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So I guess that being FTHBs with cold feet we moved too slow to buy anything at Westwood Terraces right on the Silver Comet Trail. There's only one townhome left and while it's an end unit, it's right by the E-W Connector and you can hear a ton of road noise when you open your patio door. It's too bad because we really love this subdivision and would hate to compromise.
We're expanding our search to the ITP portion that used to be Smyrna 30080 but now has Atlanta/Vinings 30039 addresses.
Any thoughts on the Westbury at Vinings and Overlook at Westbury subs built by Pulte Homes?
All the other neighborhoods in the area are Condo and not Fee Simple which our agent has advised us against buying. Is there anything wrong with living less than a mile from Georgia Power's Plant Mcdonough-Atkinson?
I know you want something newer; however, I live in Glenleigh Subdivision in Mableton 30126. It's a John Wieland, swim/tennis community of about 50 homes that were built in the late 80s. Come check us out. SFRs in your price range. Close to Kroger, Publix, Walmart and Target. Walking distance to Silver Comet Trail. Easy access freeways and to inner city activities. It's a diverse community, young families and original owners still in community. No foot traffic and nice yards.
We are the exception but just so have an idea about what the Suntrust stadium and recent growth has done...we bought a foreclosure here when the market tanked and in less than 5 years we have more than our purchase price in equity. New community's going up within 2-5 miles are selling for $400k and up. Its worth a look and my biased opinion "The Best Place To Live In Mableton".
Thank you for the information Magnolia Flower. It looks like you have an active HOA and a nice website and swim/tennis amenities. We are first time buyers that aren't very handy so the slightly older homes here would never even show up in our filters.
That being said, we have decided to go with Westbury, specifically the newer Overlook at Westbury side. Closing is in 4 weeks and I am hoping nothing goes wrong between now and closing. They only have a pool but they do have a fenced dog play area which is a big plus for us.
My wife and I are trying to fix our commutes and stop renting and buy a house while interest rates are so low (3.375% @ 30 yr conv). Workplace 1 is by the airport in Hapeville and workplace 2 is in Cobb General Hospital. The Mableton (Oakdale Road SE) to Smyrna (S Cobb) area seems like a good target area to us but I am also open to any other suggestions.
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Friends and coworkers are telling us that a townhome in Smyrna is better for resale than SFH in Mableton since schools suck in both areas and yuppie, DINK couples like us will like townhome living more. We currently rent in a "luxury" apartment and appreciate the convenience and amenities but they increase rent by 5% or more yearly and we have grown a little tired of apartment living with people living above us and having a dog to walk frequently.
I would love to hear everyone's opinions about this as the house-buying process is pretty overwhelming for us right now. We are also worried that we may not know of any other neighborhood that will offer a convenient commute for both of us that is also safe and will not depreciate in value.
Any advice, thoughts, or alternative neighborhoods to look at would be greatly appreciated!
-Thanks
I used to live in Smyrna and still own two properties there, so I'll take a stab. I want to first set your expectations. $300k isn't very much for a SFH in Smyrna with bells-and-whistles (but luckily just fine for an older 2-3br) so you're going to have to make some concessions and probably some sweat equity as well to really bring out its value. I'm just setting your expectations, and it's why Mableton East of Veteran's Memorial and Floyd Rd or along Queen's Mill may be a viable option. However, with no kid there's no reason to settle, yet, since you don't need a big home. Location, convenience, and entertainment is more important. That's my summary in advance. So, let's get going...
First of all, you were told a lot of wrong things. Townhomes are tricky b/c it's cyclical like condos so there's no guarantee they will sell better than a single-family home in Mableton unless you're talking maybe the next 2-3 years. After that, it's anyone's guess but still probably safe for 5-7 b/c of all the office being constructed in Cumberland. They are hot now in Smyrna and Cumberland area, being built like crazy, selling out before they even break ground. Wow! Smyrna's had this before, not for a while. And guess what happened? Atlanta and N Fulton went on a condo/townhome building binge and destroyed the market for all of metro Atlanta. These townhome/condo developers can predict when the market is good. Unfortunately, they all predict it at the same time and by the time they break ground, they are just one of a sea of new townhome/condo developments. I'll get into this more later.
Not all schools suck. For instance, King Springs is amazing, Teasley is great, and Nickajack is good. Brown is good, Smyrna International Academy and Smyrna Elementary are good. And many of the other schools are improving like Argyle, Belmont Hills, and Harmony-Leland. However, if you have no kids, then hell with it! Even if pregnancy happened now, preschool wouldn't end for another 6 years!!!
