Moving to Northside Atlanta (Sandy Springs, Roswell: cheap apartments, buying a home, neighborhoods)

[BiCyclops]

My wife and family are relocating to the northside of atlanta and wanted to learn more about the area. Her job is in sandy springs and we have kids. Just got out of grad school and we would like to buy a house. Can anyone help out with these questions:

Where should we live to minimize comute and have decent (we don' need, nor can we probably afford the best) school system for the kids?

I have seen many houses in the MLS around roswell for less than 200K? Makes sense from a net search. Is this a good idea? or does this mean "rough neighboorhood better to move farther out and eat more commute"? We need a 3bdrm/2bath, everything else are "wants" not "needs". I remodeled houses on the side while in school, so we are not at all scared to buy an older house.


Any thoughts? Any help is apprciated.

[stvincent]

If remodeling homes is a skill of yours then I would definately suggest buying a home in Roswell. The city is immediately north of Sandy Springs so your commute would be bearable. Also, you would not have to sacrifice school quality as Reswell's schools are among the top ranked in Metro Atlanta. Roswel also puts you within easy access of Buckhead and Midtown, the cultural and entertainment 'hearts' of the city.

[jxu66]

Just try not to buy a house around GA 400/Holocomb bridge area in Roswell. There are a lot of 80's apartments around that area. It is due for revitialization.

[john1963]

look into the murphy candler park area, it is just south of perimiter mall.
It's a older area, family friendly, a nice park with lake and little leauge etc.
Very close to the marta subway system.
Less congested than roswell, closer to everything.

[LLD]

Is Candler Park considered North Atlanta? I had better look at the maps of the neighborhoods again. I thought Candler Park was more the eastern/central Atlanta -- like east of Midtown.

[xxman777]

Originally Posted by LLD

Is Candler Park considered North Atlanta? I had better look at the maps of the neighborhoods again. I thought Candler Park was more the eastern/central Atlanta -- like east of Midtown.

Your thinking of two different areas. Candler Park is west of town near Little Five Points (just like you thought). There is another neighborhood near Buckhead that some people call Murphy Candler Park. The more popular name for is Brookhaven though (although the Brookhaven area is larger then Murphy Candler).

[LLD]

Ah... thanks for the clarification.

[stvincent]

Originally Posted by john1963

look into the murphy candler park area, it is just south of perimiter mall.
It's a older area, family friendly, a nice park with lake and little leauge etc.
Very close to the marta subway system.
Less congested than roswell, closer to everything.

The Murphy-Candler Park area can be quite expensive. Mst of the older fixer-uppers start in the 300s. The nicer older homes range in price from the 400s to the 600s.

[BiCyclops]

Originally Posted by stvincent

The Murphy-Candler Park area can be quite expensive. Mst of the older fixer-uppers start in the 300s. The nicer older homes range in price from the 400s to the 600s.

Your assumption is correct, 300K is more than we can pull off right now. Mabye next house when we are more established.

There has been some discussion that 400 near Holcomb Bridge road is a bit older. Is it older and safe? or just dated? Some of the houses in our
price range are near this intersection.

[jxu66]

There are a lot of cheap apartments (and probably questionable tenants) around ga400/holocomb bridge exits. Just be care when you buy that neighborhood. However, there is Horseshoe country club neighborhood about a couple of miles from that exit. That is pretty nice neighborhood. So just do you homework.