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I'm currently looking in the Dallas, Hiram, Kennesaw, Acworth, Woodstock areas. We'll be out there in about 6 weeks or so. This will primarily be an investment property for us as we plan to upgrade or build in a few years when we determine where we want to live permanently. Looking for family friendly areas that are in good-great school districts. I'm seeing Cobb, Cherokee and Gwinett are highly rated and Paulding mediocre but possibly on the rise (hearsay).
That's totally right. If you look around in Paulding County, look around in the attendance zones for North Paulding and East Paulding high schools.
If you look around in Cobb County, stay out of the attendance zones for Osborne, Campbell, Pebblebrook and South Cobb high schools where the very-high transient population has affected the quality of the schools.
The schools in the attendance zone for Cobb County's historic McEachern High School are good and get a lot of financial support from some well-heeled alumni, but the atmosphere in some of the schools can be rowdy at times because of the growing transient population in that attendance zone.
If you look around in Gwinnett County, stay out of the attendance zones for Meadowcreek, Berkmar, Central Gwinnett, South Gwinnett and Shiloh high schools where the very-high transient populations have affected the quality of what are otherwise good schools.
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Originally Posted by cali2ga
Woodstock commute to Sandy Springs?
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Originally Posted by cali2ga
On the topic of commuting...30-45 minutes is like a vacation. We both are currently commuting 1.5-2 hours one way.
By Metro Atlanta commuting standards, a rush hour commute from Woodstock to Sandy Springs and back can generally take anywhere from 35 minutes on very-good days to 60 minutes or longer on really bad days depending on traffic conditions on any given day.
Thanks so much! Husband is in grocery so the likelihood of a typical rush hour shift is maybe once or twice a week. If we can keep it around 30 minutes or so on a normal day and an hour on a rush-hour day I think that would be ideal. Luckily we are in no rush to buy right away so we can do some test runs from all over. Also he doesn't have to start work for around six weeks after we get there so will have a good idea of commute times. Hopefully this storm lets up so we can get a more realistic idea. Don't know exactly about Atlanta but I'm sure just like any area there's good parts and bad parts. We just hope we don't end up in ghetto area with high crime. want to be a will to go to places like the grocery store at night without any issues.
Don't move unless you have a plan. If you are just trying to find a cheap place to live for the kids then maybe it's a good move. I recommend before you buy property you should rent (even if you rent a house/condo for 6 months) and determine if this place is really for you while getting a lay of the land. Things you take for granted in CA will be different in the south.
Look before you leap.
We aren't in a hurry to buy. We'll be in our RV for awhile before we commit to any specific town.
By Metro Atlanta commuting standards, a rush hour commute from Woodstock to Sandy Springs and back can generally take anywhere from 35 minutes on very-good days to 60 minutes or longer on really bad days depending on traffic conditions on any given day.
I think that sounds pretty reasonable for us. Reading a bunch of threads and seems like Woodstock is one of the closest towns to fit our needs/wants. Outskirts, but not too rural, downtown sounds nice, good schools, wooded in a lot if areas, close to lake. We are heavily into outdoorsy activities.
I'm currently looking in the Dallas, Hiram, Kennesaw, Acworth, Woodstock areas. We'll be out there in about 6 weeks or so. This will primarily be an investment property for us as we plan to upgrade or build in a few years when we determine where we want to live permanently. Looking for family friendly areas that are in good-great school districts. I'm seeing Cobb, Cherokee and Gwinett are highly rated and Paulding mediocre but possibly on the rise (hearsay).
I have to chime in....one thing that is WAY different here is house appreciation as compared to the Bay Area. Also, coming from the Bay Area, your pricing is skewed - everything looks so CHEAP and you can get too excited too quickly. The problem is that if you pay a premium price for a property here (it may seem like a great deal to the Californian), don't expect it to appreciate (like those in CA). The areas you are looking in may also have a lot of undeveloped land (like a Mountain House or Tracy) that will affect your value once they start building out newer homes.
Definitely take your time in finding the right property, preferable nicely underpriced IMHO. We bought a house before moving here and it was a steal....but in hindsight, I probably overpaid a little (using my CA standards, it seemed like a steal lol), I would've rented first to get to know the area and the local pricing more before pulling the trigger...
I have to chime in....one thing that is WAY different here is house appreciation as compared to the Bay Area. Also, coming from the Bay Area, your pricing is skewed - everything looks so CHEAP and you can get too excited too quickly. The problem is that if you pay a premium price for a property here (it may seem like a great deal to the Californian), don't expect it to appreciate (like those in CA). The areas you are looking in may also have a lot of undeveloped land (like a Mountain House or Tracy) that will affect your value once they start building out newer homes.
Definitely take your time in finding the right property, preferable nicely underpriced IMHO. We bought a house before moving here and it was a steal....but in hindsight, I probably overpaid a little (using my CA standards, it seemed like a steal lol), I would've rented first to get to know the area and the local pricing more before pulling the trigger...
Good luck!!
Oh yes, it's obvious that the COL in GA and the housing is nothing like out here. That's a given. Although I'm in Brentwood so housing is not as drastically cheaper than most other areas. By investment i just mean we want to rent it out eventually and make money (we are putting a hefty chunk down). We won't be buying right away for the exact reasons you mentioned. Thanks for the insight, always great hearing from people from California.
Do you know where you can live in your RV? I would be surprised if that is anywhere near Sandy Springs... Just something to keep in mind as you are beginning this process.
