Can't seem to find a good fit for us? (Moving OTP Atlanta) (Marietta: crime, buying a house)

[demonta4]

Originally Posted by KiersaCarstairs

I've seen a few places I was interested in near Marietta but my brother in law (who lives in Kennesaw) said that traffic from Marietta to East Point would be horrendous.

I would much prefer the Cobb area over Gwinnett as far as distance goes, I was just thinking I may find more in Gwinett pricewise. Fayette and Coweta are not an option. We just have zero desire to live there. We really want to move north but not too far from Atlanta.

My in laws live in Tucker but it's out of our range rent wise.

Any particular reason that you have to live on the northside? You're really limiting yourself but if your gonna live on the northside stick to North DeKalb or Cobb, those are best commute wise. Not sure about finding something in your price range but I'm sure you'll find something.

[KiersaCarstairs]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

The OP is very much correct that their housing rental budget is limited....VERY limited.

With a budget of about no more than $750-850/month, the best that one probably can hope for is to find a quality older apartment or rental townhome at that price point in this very competitive rental market in the Atlanta metro area.

Rental rates are going to be even higher in Northside areas with good-to-adequate schools (particularly in most areas of Cobb, North Fulton and Gwinnett counties where you seem to be most interested).

Most parts of Gwinnett are likely going to give your husband a very challenging rush hour commute to and from his job in East Point on most days.

A detached single-family home with a yard in an area of good schools is likely in many (if not most or virtually all) cases pretty much going to be completely out of the question in what is currently a very competitive metro Atlanta real estate and rental market where detached single-family homes in areas of good schools seem to be in very high demand in many instances.

Also, with the continuing mounting traffic challenges in North Metro Atlanta, you should probably look no farther away from your husband's East Point job than the south part of Cobb County.

(...I-75 north of I-285 can often be extremely challenging during morning and afternoon/evening rush hours, particularly if there are major traffic delays caused by collisions and/or weather.....Which means that you should probably give less consideration to an area like Cherokee not only because of rental pricing but also on the basis of frequent severe rush hour traffic congestion on major roads like I-75 and I-575 north.)

A rental budget of $750-850 monthly more than likely will not get you into the absolute best school districts in metro Atlanta in many cases. But maybe you potentially might have an opportunity to get into an affordable quality older apartment or townhome in some Northside areas.

There are many affordable quality older apartments and townhomes in quality Northside school districts/clusters like Wheeler (in Southeast Cobb County), Sandy Springs (North Fulton County) and Chamblee (in North DeKalb County) where your husband could potentially use MARTA to commute to and from his job in East Point (or use the east and south stretches of the I-285 Perimeter).

(...Wheeler is a really great cluster of schools with lots of affordable quality older rental dwellings (apartments and townhomes)...really great (excellent) math and science magnet program at Wheeler along with a good regular curriculum outside of the very highly touted.)

There are also many affordable quality older rental dwellings in Northside areas like Vinings (Campbell cluster in Southeast Cobb County which is not as highly regarded as the schools in other parts of Cobb but seems to be on the rise over the long term) and Norcross 30093 and the US 29 corridor in Lilburn (the Meadowcreek and Berkmar clusters in Gwinnett County are not the most highly-regarded school cluster in Gwinnett but is certainly much better than the schools may be in Griffin...the Meadowcreek and Berkmar clusters are also very close to your in-laws in Tucker).

If your husband is willing to opt for a longer commute on some days (either with MARTA Heavy Rail Transit by way of the Doraville MARTA Station and/or by driving around the east and south sides of I-285), you may also want to take a look at the Peachtree Corners area where there are many affordable quality older rental options in an area of quality schools in the Norcross High School cluster.

While Fayette would most likely be out of the question with your budget, you also probably should not be so dismissive of Southside suburbs like Coweta County.

Coweta has a moderate-sized cluster of rental dwellings (apartments) very close to an area of many retail amenities around the junction of I-85 and GA 34 in an area of quality schools on the east side of Newnan in the East Coweta and Newnan high school clusters that you could look into because of the relative ease of the commute to and from your husband's job in East Point.

On the Northside you could also look inside the city of Marietta in the quality Marietta City Schools system where there continue to be many affordable quality older rental options (particularly along Powder Springs Road in the southwest part of the city) despite the ongoing gentrification of the part of the city closest to the historic Marietta Square.

There are also many affordable quality older rental dwellings (mostly apartments but also some smaller townhomes) in the Osborne and South Cobb high school clusters in South Cobb County.....Though the schools in those areas are not as highly-touted as they are in other areas of Cobb County.

Wow! Thanks for so much great info. I am taking notes on all of this so I can look more into it.

