Interested moving to Decatur from Connecticut (Atlanta, Buckhead: low income, foreclosures, condos)

[craigread]

Is there a catch in finding homes as little as 25k to 50k. I would like to learn as much as I can prior to making the decision to move there.I see these homes that would go for half a mil in CT I'm aware the cost of living is cheaper,but please tell once again is there a Catch?

[MilkMachine]

Not exactly a catch, but it can be a confusing area to navigate a home purchase. These homes are in DeKalb County. Some of them are within a city (Decatur) and some of them are just outside the city but, for postal purposes, still have a "Decatur address." Those areas are considered "unincorporated DeKalb." The city is generally more desirable than the county, although there are nice areas of the county. I live in the unincorporated area myself; we are on our second home in UnincDek. I would look for a realtor who is based in Decatur to help you navigate these nuances. I can recommend one via PM if you'd like.

[ecuresident]

Umm I would think there is def a catch to finding a home for 25-50K, in the city of decatur you cant even get a studio condo for that, so I am not sure where you are finding these homes.

[macarose]

Yes. Make sure it's made of at least 50 cardboard boxes.

[SW30303]

Is there a catch in finding homes as little as 25k to 50k

Yes, generally speaking these homes are either condos, or small, older (built in the 1940-60s), probably 2- bedroom-1-bath houses with fewer than 1000 square feet, and they are located mostly in high crime areas. Many of these are foreclosures which can be difficult to purchase anyway.

Outside the city of Decatur are zip codes that are unincorporated parts that use the Decatur address, that is where these cheaper houses are. When you drive around the area, you will get a feel for the areas.

I would focus less on price and more on where you would like to live in the Atlanta area. Houses in the city of Decatur are generally much more expensive than these.

[craigread]

go to homes.com type in 40k-50k decatur,ga 4bed 2 baths =?

[oakhurstlauren]

City of Decatur zip code is 30030.

[MilkMachine]

Originally Posted by oakhurstlauren

City of Decatur zip code is 30030.

That's true, but not every home in 30030 is in the CoD.

[BobKovacs]

Here's reality, Craig. Anything listed for $25-50k is either a crack den or already bought up by an investor. And even most of the ones that have been bought by investors at that price were crack dens, or close to it. Even down here in the south, you're going to be spending at least $100k to get anything in a remotely safe area, unless you want to live 2+ hours out of town. I know people in Decatur who paid over $100k for a house that needed to be torn down, so the chances of yup finding something the average person would be willing to live in for $25-50k are slim to none.

[stvincent]

There are nice parts to unincorporated Decatur. Still in bad school districts though. And home prices in these nice "pockets" will be like 200-400K and not 25-50K. The reason those homes are so cheap is simple: They sit in one of Metro Atlanta's least desirable areas. Crime is skyrocket high. Incomes are low or nonexistent, schools are babysitting institutions, there is hardly any community activism in pushing for change, it's not aesthetically pleasing in the the least, cops are everywhere all the time(don't seem to do much tho)...just all around the exact opposite of anything anyone (low income or not) would want to live in. It's the ghetto basically, with lower density and and outside the central city limits.

And investing in this area(while not living there) is a bad idea too, IMO. It's not going to be turning around anytime soon. Metro Atlanta does need affordable places for low income people to live. This will be one of them for a long time. Low income areas typically have the issues I listed above. Property values will NOT rise, might fall more though. There are homes on the abandoned southside city of Atlanta going for like $16,000. Those neighborhoods make unincorporated Decatur seem like Buckhead.