Alabama- Here we come!! (Huntsville, Decatur: real estate, power lines, assessor)

[Mariafromny]

Good Morning,
Well, my husband received his job offer this weekend and we are excited & scared.
We do have to sell our home in NY, which we will list in the next 2 weeks.
We have found a house (online mls) which looks like it may fit our needs as my parents live with us & we need a home with a lot of sq. footage.
The home is located in the SOUTHERN BREEZE subdivision. From what I understand it is in Limestone County with a Madison address which may mean lower taxes.
Is anyone familiar with this subdivision? Any thoughts or opinions?
As always thank you in advance for any help!

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Mariafromny

...my husband received his job offer this weekend and we are ... scared..... my parents live with us....

How did you decide on this subdivision? (There is a lot of inventory all over the Huntsville metro - just curious on why this subdivision - what makes it stand out?)
What other subdivisions did you check out?
Do you have kids? Did you check out the schools?

[TimG]

Hi Marie,

Yes Southern Breeze is not to far from where I live ~6 miles from the Publix Shopping Center on County Line Rd in Madison its close to Athens as well.

Yes, the taxes are currently lower than living in Madison and its not in the Madison School District which hosts some of the better schools in the state. Madison is also looking at annexing parts of East Limestone county but I'm not sure if they plan on going out that far at least not initially.

It is a very nice, newly constructed neighborhood off the beaten track a bit but that brings its own benefits.

Kind Regards,
Tim

[Mariafromny]

Hi Charles,
To be honest with you a lender from Madison told me to look at this subdivision as it would be an easy commute for my husband, (tva-brownsferry),yet close to shopping,redstone (we are retired military) and huntsville.
Also, we liked that the houses sat on almost 1/2 acre lots compared to many others at 1/4 acre lots.
I did look on great schools for east limestone-my daughter will be in 11th grade.
I am hoping my son comes with us as well-and he will be starting community college as he graduates high school this june.
The lender said we could qualify for 350K which of course I do not want to go to the max. as we will be working to just pay mortgage.
As selfish as this sounds, for once in my life I do want brand new construction.
We will be down this month on a house hunting trip-if you have any suggestions as far as subdivisions I WOULD really appreciate it.

[Mariafromny]

Thank you Tim.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Mariafromny

Hi Charles,
To be honest with you a lender from Madison told me to look at this subdivision as it would be an easy commute for my husband, (tva-brownsferry),yet close to shopping,redstone (we are retired military) and huntsville.
Also, we liked that the houses sat on almost 1/2 acre lots compared to many others at 1/4 acre lots.
I did look on great schools for east limestone-my daughter will be in 11th grade.
I am hoping my son comes with us as well-and he will be starting community college as he graduates high school this june.
The lender said we could qualify for 350K which of course I do not want to go to the max. as we will be working to just pay mortgage.
As selfish as this sounds, for once in my life I do want brand new construction.
We will be down this month on a house hunting trip-if you have any suggestions as far as subdivisions I WOULD really appreciate it.

Sounds like you are doing the right thing. We too are looking around in the Huntsville/Madison area. We are flying out there two weeks from today.
We are looking at SE Huntsville and Madison. It seems we've exhausted the internet for information - now we need people's opinions on differences between the two communities - what seperates the two. That was sort of the motivation for my asking.

Since you will be working way out west then SE Huntsville is out for you; Madison and the place you've identified are a logical choice

[flstatenolefan]

Please don't be mislead by looking online at the MLS. I looked at many homes in Limestone Co. that looked perfect online, but the subdivisions were not in ideal locations. I was particularly dismayed to find large transformers and overhead power lines, and the large, looming water tower in this area.

[Southlander]

If you've got the street address, you can put it into googlemaps and get a satellite view...which should show if there are nearby hummers and towers. Although, I'd think being near a water tower would be a plus - better water pressure! Which can be a problem in more rural areas. Also, one reason for those big lots - septic tanks. Just something to be aware of.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Southlander

If you've got the street address, you can put it into googlemaps and get a satellite view...which should show if there are nearby hummers and towers. Although, I'd think being near a water tower would be a plus - better water pressure! Which can be a problem in more rural areas. Also, one reason for those big lots - septic tanks. Just something to be aware of.

We do the same thing and in addition to google maps, Yahoo real estate, zillow, and trulia, and Madison County Tax Assessor Emaps. We use live.maps.com which provides a much higher resolution aerial photos - from four different angles too.

Madison County, Alabama Map

Click on Birds Eye View

Saturn V using Birds Eye View on maps.live.com

Grissom High School

Grissom

[Sarges Dad]

One of my costomers developed this sub division and another one built a lot of the homes in there and another does a lot of landscaping of new homes there. It is in an excellent location. It is in Creekside and East Limestone school district. I think it may a little out of City of Madisons annexation reach. I use to live close by in the early 80's. I liked living there because you are between Athens, Huntsville, and Decatur. I live about 10 miles north east now. You will be 20 miute drive from Madison square mall. 10 minutes from Walmart in Athens, and 5 minutes from new Publix going in in Athens, not to mention you have easy access to Hwy 72, I-565, and I-65. Also new Mexica resteraunt going in on Huntsville Brownsferry road within 2 miles around the corner at Pete's corner.