Just enjoy the home. Heck, maybe buy an older condo or townhome along Spring Rd or Campbell Rd, or Spring Hill Pkwy in that area near Cumberland like we did way back when we had no kids, and that area is going to appreciate due to the new development in Cumberland and be A LOT OF FUN! Drewsbury Ct off Campbell Rd is oh so cute, and most (not all) in that subdivision are well under your price range. Or maybe if you're going for more boring than right outside of Cumberland but within walking distance of Sprouts, then off the Silver Comet Trail (Like WeHunt PL or Westchester Dr) so you can ride bicycles and walk on the trail (Spring Rd also has a trail). Or off Concord Rd within walking distance of the trail. Or near a park like Taylor Brawner!!! Or near Market Village! Worry about schools later, don't bore yourself to tears! Have FUN now!!! If you want more yard for your dog and possibly future kid, you're going to need an older home, built before the 90s unless you want to pay close to a million. Most things built after 1990 (roughly speaking) is infill on existing lots that were torn down, or crammed between existing subdivisions, and has less land.
SFH route with a big yard:
So, if you want a big yard, you need an older/smaller home. Getting a SFH for $300k (no offence, just preparing you for shock) in Smyrna isn't gonna get you everything you want. E.g. not much yard for something built past 1990. Take a look at Lee St off Concord Rd in Smyrna for some inspiration of what can be done with smaller homes. You can't afford most of the homes off Lee St but look around Forest Hills and surrounding areas. Heck, if you get one off Creatwood Trail you can get into Teasley school district: Two birds with one stone. Add the trail on Atlanta Rd, and Taylor Brawner Park and Market Village and that's also going to give you things to walk to. Ridge Rd is also so cute and there's some fixer-uppers off of there that need some TLC (Nickajack district). In a lot of these cases, right down the small streets between Ridge Rd, King Springs Rd, and Concord Rd, you'll see examples of "sold" properties that will demonstrate what you can get once you exert a little sweat equity.
Likewise, another target I'd look at are the older homes right off Camp Highland, Lewis Dr and Argo Rd. The $700k tear-downs going up on Camp Highland Rd may give you some idea of how much the land in those older lots is worth, especially with a view of the skyline. Dixon Lake Dr would be ground zero for "get it while it's hot" land. Also within walking distance of the Silver Comet Trail. Heck, if you get something on Dixon Lake Dr, the investor side of me will be jealous of you. I've been sort of salivating at those lots. There's only 4 of them though and I don't know if any of them are on the market :-) There's surrogates though all around there. Prince Rd, maybe.. Lewis Dr has very little left, but just go around the corner to the first few lots surrounding Lewis Dr on Crowe Dr in my humble opinion. No further, though. I know there's one for sale there, if you can handle upgrading a split-level.
You're not going to need to worry about being priced out of a good school in Smyrna, so just buy for now. You'll be fine when you need to "move up" to a bigger home (and probably "down" in yard size at the same time) E.g. Nickajack and King Springs districts are pretty comparable in prices even though King Springs is a better school on paper. It's due to size of the school, not affluence. Nickajack was fine for our kids before we moved to West Cobb which was mostly motivated by not having a commute into Atlanta any longer and wanting more of a yard with a bigger home to boot. I'd have stayed in Nickajack otherwise.
Ok, so now leaving older homes and let's get to townhomes and mcmansions:
As I mentioned, townhomes have the risk of being hurt by over-build throughout the metro. As I mentioned, townhome/condo overbuild in the 1990s/2000s caused so much inventory it temporarily killed the market in the ENTIRE METRO AREA! (Well Smyrna didn't help either, but Atlanta was the main culprit). Imagine: you could even get a luxury condo in some areas for $300k (like Buckhead / Vinings) that are now approaching $1 million. By temporarily, I mean it happened before the recession and lasted about another 5 years. So, Smyrna is NOT immune to overbuild. Safer than it was in the past? Maybe, due to all the new businesses moving into Cumberland... But not immune. New office and businesses moving into Cumberland sparked the last frenzy too. And it's happening again. God help us if Atlanta goes psychotic building new condos and townhomes. You get the point...
