Best things about Atlanta? Urban neighborhoods? (Peachtree City, Decatur: short sales, foreclosures, houses)

[oakhurstlauren]

Originally Posted by arjay57

There's no telling where all those lesbians went. Back before Decatur they used to congregate in Buckhead, but they are probably all over the place now. It wouldn't surprise me if I've run across one without even knowing it.

I don't know that they went anywhere, the couple next door to me are lesbians, they aren't mean though lol and if you passed either of them on the street you wouldn't know. My street pretty much runs the gambut of types of people but it's pretty obvious to me that the majority of people moving in to Oakhurst are younger couples with kids.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by arjay57

There's no telling where all those lesbians went. Back before Decatur they used to congregate in Buckhead, but they are probably all over the place now. It wouldn't surprise me if I've run across one without even knowing it.

Avondale Estates, Midway Woods, Belvedere, East Lake, Pine Lake, and other nearby neighborhoods now have a lot lesbians.

[christinadq]

My husband and I are independent-minded politically but we lean more left than most of Texas, especially socially and in support of public education, social programs etc. Fiscally and in some other ways we are a bit more conservative than most liberal areas would probably be but we can keep our mouths shut with neighbors and make nice even when we don't always agree. It sounds like Decatur would be somewhere we could consider. You are saying that even if we are not in the area zoned to Decatur schools we can pay to enroll our kids in the schools there? That's an interesting concept. When you say high property taxes in Decatur, how high are we talking about?

I've heard Candler Park mentioned a few times. Do they have lower taxes there? Similar feel to what I've described?

I've also heard Peachtree Corridor or Peachtree City mentioned. Looking on a map, Peachtree City appears to be a community in the south of Atlanta. Is Peachtree Corridor the same area?

I know we are going to make a scouting trip up your way soon. The only areas we know well in the Atlanta metro currently are Marietta and Lawrenceville, where we have family. Both areas are nice and the large lots are very pretty with lots of space between neighbors. However, I don't think they are for us. Neither of us likes a lot of yard work and the large grand homes with huge 20 foot foyers are just not right for our family, even though they are grand and beautiful. Maybe there are enclaves of those communities that would meet our requirements, but I like the ideas you have given us here also.

Thanks for all the input.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Avondale Estates, Midway Woods, Belvedere, East Lake, Pine Lake, and other nearby neighborhoods now have a lot lesbians.

Can't they just go back to their homeland in Lebanon?

[oakhurstlauren]

Originally Posted by christinadq

You are saying that even if we are not in the area zoned to Decatur schools we can pay to enroll our kids in the schools there? That's an interesting concept. When you say high property taxes in Decatur, how high are we talking about?

If they have room at the schools, I wouldn't even consider this an option to be honest as it would be unpredictable from year to year. Additionally, it's around 7k a year per child IF they have space. Unless you have a very expensive home, your tax savings living somewhere else are not going to be more than the price of tuition in Decatur.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by christinadq

I've also heard Peachtree Corridor or Peachtree City mentioned. Looking on a map, Peachtree City appears to be a community in the south of Atlanta. Is Peachtree Corridor the same area?

No. Everything is named Peachtree ________ here. It'll take you years to figure out what all of them mean. I still don't know what people are talking about a lot of the time when they say Peachtree this or Peachtree that, and I've been here almost 40 years.

[TakeAhike]

<I've also heard Peachtree Corridor or Peachtree City mentioned. Looking on a map, Peachtree City appears to be a community in the south of Atlanta. Is Peachtree Corridor the same area?>

In this case, I assume 'Peachtree Corridor' refers to Buckhead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckhead_(Atlanta)

Candler Park is located within the City of Atlanta--2 miles/10 minutes or less from Decatur. I can't give you any FYI on taxes.

Candler Park Atlanta Map - interactive map of Candler Park with neighborhood information, schools, business, parks, and churches

^^^^
Another area that you might wish to consider is Dunwoody>>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunwoody,_Georgia

Somewhat of a compromise between the urban and suburban lifestyle, some might say. It is located in NE Atlanta near Perimeter Mall--easy commute to downtown, many professionals, families and good neighborhoods/communities and schools.

[oakhurstlauren]

Decatur tax info is here

[christinadq]

The talk about property taxes made me start looking at some of the property taxes on real estate listings more carefully. I see in Atlanta several instances where taxes are assessed at one rate but the market rate is much higher. Can anyone explain to me why that might be?

We have homestead and other exemptions here too, but nothing as extreme as assessed at $156,000 and market value according to tax rolls listed at $391,000. That would be a GREAT homestead exemption, if that were the case but I doubt it. The listing I am looking at in this case is in Candler Park. I don't actually think that it would sell for that amount or is actually worth $391K. I suspect it may have been at the height of the boom.

[IntownHomes247]

Candler Park is located in the City of Atlanta in DeKalb county so it pays taxes for both Atlanta and DeKalb where as City of Decatur pays taxes for both City of Decatur and DeKalb.

I can't guarantee this information, but I believe homes in these neighborhoods paid the following millage rates in 2009:

Candler Park (34.634 Atlanta + 9.53 Dekalb) = 44.164 total millage rate
City of Decatur (32.935 Decatur + 10.46 DeKalb) = 43.395 total millage rate

Basically, the appraised value of the property is multiplied by .4 to get the assessed value. The assessed value is then divided by $1,000 and multiplied by the millage rate to get the tax. So (and again, I'm not a property tax expert so no guarantees here), let's say you had a house with an appraised value of $400k. If the numbers are correct (and my math), then these would be the annual property taxes:

Candler Park
400k x .4 = $160,000/1000 x 44.164 = 7,066 annual property tax

City of Decatur
400k x .4 = $160,000/1000 x 43.395 = 6,943 annual property tax

Personally, I consider City of Decatur services vastly superior to City of Atlanta in DeKalb services. Doubtless others will accuse me of shameless boosterism (of course, that's also a native Atlanta trait), but I've spoken to many homeowners in both the City of Atlanta in DeKalb and in City of Decatur and I have consistently heard positive reviews of services in Decatur versus lots of griping about services in Atlanta in DeKalb. By the way, I live in 30033 just north of the Decatur city limits so I pay unincorporated DeKalb taxes which are just slightly lower.

When you start looking at properties, you'll be easily able to see the taxes that were paid by the current seller in the previous year (they're typically listed in the FMLS listing info). Of course, they may have different situations than you will have so you'll have to remember that their taxes might be different (especially if they are old, in which case their taxes will probably lower, or if the seller doesn't live in the house, in which case they won't have the homestead exemption so their taxes will probably be higher than yours would be).