Looking to rent a house (Atlanta, Doraville: for sale, real estate, apartment) - Georgia (GA) - City-Data Forum

derekgreer17 · 01-21-2007, 03:07 PM

I am moving to Atlanta in about 2-3 weeks and would like to rent a small house with a fenced in yard. Is it possible to get one in a decent neighborhood for 800 to 900?

My job is located at the intersection of 285 and 85 in NE atlanta.

stvincent · 01-22-2007, 04:39 AM

That is VERY low when talking about renting a house in Metro Atlanta. You might be able to find some townhomes or smaller homes in Norcorss or Doraville in that price range. Both are NE Atlanta suburbs within close proximity to your job. But both are less than desirable places to live. They have very high immmigrant populations(mostly Hispanic), poor schools, and a high level of gang related crimes. Your best bet if you would like to reside in a nice community would be to just find an apartment OR move to a far out suburb and just deal with the hellish commute to work...as you will be working near Spaghetti Junction, one of the most, if not the most congested area of Atlanta.

xxman777 · 01-22-2007, 08:36 AM

Be careful if you are planning on driving through the I-85/I-285 intersection. It's ranked #10 (#2 in Georgia) on the list of top US major bottlenecks. That might give you an idea of what people are talking about when they say the traffic here is awful.

jeweloflight · 01-22-2007, 02:41 PM

800-900 for a small house? That's more like the price of a one or two bedroom apartment depending on where inside the perimeter you live. I would be surprised if you found a house with a yard in a nice neighborhood for that price, even a townhouse.

LLD · 01-22-2007, 04:03 PM

While looking at real estate, I noticed several houses that were for sale that were duplexes and tri-plexes - maybe there are those kinds of situations and what about house sharing? Do they do that in Atlanta? That is very popular in the Northeast because housing is so expensive.

BTW, what would a small 2 BR house rent for in say midtown or intown neighborhoods?

stvincent · 01-22-2007, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LLD

BTW, what would a small 2 BR house rent for in say midtown or intown neighborhoods?

Your post made me curious about how much a twoo bedroom house would rent for in intown Atlanta so I searched rental properties on www.realtor.com (broken link) in the zips 30318, 30305,30309, 30324, and 30306. I was suprised to find that some homes could be rented for $1200-$1400 in Berkley Park and Long Heights, "West Midtown" neighborhoods. In places like Morningside, Virginia Highland, Midtown, etc. you can expect to pay between $1500 and $2000 a month though, which is really high considering how much you could save by renting a condo or apartment instead in these same areas. For this much you can buy a condo in Atlanta.

LLD · 01-22-2007, 04:53 PM

Hmmm... well that is a bit crazy because you can pay about $1400/month house payment on a $300K house and there are several houses for that price or less in several intown neighborhoods.

Figment 07 · 01-22-2007, 05:06 PM

There are, but look out if you see only one freshly painted exterior wall or a big patch of almost-matching paint on the "or less" house. My best friend was told that the owner of a house that he wanted to remodel and flip had been testing paint colors. No, he was covering graffiti (my friend must have looked stupid, huh?).

A neighbor clued him in that the house was being repeatedly "tagged" by a gang. Do your homework.

stvincent · 01-22-2007, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LLD

Hmmm... well that is a bit crazy because you can pay about $1400/month house payment on a $300K house and there are several houses for that price or less in several intown neighborhoods.

In the most desirable neighborhoods it does cost as much to rent as it will to buy. Thats why so many people own homes here. Unless you are renting a home to get a feel of the neighborhood before settling in permanatly, renting a home just doesn't make much sense here.