking about sparsely populated areas to the East, West, and South, what you say more or less holds true. For the Northern suburbs, you have to go out to Bartow, Forsyth, and Cherokee counties to see a major break in land price.

[VirtualM]

I'm going to second Historic West End - because I'm currently renovating a home there that we bought for under $100k (it's a 3/2, over 2000 square feet, at least 100 years old is our guess). I'm also a stay-at-home mom with a toddler, so I'm going to be home all day as well when we move into the neighborhood and I'm not a bit worried. All of the neighbors we've met are great and very involved. There is a MARTA rail station within walking distance, and at this point, my husband is seriously considering biking to his job just north of GA Tech once we move into the house - it's roughly 4-5 miles.
You should come to a neighborhood association meeting - I was pleasantly surprised at my first neighborhood association meeting. I'm also looking for people to playgroup with my son!
And for what it's worth, I currently live in East Point, also within walking distance of a MARTA train station. You probably can't buy for under $100k in the nicer parts of East Point, but if you increase your budget to about $130k, you might be able to find something. We like it here as well, but we we ready for a change and a bit of a bigger house, hence the move. There are also a lot of young families in East Point/College Park and we've made a lot of friends at the local playgroups.

[misstristyn]

Thanks for all the input so far. My research into local crime rates has turned our attention toward the West a bit. What do ya'll think of places like Lithia Springs, Mableton, Powder Springs, and Kennesaw. We can probably afford up to $130 or so to be honest, but the cheaper the better in case we end up having to add a car payment or something. And for those who suggest renting because the real estate market will fail to appreciate and we may not "break even", well, does anyone ever break even renting? It seems to me that even if you sell your house for exactly what you paid for it and just take the hit on the fees, you're still saving a lot of money over rent over the course of four or five years, especially if you buy a home well within your price range on a 15 year mortgage so that your equity builds faster, and also if you take good care of it and make smart investments and upgrades. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
I hadn't considered Historic West Point (honestly I hadn't heard of it...) Safety is our top priority and everything I've looked at indicates that the closer to Atlanta you are the worse the crime. Now I understand there are good neighborhoods and bad in every zip code, so is this Historic West Point one of the good ones?
Also, we will be renting for at least the first six months or so while we get our bearings and really get a chance to look around us. We would like to rent in the same area we plan to buy so that we can get an honest feel for the neighborhood (hence all the early research) We want to find a good deal on rent (on a house, we have absolutely no desire to live in an apartment) so that we can save as much as possible for the down payment. Any suggestions on best places to look for afforable house rentals? So far I've perused Craigslist.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by misstristyn

And for those who suggest renting because the real estate market will fail to appreciate and we may not "break even", well, does anyone ever break even renting? It seems to me that even if you sell your house for exactly what you paid for it and just take the hit on the fees, you're still saving a lot of money over rent over the course of four or five years, especially if you buy a home well within your price range on a 15 year mortgage so that your equity builds faster, and also if you take good care of it and make smart investments and upgrades. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

The thing is, renting is sometimes better than owning in today's market because when you rent, the apartment complex takes care of all maintenance, all yard work, etc. You pay rent and that's it. Some of them include water in the rent as well, and most include sanitation pickup. Unless you get a VERY good deal on a house and it's in VERY good shape from the get-go, then sometimes it's best to rent until you can afford more, in a nicer neighborhood. If you go to Google and type in, "is renting better than owning?", you'll find some interesting articles on the subject.

Originally Posted by misstristyn

I hadn't considered Historic West Point (honestly I hadn't heard of it...) Safety is our top priority and everything I've looked at indicates that the closer to Atlanta you are the worse the crime. Now I understand there are good neighborhoods and bad in every zip code, so is this Historic West Point one of the good ones?

The West End neighborhoods are what's called "up and coming" areas. The REAL translation for up and coming is, "not so great quite yet, higher crime than normal, but it's turning around slowly for the better". They have strong neighborhood associations and people who watch out for one another, but the fact is, you're still near the heart of the inner city of a large city that overall has a higher than normal crime rate.

Since you did spell out that safety "is a top priority" to you - no, these are not areas I would personally consider. Those who live in those areas will argue with that and say that daisys bloom and bluebirds sing all day on rose covered branches, but in fact yes, you will want security lights on your porch, secure deadbolts on the doors, and in some areas you may still need burglar bars on the lower windows. If you were a young trendy childless urban couple I'd say "go for it, the house will be worth a lot one day", but if you've got a 2 year old and will be home all day with the child, no, I would not at all feel comfortable. Again, some will argue out the wazzoo over comments like that, but I'm not politically correct or sing Kum-ba-ya all day long, reality is unfortunately my middle name. I have no doubt that ONE DAY these areas will be the next Inman Parks and Virginia Highlands of Atlanta - but that "one day" is not here yet.

I'm still sticking to my guns and saying that I feel you should pick a nice area you like that's convenient to where you WANT to live, then rent there. Save your money. Every penny of extra throwaway money. Then at some point if you decide to stay in the area, you'll have more to buy a home in that area and won't have to settle for an up and coming zone.

[lastminutemom]

Without two cars, and with a small child, you are going to be miserable in all those areas. Those are very car oriented communities.

yes, the research actually shows that now is the time to rent. Given that your husband is getting his PHD at Tech, how likely do you think it is that you will be able to stay in ATL for employment?