HELP! Auburn,Dacula,Buford (Atlanta, LaGrange: bank owned, house, to buy)

[OC California]

We are looking to buy a house in either (top pick) Buford,(2) Dacula, or (3)Auburn.

Can anyone tell me about these cities. We are a young family and I want a safe,clean area with good schools?

Is Auburn rural? There are two communities that we are looking into Brookside Crossing and Mineral Springs.

Any comments on Dacula elementary,middle and high school?

Do you think home prices are going to decline further?

We want a 5 bedroom which are going for about $195,000, in these areas. Many are bank owned. Do you think offering $160,000 might fly since we are in a declining market.

[matt8325]

Originally Posted by OC California

We are looking to buy a house in either (top pick) Buford,(2) Dacula, or (3)Auburn.

Can anyone tell me about these cities. We are a young family and I want a safe,clean area with good schools?

Is Auburn rural? There are two communities that we are looking into Brookside Crossing and Mineral Springs.

Any comments on Dacula elementary,middle and high school?

Do you think home prices are going to decline further?

We want a 5 bedroom which are going for about $195,000, in these areas. Many are bank owned. Do you think offering $160,000 might fly since we are in a declining market.

Auburn is 40 miles from Atlanta, so it's not really a suburb. It's pretty rural.

[TakeAhike]

There have been several previous threads about this area>>>
http://www.city-data.com/forum/searc...archid=8743213

I think Dacula is part of the Gwinnett School System and posters have generally been satisfied with the schools. Some are better than others.

Auburn is very small and close to Dacula. It may be in a different county but very close to Gwinnett. I suppose it is semi-rural.

The area is nice, clean, not yet overdeveloped and on the way, so to speak, to Athens so there is steady traffic along 316.

[CMMom]

At least part of Auburn is in Barrow County. I wouldn't really call it suburban Atlanta-more like an exurb.

[TakeAhike]

It is rather difficult to explain what/where Auburn is, jmo. It might be considered 'suburban Lawrenceville'? It is very small or at least that was my impression.

[PotterGeek]

We just bought a house in Dacula and love it here. We are in Mill Creek HS district, though, not Dacula HS. I understand them to both be very good schools, though.

We also looked in Buford at some homes, but am glad to have decided on Dacula.

Auburn is in Barrow county, it is pretty rural, but it is a quaint little southern town. My daughter goes to pre-K in Auburn (it's only 4 miles from our house).

$195k for a 5 BR may be priced appropriate for this market. You could start offering at $160k and see where it goes. If you are working with a realtor, I'd have them pull some good comps for you (meaning comparable homes sold within last 90 days). We got about $14k off our home we closed on a couple of months ago, and our house was priced decent for the market at the time. But we also paid our own closing costs, so...

Good luck!

[OC California]

Thank you so much for your reply.

[Georgia]

Auburn is both Gwinnett and Barrow. Auburn proper is Barrow.
Auburn unincorporated is Gwinnett.
Auburn Gwinnett is part of the Dacula and/or Mill Creek school system. It is all new, less than 5 years old.
If your looking at homes with 195k stickers less than 5 BR's though, then the only location in Auburn would be Saddlecreek Subdivision off of Rt324. All other Auburn divisions would be north of 200k to the 4's.
Dacula offers some in Alcovy and Fairmont, but again not the 5BR models.
Auburn is funny, as it does have a northern Gwinnett tip that borders Bufords limits on the west side of 124.

Overall, you will find that Dacula/Auburn are the same in Gwinnett.

As for Atlanta burbs, etc. IMO, the Atlanta "metro" area would consist of anything in Fulton (Atlanta) DeKalb, Gwinnett, Clayton, and Cobb County. Anything outside of those counties would be a transit headache coming into Atlanta.

[matt8325]

Originally Posted by Georgia

Auburn is both Gwinnett and Barrow. Auburn proper is Barrow.
Auburn unincorporated is Gwinnett.
Auburn Gwinnett is part of the Dacula and/or Mill Creek school system. It is all new, less than 5 years old.
If your looking at homes with 195k stickers less than 5 BR's though, then the only location in Auburn would be Saddlecreek Subdivision off of Rt324. All other Auburn divisions would be north of 200k to the 4's.
Dacula offers some in Alcovy and Fairmont, but again not the 5BR models.
Auburn is funny, as it does have a northern Gwinnett tip that borders Bufords limits on the west side of 124.

Overall, you will find that Dacula/Auburn are the same in Gwinnett.

As for Atlanta burbs, etc. IMO, the Atlanta "metro" area would consist of anything in Fulton (Atlanta) DeKalb, Gwinnett, Clayton, and Cobb County. Anything outside of those counties would be a transit headache coming into Atlanta.

even areas that are in Gwinnett County and are like 45 miles from Atlanta are in metro Atlanta ? Douglas County is closer to Atlanta than Gwinnett

[Georgia]

Matt,

In regard of proximity of Gwinnett to the Atlanta City limits. A few roadsign facts.
At the Winder / Carl city limit sign on Rt 29 / 8, which is 6 miles northeast of the Gwinnett County line. Atlanta - 42 miles.
In Buford, Rt 20 Exit 4. I 985 South, merge onto the highway. Atlanta 34 miles.
Gwinnett Place, or central Gwinnett is 15 miles from the Atlanta city limits.

Now with this said, your comment about Douglas County to the SW has about the same proximities to the city limits as Gwinnett to the NE.

Under the Government's Metro Statistical Areas for population, they take into account a 16 county location as "Metro Atlanta" thus the 5.6 million population figure. To me, that is about as crazy as the Washington DC metro area taking into account Berkeley County, West Virginia as "Metro DC". When I look at "the city" and the massive population enclaves surrounding the city, my opinion (just that my opinion) would be Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett, DeKalb, Clayton, and Douglas. Some may add Fayette, but that counties SW side of geography can extend over halfway to LaGrange and Meriwether County. But then again, if you can get your county listed as "metro" then you get a little more pork from the Federal Hog, which is a whole other topic.