Alabama- Here we come!! (Decatur, Madison: homes, buyers, new construction)

[hsvgirl]

You will find that Hampton Cove schools rank in the top in our area. With an elementary school child myself and real estate being my husband's livelihood, I keep an eye out for all the latest school info that comes out. The number of 5BR homes will be small. You need to search for 4BR and then check to see if it has a bonus/other room. Homes in our area commonly have bonus/rec/other rooms that are larger than your normal bedroom and sometimes with or w/o a closet and bath.

[Southlander]

Originally Posted by Mariafromny

...we are filtering homes with 5 bedrooms on the mls & there just doesn't seem to be many in our price range....

You might want to check out Decatur or Athens.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by hsvgirl

You will find that Hampton Cove schools rank in the top in our area. With an elementary school child myself and real estate being my husband's livelihood, I keep an eye out for all the latest school info that comes out. The number of 5BR homes will be small. You need to search for 4BR and then check to see if it has a bonus/other room. Homes in our area commonly have bonus/rec/other rooms that are larger than your normal bedroom and sometimes with or w/o a closet and bath.

I think you are correct. We will start filtering on 4BR; I think there's only like 6 or 7 5BR in HC. We still need to drive around western Madison, maybe tonight.

Couple of buds here where I'm working mentioned Mt. Carmel, Berry Hill, and such subdivisions near Moores Mill road...I haven't checked these out yet...

Another guy mentioned Cherokee Landing but it looks kind of far out.

It looks like the Hampton Inn on 431 north of Hampton Cove is under construction. As we quickly drove by, there didn't seem to be anything else around it.

The Walmart shopping center near HC has lots of other shops in it.

The Publix and a Rite Aid are in the same shopping center.

First not good news, the Montessori schools we were looking at are totally full and we're are now on the waiting list. There's another one called the Primrose we've heard good things about. We heard the HC Academy is very rigid and strict (not sure if that is good or bad...just what we heard) and it's religious too.

They are supposed to be building a little mini stip mall between the HC academy and HCES. Can't be too big, not much room there. There's a fire station there too.

My understanding of the Hampton House (the HC community center with the pool and fitness center) is that members have their own key and can enter on their own. Since there is no childcare, it seems like it wouldn't be a problem if a mom wanted to bring her kid in a pack n play or something while she worked out...I haven't confirmed this.

Also, that Hampton House is expanding with the addition of another building. I spoke with the lady who runs the Hampton House and she mentioned this has taken all of her time and that's the reason the HH website is basically useless right now.

You can get four 24/7 webcams if you register (seemed innocent to me) at the
Cove Park website. There's also free wireless at this park so you can post on City Data while junior is playing soccer....

Huntsville Eastern League

[ionlife]

Remember: it's a buyer's market in most places. And if you only have one year left in HS for your youngest, then I'd open up the possibilities to more areas--Athens is a nice area. I like Madison because it has a true suburban feel and as far as I am concerned, suburbia is fine with me as the entire area is very accessible as compared to DC or other bigger communities.

Good Luck!

[hsvgirl]

My child attended Montessori as well and it was wonderful! I know several parents whose preschool age children attended First Christian on Whitesburg or Whitesburg Baptist. Although at churches, they were not strongly religious with the children, just school. Mt. Carmel, Berryhill, Riverwalk are nice subdivisions but not a community like Hampton Cove. Also, you will encounter county schools there where Hampton Cove is an extension of Huntsville City. That may be okay with you. The schools are fine but your children may develop a southern drawl. I can say this being Alabama born complete with southern drawl.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by hsvgirl

My child attended Montessori as well and it was wonderful! I know several parents whose preschool age children attended First Christian on Whitesburg or Whitesburg Baptist. Although at churches, they were not strongly religious with the children, just school. Mt. Carmel, Berryhill, Riverwalk are nice subdivisions but not a community like Hampton Cove. Also, you will encounter county schools there where Hampton Cove is an extension of Huntsville City. That may be okay with you. The schools are fine but your children may develop a southern drawl. I can say this being Alabama born complete with southern drawl.

