We need a reality check

[ATLvpm]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

As I've stated on this forum before, you can pretty much get EVERYTHING that the Northside offers living in Fayette County -- unless going to Bloomingdaies or Nordstrom on a daily basis is important to you. There is plenty of fine upscale shopping in Peachtree City and Newnan, as well as some pretty impressive fine dining. And of course, the public schools in Fayette County are outstanding. Recent stats show that minority students actually perform HIGHER than white student in the Fayette County School System. That's rare anywhere in the country, much less Georgia.

Yes, I recently read the study about how well kids do in Fayette County. And it was eye opening for sure.

As the film and TV industry continues to expand (i.e. Pinewood Studios) Fayette County is only going to become more sophisticated. It's a very exciting time to live down there IMO -- and this is coming from someone who's had family in Fayetteville since 1821 -- the very beginning!

My husband also has film degree. It's his passion. The move really should be a no-brainer.

[ATLTJL]

If he holes to get in the film industry, that's definitely a better place to be.

Why don't you try renting in Fayetteville for a year and see how you like it?

[Born 2 Roll]

With the OP's limited housing budget of about $200k or less, if the OP and her family are going to stay in Alpharetta and North Fulton County (an area of rising housing prices along with much of the rest of North Metro Atlanta), then they probably should (and will have to) give strong consideration to moving into either another single-family home rental property or renting a condominium if she and her family want to get into a dwelling with 3 or more bedrooms.

The OP and her family probably just are not going to be able to find a 3+ bedroom single-family home for $180k in affluent Alpharetta and North Fulton County. Heck, I don't even know if the OP might be able to find a 3-bedroom townhome for that price in the Alpharetta area where home prices are on the rise in an area where the schools are very highly regarded and very much in demand.

But if the OP's husband already works at the Atlanta Airport and desires to get into the film business, then the OP should likely make the move to Fayette County where the film industry is exploding.

ATLTJL makes an excellent suggestion that the OP could (and probably should) rent for a year in Fayette County to see if she and her family would want to continue living there for an extended period of time.

Though, even in the comparatively less-expensive, but still very high quality Southern suburbs, finding a 3-bedroom detached single-family home for $200k or less that does not have any issues still might potentially be somewhat of a challenge in a Metro Atlanta housing market where home prices are on the rise and a premium is placed on single-family homes in areas of excellent schools.

[jeoff]

Originally Posted by ATLvpm

I could upgrade from working part time to full time, but that'll only increase our income about 20k. Possibly more because in a year all the kids will be in school, and I would be able to work a second job. I'm sure our landlord will want to end the lease after this term. Instead of our usual 2 year renewal, he only opted for 15 months, which puts us at the end of the school year. He has been making repairs to the house (new roof, siding, etc). I believe he would like to sale after our lease term is up. Buying our current home is not an option because it's too small for our needs.

Anyway, thanks for all the advice/options to consider. It's all over the place, just as how it goes in our heads. We will figure out something. I hope.

Another thing to think about--if you do stretch your budget to live in Alpharetta, and then feel the need to go full time with your job to keep up--that will be *both* parents that will have less time to spend on the kids, than if you had bought a less expensive place closer to your husband's work.

[st3mpy]

I vote buy now in Fayettville if you are able.

Interest rates are only going to up.

And commute times are only going to increase as well.

[Tryska]

Your poor husband commutes from Alpharetta to the Airport every single day?

Just ponder this...the amount of free time and stress he will save by cutting his commute by 2 hours everyday.

[AnsleyPark]

If you can wait, I'd recommend saving a lot more so you can avoid paying PMI, if possible.

[Larry X]

Don't blow your entire savings on a down payment.

[David1502]

Another possibility is the older homes of East Cobb which were built in the 1970's. A place to look would be along Canton Rd. and a few along Sandy Plains. I realize that these houses are very "dated". however, many are in excellent high school districts like Lassiter and Sprayberry. They have pretty good access to I-75 via the Canton Rd. interchange on the north side of Marietta.


Because most of the development in Alpharetta occurred later than parts of East Cobb, the housing prices tend to be higher. Also, Alpharetta is more convenient to retail and employment centers than a lot of East Cobb. Still, East Cobb has a lot high end housing and top notch public schools.