So if you buy a condo/townhome, be wiling to hold it a few years at any point and watch building trends carefully, or just be ready to rent it out for a while when you move up! If you do, you may end up just deciding that it makes you too much income renting it out and not want to ever sell it. That happened to me on a place I own off Spring Rd. But, you absolutely have to plan for that scenario b/c when you go to buy the new home, you're going to have to have the credit and income to have 2 properties with mortgages (if you haven't paid the first one off yet) and since you aren't renting the first one yet, you'll need to have the income to pay both.
I already talked about some of the cute places around Spring Rd, Spring Hill Pkwy, Campbell Rd, along E-W Connector near the Silver Comet Trail, near Taylor-Brawner Park and Market Village, or the far end of Concord Rd.
IF you buy a 1990s or later mcmansion with a yard under $300k with 4br (very rare, but doable) you either need to be really lucky, or will need to upgrade it before you sell! It didn't sell over $300k for that reason. And if you want any hope of getting one that's upgraded under $300k, it'll either need to be 3br, and even then it's very unlikely to happen. So if you come across one that's in pristine condition, AND upgraded with more than 3br then strike fast!
There's still deals in Smyrna. E.g. Adderbury CT off Concord Rd has some good deals right now, and it's in the King Springs district. There's homes that just aren't selling and sometimes for stupid reasons like paint color or ugly carpet (or a bar in the formal dining room - you may see that one). So don't give up. Those issues are easily remedied and some people just don't want to bother.
I would advise against buying older townhomes or condos that are not in HOAs (it's rare) unless you ask us first about the specific streets. HOAs are important. But you can ask, there's a few exceptions like Creatwood Cir or Paces Ferry N Dr which will be fine. Of course, they are way below your price range and pretty much anything near the top of your price range will have an HOA if it isn't a SFH.
Now, on Mableton:
I think they are over-simplifying the Smyrna/Mableton thing as far as resale. Resale may have seemed to a bit more challenging in theory as you get closer to Veteran's Memorial but not for the reason you'd think. It's because Smyrna is at a premium and this is relatively recent. At one point, they were closer in price. However, Mableton along Veteran's Memorial got held back because of a bunch of factors that may not apply in the future. One for sure - the Bankhead Court projects in Atlanta that have since been torn down - definitely didn't help. It's still very strong, has a decent sense of community b/c of active members and the M.I.C. and it has appreciated, just not at the rate Smyrna has. However, as I hinted, that says nothing about the future. It could grow at the same rate in value as Smyrna at this point, and may not. What I can say with almost certainty is it won't catch Smyrna in prices (when lot size is equal). But rate of appreciation is what's more important. There's also two sides of Mableton to keep in mind. The side between Smyrna and Veteran's Memorial / Floyd (and bleeding over a little in some places like Queens Mill) is the "Smyrna/Vinings" side of Mableton. The Austell Rd side past Mableton Pkwy, Gordon, etc is a totally different animal and has more crime, and schools that are not comparable to the Smyrna side of Mableton. Stick to Pebblebrook or Campbell HS districts if schools are important. Harmony-Leland is ok. You could say the nice side of Mableton is to Smyrna what Smyrna was to Vinings 30 years ago. It's all relative.
Stuff along Oakdale Rd, Pebblebrook, Buckner, Cooper Lake Rd is all fine. The Lake at Vinings Retreat or Stoney Brooke are two fine Mableton examples but Vinings Retreat is probably out of your range. Civitania and Vinings Estates (actually Smyrna except by address) definately is (Btw: if you buy in Stoney Brooke, replace any masonite on the back of the home w/ hardy plank immediately if that hasn't already been done yet). Also, Smyrna has pretty much annexed everything on Oakdale Rd at this point, and if all goes well there's going to be a $300 million mixed-use development called Riverview Landing right along the river (speculative, so don't buy near Riverview Landing solely BECAUSE OF Riverview Landing until you see frames starting to go up for it)
MY REASON NOT TO DO MABLETON RIGHT NOW. I'd wait until you have kids to justify a move away from walkability and things to do, or until Oakdale Rd or downtown Mableton becomes walkable ;-) Then Mableton becomes an option. Otherwise, you'll want to be a bit closer to everything. However, when Riverview Landing has broken ground, then you may want to make your move if you like Oakdale Rd.
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Originally Posted by kagete
We are looking at 300k max and are torn between Smyrna townhomes or Mableton SFHs in the same price range and age (15 years old or newer).
Darn, I'm about to put my "old" 4br mcmansion (5br including the recently - and I mean recently - finished basement) on the market but it's gonna be over $350k and probably closer to $400k by the time I get it on the market since beyond the permitted basement finishing I've been doing cosmetic work and upgrades on it for about a year and a half and keep finding new things I can make prettier
Last edited by netdragon; 08-28-2016 at 11:54 PM..
