Tucker?Decatur? Moving soon? (Atlanta, Mableton: for sale, real estate, foreclosures)

[4People4Animals]

Hi there, this has been a wealth of information, so thank you to all!

We are family of 4, a 3 and 1 year old being the youngest members. We have 3 dogs and a cat, and are hoping to move to the Atlanta area pending job. We've been looking at real estate to get a grasp of the area, and have seen that both Decatur and Tucker have good schools, according to greatschools.org. We'd like to get a feel for the area, knowing that with 4 animals a lease is probably impossible (even as a security deposit that would be extremely expensive).
The job is between Brookwood Hills and Piedmont Heights - so what realistically is the commute like? Is there a way that someone familiar with both Tucker and Decatur could give us some info about either / or? Schools, crime, commute, etc?

1. Budget: around 120, would love less but could go a little higher
2. House/Condo/Townhome? home, preferably as rural/accomodating for animals - maybe some backyard chickens???
3. Employment Status(commute/work from home) commute to between Brookwood Hills and Piedmont Heights
4. Children(public school vs. private) not for a couple of years, elementary public preferred
5. Suburban or Urban lifestyle preference or a mix of the two: as rural as possible
6. Easy access to public transit, important or not? not necessary, but if it were able to be utilized, we'd definitely do it
7. Preferable demographics of desired neighborhood. We like diversity, but not necessarily a minority of white. Close to Indian restaurants is nice.

We just hate the sound of traffic when actually at the house, plus w/ the dogs and kids, would like to walk around the block) - any thoughts there? 3 br, 2 bath would be the minimum in size.

Upon further looking at the site, we've seen good things about Woodstock too - thoughts there are welcome!

Any thoughts are appreciated! Hope to take a trip asap to see the area, but don't have the luxury of time to spend, so we'd like as much info as we plan our trip in advance. Thank you!

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by 4People4Animals

1. Budget: around 120, would love less but could go a little higher
2. House/Condo/Townhome? home, preferably as rural/accomodating for animals - maybe some backyard chickens???

3. Employment Status(commute/work from home) commute to between Brookwood Hills and Piedmont Heights
4. Children(public school vs. private) not for a couple of years, elementary public preferred
5. Suburban or Urban lifestyle preference or a mix of the two: as rural as possible

6. Easy access to public transit, important or not? not necessary, but if it were able to be utilized, we'd definitely do it
7. Preferable demographics of desired neighborhood. We like diversity, but not necessarily a minority of white. Close to Indian restaurants is nice.

We just hate the sound of traffic when actually at the house, plus w/ the dogs and kids, would like to walk around the block) - any thoughts there? 3 br, 2 bath would be the minimum in size.

Upon further looking at the site, we've seen good things about Woodstock too - thoughts there are welcome!

Any thoughts are appreciated! Hope to take a trip asap to see the area, but don't have the luxury of time to spend, so we'd like as much info as we plan our trip in advance. Thank you!

Your price range is around $120,000????

I don't believe you will find anything in this price range in either Tucker or Decatur. Woodstock will give you a much longer commute and imo would not be an area worth consideration given your employment location. Woodstock might offer more rural options than Tucker or Decatur ---I am fairly certain there are ordinances restricting farm animals.

I live between Tucker and Decatur and at times the sound of traffic can be heard---not certain that you can live ITP and never hear traffic.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by TakeAhike

Your price range is around $120,000????

I don't believe you will find anything in this price range in either Tucker or Decatur. Woodstock will give you a much longer commute and imo would not be an area worth consideration given your employment location. Woodstock might offer more rural options than Tucker or Decatur ---I am fairly certain there are ordinances restricting farm animals.

I live between Tucker and Decatur and at times the sound of traffic can be heard---not certain that you can live ITP and never hear traffic.

I agree with TAH, but I do think there are many areas of Decatur and Tucker where you can remove yourself from traffic noise.

A SFH in either Tucker or Decatur for that price is pretty well out of the question, although I did see a 3/1.5 on Trulia in Tucker for 140K:

30084 Real Estate & 30084 Homes For Sale — Trulia.com

In Tucker, you're generally going to see 200s and up; for Decatur, 300s.

Have you considered looking in the NW metro? Brookwood Hills is a very central location, so your commute would likely be the same if not better. Looking at the NW suburb of Mableton, it looks like you have a lot more options at 120K that you would in Tucker or Decatur.

30084 Real Estate & 30084 Homes For Sale — Trulia.com

[lastminutemom]

To have a decent commute and a rural feeling is going to be difficult. Add to that your price range and that makes things more complicated. All the Tucker elementary schools are not equally good. DeKalb schools are in a complete state of flux and the economy is just going to worsen things.

There are areas that have Decatur mailing addresses that will probably show up in your price range. These areas probably won't be very nice.

However, isn't part of Tucker in Gwinnett? I wonder about the prices there and the schools?

[JPD]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

However, isn't part of Tucker in Gwinnett? I wonder about the prices there and the schools?

Yes, a very small sliver of Tucker is in Gwinnett. I'm not familiar with the prices or schools there.

It's very easy to find a house (3 bed, 2 bath, often with full basements) in Tucker/Dekalb right now in the $160,000 - $170,000 range. Maybe even a bit lower. I haven't seen anything for $120,000 range, though.

[rackensack]

Originally Posted by JPD

Yes, a very small sliver of Tucker is in Gwinnett. I'm not familiar with the prices or schools there.

For what the OP is looking for, I doubt there's anything workable in Tucker-in-Gwinnett. In the neighborhoods I'm famililar with (Smoketree, Hunter's Walk, etc.), $150K is probably the absolute floor for anything that's not a foreclosure/distressed sale. And those are going to be 3/2s with not a lot of interior space, small lots, and probably some condition issues. The local schools (Nesbit Elem., Lilburn Middle, and Meadowcreek High) are among the least desirable in the entire Gwinnett system. We sold our smallish 4/2.5 in Smoketree in November 2005 for just under $200K, which was just at or a little past the peak of the market -- there's several houses listed in Smoketree now for between $200K and $225K, but they aren't selling. There's one listed at $199K, and then two listed under $150K that I know are foreclosures/short sales.

[SouthernBoy205]

I know that Nesbit Elementary School is over there in Tucker (Gwinnett) a little north of the Wal-Mart.