Possibly relocating to Birmingham (Hoover, Vance: homes, job, news)

[Bravo35223]

Originally Posted by breck00

Thanks for all the suggestions! We thought about McCalla first but when we researched the school system (via greatschools.net) we found that those schools were rated very poorly compared to those of the Hoover area. Our kids currently go to schools rated a "10" by greatschools.net so we would hate to put them in a "4" school district. My husband actually got the job offer yesterday so we will be driving down to Birmingham next week to check out housing, schools etc. before we make a decision.

Thanks for all your help!

OK....look at both Hoover and Vestavia Hills. I checked GreatSchools.net and they both came in at 9.....he probably needs to check the drive time from both to see how he would like it....the traffic should not be bad because he would be driving OUT in the morning and IN in the afternoon....

Let us know how we can help....I think he will love working there....

I have lived here most of my life and can recommend doctors, dentists, realtors....

[gustygulas]

well Congrats on the job offer. Like Bravo said, check out Hoover and Vestavia. Let us know if we can help!

[breck00]

Okay, sorry to bother everyone again, but how much have the schools in Mc Calla really improved? My husband is now balking at the 30 mile commute from Vance to Hoover. Some of his future co-workers live in Mc Calla but they do not have children so they know nothing about the schools. We will be in the area this week and will probably go check out the schools personally but does anyone have good first-hand knowledge of the Mc Calla/ Brookwood school systems (elementary, middle and high schools)?

Thanks again for all your help!

[Alchik]

With water restrictions in force Helena is a good choice. It's the only town in that area that has water! Plus it's a nice place with nice people.

[Bravo35223]

Breck:

I agree...I would check Helena very thoroughly if he is balking at the drive.

I'd bet that Helena would have better schools than Brookwood...

Shelby County School District schools - district elementary, middle, and high school information

Shelby County School System will be better than Tuscaloosa County...

[breck00]

Wow, you guys must have read our minds! We started taking a closer look at Helena a few days ago and have fallen in love with it. We are leaving today for Birmingham to check everything out. Thanks for your help.

[gustygulas]

There are currently 101 homes available in Helena between $250,000 and $350,000. These will mostly be 4 bedroom homes. There are some neighborhoods on South Shades Crest Rd that are half Helena and half McAdory schools. If you have any more questions about real estate, feel free to ask away.

Gusty

[Bravo35223]

Originally Posted by breck00

Wow, you guys must have read our minds! We started taking a closer look at Helena a few days ago and have fallen in love with it. We are leaving today for Birmingham to check everything out. Thanks for your help.

That's why we're here....let us know what other questions you have when you return....or post them from your hotel while you are here and we will try our best to help...

[breck00]

Well, we went down to Birmingham this past weekend and toured the area. The landscape is beautiful, lots of trees and rolling hills. The homes were another matter entirely. We toured about 10 houses and they were ALL in very poor condition and most of them were brand-new and never lived in. We were shocked at the extremely poor quality and we're not talking about inexpensive houses either (over $300,000). The realtor agreed with our assessment that the houses were shoddy by making the comment, "oh yes, I've had punch lists that were three pages long." That is totally unacceptable. We looked mostly in Helena and a little in Hoover. We currently live in a suburb of Chicago that is considered pricey (mostly due to the great schools) and we were expecting to pay a little less for a house down there. We would have had to pay at least $450,000 to get a house even remotely close to the size and quality of our current home (worth about $350,000). We were really disappointed in the whole situation and even came home a day early. As far as everything else in Helena/Hoover, the schools were beautiful, the shopping areas had everything you could hope for, the traffic was negligible and the people had that wonderful southern charm. It's just too bad the home situation scared us off.

[Bravo35223]

Sorry to hear of your bad experience...sounds like you got into an area where bad builders operated...

I have a friend who is a big local homebuilder with a tremendous reputation for quality. IF I could find some of his homes for you, would you reconsider?