WOW netdragon. Thank you for the comprehensive, detailed, and easy-to-read response. I wish we had talked to you 2 months ago before we started house hunting. We would have gladly treated you out to multiple dinners or cooked some big juicy steaks for anyone that could give us such great information. City-data is such an amazing source of information because of posters like you.
We've already learned maybe 50% of what you've described after spending so much time in the area. We targeted Wehunt but everything that pops up there gets multiple offers above list after the first weekend. The only remaining unit that's still active is the end unit that is adjacent to the trail and E-W Connector where you can hear a ton of road noise as soon as you open any door or window.
We are now under contract for a 2010 built townhome in Westbury. It's not as walkable as the communities on the trail but it's cheap for the area. Having a fenced dog area is a big plus as we would never really use any communities's swim or tennis amenities. The 2-3 year old Westhill and White Oak neighborhoods feel like hastily constructed townhomes in comparison to the one we chose.
Renting isn't allowed by the HOA unless you apply for Hardship and it's limited to 5% right now. I wager that ratio will increase over the years and we would gladly take any rental income in the future that pays for the mortgage + maintenance.
Right now, we're happy with our decision and price point. We gave ourselves this max so that we could pay it off comfortably with either income. We plan on doing 30yr fixed but paying as if we were on a 15 year loan. If times get rough we can fall back on the minimum payments.
A couple of the SFH homes we liked in Mableton are still listed with price reductions. The best ones were picked up right before school started. As for trying to find $300k houses in Smyrna, you are spot on. It was almost depressing how little house or poor quality you can get at that price point. It's either a rundown 20 year old house with some updates or a flipped 1960s ranch with carports.
We've already made friends with a couple in the area and are excited to expand our social circles outside of the Peachtree City crowd that we have been moving in the past several years.
Cheers to you sir and thank you once again for your time in articulating all that information.
The schools don't "suck" as you say, in fact some of the Campbell feeder elementary schools are the top performing in the county.
Some of the elementary schools in that area are better than others, but it is a stretch to say they are "the top performing in the county". I can't find any in the Smyrna/Mableton area that are in the Top 10 elementary schools in Cobb. The very best one that I could find (King Springs) is 17th in Cobb.
First of all, you were told a lot of wrong things. Townhomes are tricky b/c it's cyclical like condos so there's no guarantee they will sell better than a single-family home in Mableton unless you're talking maybe the next 2-3 years. ...
Netdragon - awesome post thanks!!
I'm new to the board, but in the same position as OP. What are your thoughts on new construction by laural gate/pulte in the smyrna/vinings area? Aren't those prices going up way too fast compared to the rest of the area?
When you factor in monthly payment plus a hefty HOA (good for townhomes, i realize that) - you could really buy a much larger home elsewhere.
Hey we visited some of these houses! Thoughts below:
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Originally Posted by AfternoonCoffee
Well, not for OP necessarily (congrats, btw!!) but how about these:
4918 Durley Ln SE, On sale for more than a month now with good reason. This home needs a lot of work, and the owner has decided to do it all himself. The materials he chose are decent quality but his DIY skills leave much to be desired. All the windows will need to be replaced soon (even the ones on the second floor) and there is a lot of water damage that has gone through parts of the siding. It's the cheapest SFH for its age in the neighborhood for a reason.
2116 Berryhill Cir SE, Nice and neat. Wife loved it but it was way too far from 285. Being near the school made me worry about early morning traffic. Already pending sale.
154 Wetherbrooke Ln # 5, Not as nice as far as floor plan and finishes compared to any single Pulte-built town home on the other side of the connector on Wehunt or elsewhere. Felt over-priced. Still on sale.
4736 Wehunt Trl SE, We loved this end unit and floorplan. But it is right by the Silver Comet Trail and the Connector and you can hear a ton of road noise as soon as you open any window. We were surprised it is already pending sale.
1671 Wehunt Pl SE # 10, Nearly exactly the same as the one above but in a much better location within the subdivision. Our agent said this will sell soon. This was a 3rd or 4th choice for us if our primary options didn't accept our offer.
Awesome! Glad you saw everything that was out there!
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If you want more yard for your dog and possibly future kid, you're going to need an older home, built before the 90s unless you want to pay close to a million. Most things built after 1990 (roughly speaking) is infill on existing lots that were torn down, or crammed between existing subdivisions, and has less land. 