As Born 2 Roll often says, Georgia/Metro Atlanta is cheap but not THAT cheap.
I think the OP is being unrealistic about where she can live and what she and her husband can afford in terms of housing if he's not transferring here with a good-paying job in tow (close to six figures or six figures to live in the North Atlanta burbs).
If the husband plans to find a work in retail/grocery once he gets here, he's not going to make that much money at all and you will not be able to afford to buy a house on that salary.
The COL in Georgia is low but the pay here is also very low, particularly if you aren't in the STEM fields, IT, law, medicine or other traditionally high-paying jobs. The OP is not realistic about the cost of living here versus the pay. If the husband is in management then maybe he might earn a half-way decent salary, but most likely still not enough to buy in the areas they are considering, especially since they want safety and good schools.
The safer the area and the better the schools, the more expensive it's going to be. You aren't going to get a big house with a lot of land in a safe area with good schools on the cheap here. It may be cheaper than California but it's still not affordable if you don't have a high income for the areas you want.
Cheaper than [insert more expensive state here] does not translate into automatic affordability for everyone in Georgia when it comes to safety and good schools. As with anything, you get what you pay for.
I think the OP needs to look south, like in the Fairburn area or some place like that.
Last edited by Atlanta_BD; 02-14-2014 at 06:16 AM..
As Born 2 Roll often says, Georgia/Metro Atlanta is cheap but not THAT cheap.
I think the OP is being unrealistic about where she can live and what she and her husband can afford in terms of housing if he's not transferring here with a good-paying job in tow (close to six figures or six figures to live in the North Atlanta burbs).
If the husband plans to find a work in retail/grocery once he gets here, he's not going to make that much money at all and you will not be able to afford to buy a house on that salary.
The COL in Georgia is low but the pay here is also very low, particularly if you aren't in the STEM fields, IT, law, medicine or other traditionally high-paying jobs. The OP is not realistic about the cost of living here versus the pay. If the husband is in management then maybe he might earn a half-way decent salary, but most likely still not enough to buy in the areas they are considering, especially since they want safety and good schools.
The safer the area and the better the schools, the more expensive it's going to be. You aren't going to get a big house with a lot of land in a safe area with good schools on the cheap here. It may be cheaper than California but it's still not affordable if you don't have a high income for the areas you want.
Cheaper than [insert more expensive state here] does not translate into automatic affordability for everyone in Georgia when it comes to safety and good schools. As with anything, you get what you pay for.
I think the OP needs to look south, like in the Fairburn area or some place like that.
Good comments.
Though, the OP did state that her husband's retail job was being transferred to Sandy Springs, so he will not have to look for work after they move here.
With the OP's husband being transferred to a retail job in Sandy Springs (to what sounds like a middle-management job in retail), the OP seems to be on the right track in looking for a home in areas like Dallas, Hiram, Kennesaw, Acworth and Woodstock where she might have the potential to find a house in her price range of $200k and under.
Atlanta_BD does make an excellent point that finding a larger house with some land for $200k or less will likely be very-difficult in the North Metro Atlanta suburbs where many (though most certainly not all) of the schools are regarded to be some of the best in the entire Southeastern U.S.
The OP will most-likely not find a large detached single-family home with a substantial amount of land in the areas that she is looking, but her chances of at-least finding either a smaller detached single-family home on a relatively very-small plot of land or a smaller attached single-family home (attached rowhouse or townhome) in her price range of $200k or less does at-least seem to be somewhat fairly good.
The OP does seem to understand that she is not necessarily going to find anything for $200k and under in an area of high-quality schools within a very-close commuting distance of where her husband will be working in Sandy Springs.
With the OP's husband working off-rush hour shifts most of the week, the OP and her family will also have more choices available to them that may be a little farther out from where he will be working in Sandy Springs as he will not always have to battle the absolute heaviest traffic on his commutes to and from Sandy Springs everyday that he works.
As Born 2 Roll often says, Georgia/Metro Atlanta is cheap but not THAT cheap.
I think the OP is being unrealistic about where she can live and what she and her husband can afford in terms of housing if he's not transferring here with a good-paying job in tow (close to six figures or six figures to live in the North Atlanta burbs).
If the husband plans to find a work in retail/grocery once he gets here, he's not going to make that much money at all and you will not be able to afford to buy a house on that salary.
The COL in Georgia is low but the pay here is also very low, particularly if you aren't in the STEM fields, IT, law, medicine or other traditionally high-paying jobs. The OP is not realistic about the cost of living here versus the pay. If the husband is in management then maybe he might earn a half-way decent salary, but most likely still not enough to buy in the areas they are considering, especially since they want safety and good schools.
The safer the area and the better the schools, the more expensive it's going to be. You aren't going to get a big house with a lot of land in a safe area with good schools on the cheap here. It may be cheaper than California but it's still not affordable if you don't have a high income for the areas you want.
Cheaper than [insert more expensive state here] does not translate into automatic affordability for everyone in Georgia when it comes to safety and good schools. As with anything, you get what you pay for.
I think the OP needs to look south, like in the Fairburn area or some place like that.
Lol, you guys must get some winners posting on this board with no common sense often. Yes COL is a lot lower. Pay is significantly lower. Minimum wage by almost half. He is transferring his job and is a manager with California pay. We are also putting about $80-$90k down on a home. I have seen plenty of homes for sale in all the areas Born 2 Roll suggested within our budget. And as I mentioned, we have decided for now to go smaller on the lot.
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want to be a will to go to places like the grocery store at night without any issues.
