Need help deciding where to live in Canton/Holly Springs (Atlanta: housing, rent)

[kimindetroit]

We are moving from metro Detroit to Cherokee County, GA this fall and need some advice from anyone willing to give it. We just returned from an awesome trip to the Canton/Holly Springs area and found two communities that we love....but they are so different.

Does anyone know anything about Harmony on the Lakes or Governors Preserve? We love the Governor's Preserve community b/c of the large homes and lots of land...but I am an at-home mom with two boys under age 6 and afraid that the GP community might be older.

We know that Harmony on the Lakes is full of kids, but the smaller lots and lower quality of homes has us concerned. Can anyone shed light on this for us? Or perhaps suggest another neighborhood in the $300,000--$400,000 range with good schools in that area....a neighborhood with lot of young kids and other at-home moms, but really great quality homes with some space would be ideal. I may be setting my sights way to hight, but I just want to make the right choice for my family. Thanks!

[BobKovacs]

I can't comment on Governor's Preserve because I've never been there, but I can comment on Harmony on the Lakes, as we're having a house built there right now. We have two girls, ages 4 and 6, so our concerns are likely very similar to yours.

For us, the community is perfect- the layout keeps traffic within the subdivisions to just those people who live there, which provides a "safer" feel when the kids want to hang out in the front yard or visit nearby friends. The clubhouse, pools, playground and lakes provide more than enough to keep the kids busy, which is difficult for us where we are now, because everything is a drive in the car to access- at Harmony, we can walk or ride bikes. From wat we've seen of the completed areas so far, the subdivisions are overflowing with kids, which is great.

With regard to the "small lots" and "low quality", I'm rather surprised by those comments. We're leaving central NJ, which has similar housing stock to many areas of metro Detroit, so to us, the lots are actually large- especially as you get into the higher priced homes. And we toured a lot of the homes in the various subdivisions in Harmony, and while they're not "custom home" quality, they're very good compared to alot of what I've seen from other builders outside of Harmony (companies like KB and Ryland, for example).

I don't know what you were expecting for $300-400k, but Harmony is a great buy in that price range. You can get "more" house for your money elsewhere, and maybe even a larger lot, but for a master-planned community with a great amenities package, you've got to expect to pay a bit of a premium. I think alot of people are still under the impression that you can move to the south and buy a mansion on 10 acres for $100k- it's just not reality anymore, and hasn't been for a while.

Let me know if you'd like any more info.

Bob

[clawson26]

I live in Harmony on the Lakes and it is a really nice quiet neighborhood. They are almost finished building so the work trucks will be gone soon. I think this is a great are for kids. I know a lot of them live here! It is also really convenient to shopping WITHOUT having to go back toward Atlanta. The only problem I had is my builder was horrible and we are still making them fix things but the different sections have different builders so that may not be a problem! Also we moved from an area where the houses were built to withstand tornados and just about anything else. Every neighborhood we looked at seemed to have poorly built houses by comparison. I think it may just be a regional difference. Please feel free to ask any questions you might have!!

[BobKovacs]

What area of Harmony are you living in, if I can ask? We're moving into The Glen in August.

Bob

[clawson26]

We live in the North Village. It's just my husband and our cat and I so we just got one of the little cottages.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by clawson26

We live in the North Village. It's just my husband and our cat and I so we just got one of the little cottages.

Is that the ones that Mulloy built away from the lake, or the ones on the lakefront?

Bob

[kimindetroit]

Thanks for the replies. I am glad to hear you are happy w/ H.O.L. We have never built a house and thought what we saw looked really good and then we kept reading blogs and things where folks were unhappy with their homes. More than the quality issue (like I said, we are just going by word of mouth which is never reliable), I am concerned w/ the size of the lots, but you are right.....can't have it alll Where we live now, we get 1/3 acre and really big house so we are spoiled rotten. I know H.O.L. is awesome. Still just waiting to hear about Governor's Preserve. Just curious....which builder are you all using???

[BobKovacs]

Pulte is building our house. I'm actually heading back down tomorrow for a pre-drywall walkthrough.

I've worked with Pulte several times in the past in Las Vegas and NJ, and was impressed by their quality (for a production builder). I've heard good things about Patrick Mulloy and Haven Homes, who both build in Harmony, and I've head some not so good stuff about Sharp. I can't confirm any of it, but I've heard the same stuff about each builder from more than one source.

Bob

[clawson26]

I live in the area at the entrance up by the bank and dry cleaner etc... My builder was Malloy and they did a horrible job but they have changed pretty much all of the people responsible for quality checks in the last three months so it may be better now.

[clawson26]

It should be noted that I am a perfectionist and expect people to do a good job the first time and take pride in their work...that may be asking too much of any builder these days. The only thing I can tell you about Governors Preserve is that it is closer to Canton and there are some issues in the older downtown areas of Canton. Do a zip code comparison on the crime rates etc. Harmony is actually in Holly Springs but they don't have a post office to take care of us yet so the mailing address is different. Compare the towns of Holly Springs and Canton and the specific zip code stats and that might help you decide.