Moving to Georgia - Greater Atlanta (Sandy Springs, Marietta: new home, job transfer, established neighborhood)

[Finding Home]

Hello
We are hoping to move our family to Georgia later this year. We are looking into the northern part of the greater Atlanta area. It seems that a lot of the communities in the Atlanta metro area are fairly new. We would like to find a community where the residents are very invested in it. (not transient just there because of a job transfer kind of community. Hope I am explaining what I mean well enough.) Any city recommendations?

Also, we have two children from Asia. Would they be welcomed in the northern side of the greater Atlanta area?

Thanks!
FH

[lastminutemom]

Where will your jobs be? This is kind of the mantra on this board. Also, what is your price range and how soon will your children (or are they already) be in schol?

What type of house do you want... in terms of size and age...

then we can probably help you more...

For example, if your price range is 275K to 350K, it doesn't do you any good for us to talk about say Dunwoody or Sandy Springs....

[Finding Home]

Hi Last Minute Mom,
Our price range is $300K - $400K. We'd like a house with about 2500 or so square feet. I have one high schooler, one starting kindergarten this year, and one preschooler. My husband works from home so we are somewhat flexible there.

Thanks for any input you can give me.

FH

[jxu66]

From the other thread, I suggested Berkeley lake neighborhood. It is very small city, around 1500 residents. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Lake,_Georgia
It is very established neighborhood which has a lot of old characteristics home. It is within Duluth high school district, which is one of better schools in Atlanta. There are large Asian community in nearby city of Duluth.

Dunwoody/Sandy Spring is another established neighborhood you could look at that has a lot of older homes. The problem is that many kids in Dunwoody/Sandy Spring go to private schools. So public schools over there are hit and miss.

If you want best public schools for your kids, pick East Cobb (Walton high) or John's Creek (Northview and Chattohoochee high school). Although those homes are maybe newer (mid 90s), most residents move those areas for their schools. So PTA is very active. Many stay home moms. Also, in Atlanta, those neighborhoods are considered developed neighorhood.

As far as adopted Asian kids, Most good schools have sizeable Asian populations. Actually, there was a nice
story on adoptees in AJC last year. There were three young girls who all went to Walton High in East Cobb. During one of PTA meetings, three set of parents were talking and soon realized they all adopted a girl from China. In fact, they all adopted a girl from same Orphanage.

[lastminutemom]

First, on the DeKalb side of Dunwoody, while a far amount of children are in private school, there are 2500 children (or so) in the 4 elementary schools in Dunwoody, about 1100 in the middle school and 1300 at Dunwoody High, so there are plenty of families who use public school. The problem, as I have said, is that I am concerned about the overall health (or lack thereof) of the DeKalb County School System. While Fulton is a much stronger school system, in my opinion, most families who own homes in Dunwoody (on the fulton side) do use private school, especially for elementary and middle school. North Springs HIgh School, with two magnet programs, is very well respected as is Riverwood in Sandy Springs, which many Dunwoody/Fulton kids opt into the IB program there.

All that being said, you really won't have much to choose from in your price range in those areas.

Any chance you could visit some schools... I always find that parents whose children already have been to school kind of have an idea of what they like and don't...

Ok, if I was buying only on schools, I would look in Cobb or N. Fulton. I would buy an older neighborhood, because many transferees end up in newer ones, because it is as easier sell for a realtor. Keep in mind that the further north you go, in my opinion, the more transient people may be, because again, in my experience, realtors tend to like to show transferees new.


The reality is, with your price range, you won't find much new in the best school districts anyway.

Also, as I have advised before, please research Georgia graduation requirements, they vary by school system, and make sure your child is on track here.

[jxu66]

lastminutemom is right, buy existing home. I just talked my friend just the other day. He said that there isn't new home within John's Creek under 550s.

[kaday]

I think you could find an older home in the Pope or Lassiter district in your price range. Plus the market is soft which gives you negotiating power.

I was pleasantly surprised by how diversified the classes at my daughters school are. You won't have any issues in East Cobb.

[dncngrl1964]

there is a new subdivsion in my neck of the woods called Stonewood creek (paulding county) just north of Marietta 4,5, and 6 bedrooms starting in the 250's also I saw a 7 bedroom house over 4000 sq ft it was in the mid $300's
this is a good area to get alot for your money

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by dncngrl1964

there is a new subdivsion in my neck of the woods called Stonewood creek (paulding county) just north of Marietta 4,5, and 6 bedrooms starting in the 250's also I saw a 7 bedroom house over 4000 sq ft it was in the mid $300's
this is a good area to get alot for your money

A few things to point out on stuff like that, though.

I work for a company that is construction related and we deal with developers. Some of these new "mega large" home subdivisions aren't built to what I would describe as quality construction. I've been in some of these and right off the bat there are issues with walls, plumbing, cheap materials used in construction, etc. I've noticed that the trend in many areas here when it comes to larger homes is that they're larger, but not necessarily better built - even some of the high priced ones. So a home inspector of your own chosing is VERY much suggested. I also suggest to people not to buy in a subdivision that is under construction; wait until it's complete for a few months then knock on doors and ask residents how happy they are with their homes.

Also, as one of my neighbors pointed out to me, subdivisions that have homes with 4 or more bedrooms will attract A LOT of LARGE families. My neighbors have two kids and they chose to live on my side of the neighborhood because it's filled with single people, younger couples, and retirees (smaller homes). On the other end of the complex (larger homes) are lots of larger families with kids. Even though they have kids, they didn't necessarily want to be surrounded by 1000 other kids all the time, either. So when looking around while you want a family-friendly area, you may not necessarily want every single home around you to have the Partridge Family or Brady Bunch in it, either.

Good luck with your move.