We wouldn't care about the southern drawl at all. We would like to avoid the religion education but if everything else is outstanding then maybe we would accept a trade off.

Anyone have any more info on the Hampton Cove Academy? We've heard some comments about it being really strict or something like that but in all fairness these were comments from one source, not really verified. If we did move to Hampton Cove, the Hampton Academy would obviously be extremely convenient. It looks like a nice facility. The Montessori might be out due to the waiting list thing.
I think I'll start a thread on preschools.

[Keeper]

You might want to check out Arab if you don't mind a small town with good schools... There are a couple of 5 bd/4 b houses listed on ValleyMLS.com. One is on 5 acres on a lake with a community pool

Arab is 20 minutes to H'ville, 45 mins to Research park area.

[bbfan]

Originally Posted by Charles

We wouldn't care about the southern drawl at all. We would like to avoid the religion education but if everything else is outstanding then maybe we would accept a trade off.

Anyone have any more info on the Hampton Cove Academy? We've heard some comments about it being really strict or something like that but in all fairness these were comments from one source, not really verified. If we did move to Hampton Cove, the Hampton Academy would obviously be extremely convenient. It looks like a nice facility. The Montessori might be out due to the waiting list thing.
I think I'll start a thread on preschools.

I have experience with HCCA. My children went there and I worked there for a while. 99% of the teachers are great and the curriculum is top notch. Not sure how much I can say about the administration without getting kicked out, so I'll leave it at that. The fact that there is no competition for them over there is mind blowing. I will DM you but don't give up your spot on the waiting list for Montessori.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by bbfan

I will DM you but don't give up your spot on the waiting list for Montessori.

The competition thing makes sense...we're getting screwed right now with a swim team here in Colorado....the only close by pool and they take advantage of that....


Please do DM. Thank You.

[madisonmamma]

Originally Posted by hsvgirl

I wanted to give you first hand information about sales prices of homes in the Huntsville/Madison County area. I'm not a realtor but my husband is and we have invested in the market here for many years. You will not find the sold price of a home anywhere that is public knowledge that I know of. It is not normally on the deed that is recorded nor does the mortgage reflect the final sales price -- just what was borrowed on the home. The only place that data is is on the sales contract and the MLS, realtor restricted, if the home was listed. There are no requirements anywhere to disclose what you paid for a house if a private sale. Also, in our county, the homes are reassessed by the tax assessor each year (it just happened) and that assessed value is almost always less than the home's true value if appraised by a standard appraiser not a county one. If you are relying on an experienced agent who is actively selling in this market, which is different than just 9 months ago, she should be able to accurately give you value info.

You can determine sold price from the public records, it just takes a bit more work. Consideration is not given in Madison County when the deed is recorded, however, the amount of docs stamps is, and you can determine sales price off this. There are two types of stamps paid that are recorded on the deed, Deed recording fees and Mortgage recording fees. This is how they are charged. The deed recording fee is $1.00 per thousand of the purchaser's DOWN PAYMENT plus $11.25. The mortgage recording fee is $1.50 per thousand of the MORTGAGE AMOUNT plus $20.25. From this, you can get the actual sales price from the deed. Madison County does not make it easy, but at least now the public information is there. We have to use this method when dealing with FSBOs that have sold or homes that have been "withdrawn" then sold.
As for taxable value, we are beginning to see in many areas, especially SE Hville and Madison, the taxable value becoming closer to market values. I have gathered comps for 5 clients last month who are disputing their taxable values because they are actually HIGHER than the price they paid just months ago, and the market has not gone up in the past few months that much. The data from the Tax Assessor can be useful, but is often erroneous, when dealing with sft, ect. We use it as an additional resource, but do not rely on its data. I mainly compare square footage off the tax records, if there is a considerable discrepency, then I will measure the house myself or request additional documentation, such as an appraisal report.
I hope that info helps, and you can go to Madison County Probate Judge's Office to search recorded docs. Make your search as precise as you possibly can, because the system is slow. Some results can take a while to retrieve. It is not the most efficient system in the world, but we are trying desperately to get the probate's office to improve it. Maybe one day....