Alabama- Here we come!! (DMV, living, military)

[HouseFullaBoys]

Originally Posted by Marc45002

So whats the bottom line? I am flying to HSV tomorrow. I am starting looking at homes over the weekend. Is it worth looking in East Limestone County? Is Southern Breeze a good community? Would you buy a "newly" built Malone Contracting Home? Or, should I stay in Madison County?

thanks,

Marc

PS Valley MLS is still down; not a good way to run a service.

Valley MLS is working fine for me. Not a computer whiz (at all), but could the problem be on your end somewhere?

[Marc45002]

Valley MLS just came back up....GREAT!!

[gsp4ever]

Look at Limestone County if you want but I would recommend staying in Madison County if I were you. I think infrastructure and services are subpar in Limestone County compared to Madison County (and even Madison County has its issues). I know the general sentiment is that "your money goes farther" in Limestone County, but, if that is a concern, there would be several places in Madison County and Huntsville where you could get better deals. Don't know if this is your situation or not.

[madisonmamma]

The only time the MLS has been down is for 1 hour Tuesday night, they were updating the server. Other than that, it has been up and fine.

[madisonmamma]

Originally Posted by Marc45002

So whats the bottom line? I am flying to HSV tomorrow. I am starting looking at homes over the weekend. Is it worth looking in East Limestone County? Is Southern Breeze a good community? Would you buy a "newly" built Malone Contracting Home? Or, should I stay in Madison County?

thanks,

Marc

PS Valley MLS is still down; not a good way to run a service.

Bottom line is your agent needs to be educated about Limestone County area and the builders. If you are using an Athens based agent, they will more than likely try to motivate you towards that area. HSV agents are more "suspicious" (most of us anyway). There is just NO CODE ENFORCEMENT there, ie no "big brother" watching these builders like there is in all parts of Madison County. So they have carte blanche to build as they please, caring less what local and state building codes require. Just be cautious, do home inspections and radon testing.

[Sarges Dad]

Originally Posted by madisonmamma

Bottom line is your agent needs to be educated about Limestone County area and the builders. If you are using an Athens based agent, they will more than likely try to motivate you towards that area. HSV agents are more "suspicious" (most of us anyway). There is just NO CODE ENFORCEMENT there, ie no "big brother" watching these builders like there is in all parts of Madison County. So they have carte blanche to build as they please, caring less what local and state building codes require. Just be cautious, do home inspections and radon testing.

Thats why I had my house built so I could keep an eye on the building process. It is a great place to live. I have lived in both counties and I love the country. Being involved with selling small construction equipment though, I know for a fact there are shotty house builders in both counties in spite of inspections and codes. There are also some top notch builders in both areas.

[ionlife]

Athens looked like a nice area--but less shopping and need to go into Madison Co for malls etc.

Maybe I'm wrong?

I also saw some undeveloped subdivisions--like builders got over ambitious, but now they are holding back. What is the scoop on that/

[HsvMike]

Originally Posted by cglover

I also saw some undeveloped subdivisions--like builders got over ambitious, but now they are holding back. What is the scoop on that/

Basically, too much development / new construction and not enough buyers right now.

[Marc45002]

Spent today primarily in Limestone County although we saw Jeff Benton Communities in Legacy Cove, Cross Creek, and Renaissance. Limestone Conunty is way out there although we loved a house in Canebreak on the golf course. Loved Jeff Benton homes. Really disappointed in Legacy Cove as there are no homesites still available backing to Wheeler and they aren't going to open any more until next year. Our decision (now) is on Cross Creek versus Renaissance. We are leaning towards Renaissance even though it is more expensive. In 18 years of visiting Huntsville on business I have always been in Research Park/Wynn Drive area; never going to Memorial Drive except for one baseball game. Now, I am trying to determine if South Huntsville is the place for us. Can anyone is familiar with Madison versus SE Huntsville, I would appreciate any advice. My primary work will be Redstone but I will also spend a lot of time in Research Park. However, I am more interested in the day to day living in both locations. We have no kids (I am allergic to them) and enjoy shopping and dining.

thanks,

Marc

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Marc45002

Can anyone is familiar with Madison versus SE Huntsville, I would appreciate any advice.

I posted an almost identical question several months ago. Use the search tool.

Would you be comfortable living in a community that was mostly families with kids? OR, would you prefer a more adult oriented community?

I have read several posts from people who might prefer to be closer in to the city centers as there is a little higher density of amenities (restaurants, shopping, maybe clubs, etc) versus the suburban family amenities (soccer fields, preschools, karate lessons, etc)

The region from Governors south and between Memorial and Baily Cove seems built up with shopping, restaurants and amenities. It is a nice area, pretty mature, and it seems like a lot of people moved there because the schools were good. It is mostly suburban. The farther south you go the longer the drive to Research Park. Some construction on the main drag of Memorial. Whitesburg has lots of retail and there is a nice mall at Drake and Memorial. The Bailey Cove/Four Mile Post intersection is building up too, lots of new shopping, a new Rave Theater, and a new park with lakes is being built.

To really answer your question you have to drive around. Shouldn't be too hard as both of these areas aren't that big. We're talking an hour or two for both areas and you would be able to see most of the main streets.