I see now how crazy affordable it is to live where I do. For $700 a month, I currently live in a 3br, 2ba home with a huge fenced in yard. We are also in the most desirable area of Griffin to boot, second best elementary school as well. But on a safety scale of 0-100 according to Neighborhood Scout, we are at a measly 1. My brother and sister in law bought a house in Kennesaw for around 147K last year and their house payment is around 750 a month. So I had hoped we would be in luck until I started seeing rental prices.

Marta isn't an option either, my husbands job is too far from the Marta station in East Point. You can walk it but there's no way you'd wanna do it by choice in this summer heat.

There's nothing wrong with Coweta Co. I have family there too but I just have no interest in living there. My Dad was from Newnan and he wasn't the greatest guy in the world...maybe I associate Coweta with him too much. I don't know.

There's so many interesting areas in Atlanta but maybe we can't really afford it yet. Or maybe we should stay put until we are ready to buy? I just don't know what to think about it all now but I appreciate the help so much!

[KiersaCarstairs]

[quote=demonta4;44310596]Any particular reason that you have to live on the northside? You're really limiting yourself but if your gonna live on the northside stick to North DeKalb or Cobb, those are best commute wise. Not sure about finding something in your price range but I'm sure you'll find something.

Well we have family in Kennesaw and Tucker and so I guess we thought we could be more central to everyone. I have lived here all of my life and I am a bit tired of it I suppose. There's many things I love about Griffin but maybe I just would like to start over somewhere new.

[KiersaCarstairs]

Originally Posted by jeoff

With dogs, you might be able to do some duplexes and townhomes. (I rent out a duplex that is fenced on both sides--not advertising, just letting you know they are out there.--it might help to open up as many possibilities as you can).

I actually LOVE living in a apartment. That's where we lived years 1-5 of our married life. This house was our first actually and some days I still really miss apartment life.

But we acquired a Golden Retriever and a Dauschund along the way and that made the yard a necessity. I always look for townhouses with yards but I only see one every once in a while.

[KiersaCarstairs]

Maybe I should revisit Fayetteville, I'm very familiar with it at least, having spent a lot of time there growing up. I often chose to see Doctors and to do shopping in Fayette.

[Born 2 Roll]

One very interesting tidbit here is that Griffin (where the OP currently resides to the south of Atlanta) is actually about 2 miles closer to Downtown Atlanta than Cumming is to the north of Atlanta.

(...Griffin is about just over 38 miles to the south of Downtown Atlanta while Cumming is over 40 miles north of Downtown Atlanta.)

But even though Griffin is 2 miles closer to Downtown Atlanta than Cumming, it is Cumming which has been almost completely enveloped by Atlanta's metropolitan outer-suburban and exurban development patterns.....That's because Atlanta's metropolitan development patterns tilt heavily to the north of the city towards manmade super lakes Allatoona and Lanier and the towards the Appalachian foothills and mountains north of the city beyond the lakes.

[ElleKaye]

Originally Posted by KiersaCarstairs

I've seen a few places I was interested in near Marietta but my brother in law (who lives in Kennesaw) said that traffic from Marietta to East Point would be horrendous.

I would much prefer the Cobb area over Gwinnett as far as distance goes, I was just thinking I may find more in Gwinett pricewise. Fayette and Coweta are not an option. We just have zero desire to live there. We really want to move north but not too far from Atlanta.

My in laws live in Tucker but it's out of our range rent wise.

I agree with your brother-in-law that traffic is going to be bad. Why not just find a place in East Point or College Park that puts you close to work?

When you want or need to visit the in-laws then pick a time of day or day of the week when there's less traffic and drive up to Tucker.

I don't see any part of a northside move with an East Point commute which is what you'd be doing regulary as a good idea. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way though so good luck.

[lucky1931991]

I'm not sure. I've never been to Marietta! Lol.

[jeoff]

For a SFH that takes pets in a good school zone, I don't think that $750 to $850 is going to do it (again you might find a townhome/duplex with a fence). That would really be bottom of the market for close-in suburbs right after the RE crash. Now you would have to go exurbs--best bet still south of the city.

[KiersaCarstairs]

Originally Posted by ElleKaye

I agree with your brother-in-law that traffic is going to be bad. Why not just find a place in East Point or College Park that puts you close to work?

When you want or need to visit the in-laws then pick a time of day or day of the week when there's less traffic and drive up to Tucker.

I don't see any part of a northside move with an East Point commute which is what you'd be doing regulary as a good idea. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way though so good luck.

There are many lovely homes in East POINT but I am looking for less crime than where I live now. East Point still has a major issue with property crime, as well as College Park to my knowledge.

I don't want to learn the hard way, lol. I know looking at pinpoints on a map is a lot different than hearing the experiences of people who actually make that commute. And I see now that I underestimated it.