Buying in Atlanta for under 100K? (Sandy Springs, Albany: section 8, renters, condo)

[misstristyn]

sound advice! Yes, We're not 100% certain that we will buy, our current research is aimed at figuring out whether we can even consider it. We're going to keep our feelers out though, it is a buyers market and there are a lot of deals out there. It may be the perfect time for 1st time homebuyers like us to jump into the market, but it is a risk, as any investment is.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by misstristyn

THANK YOU someone for saying something more useful than "it can't be done, just rent"

Hey, you asked for advice - various people are going to give you various types of advice. If you don't appreciate the "rent" perspective, fine, BUY THEN! Please however, do send us a pic of the lovely neighborhood you find that $100k home in (and wear your bullet proof vest outdoors if you're using a nice camera that can be pawned easily).

Geez.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by misstristyn

No problem... who needs more than one bathroom?

You'll get your answer to that the first time you've eaten a bad local Mexican dinner only to discover at the last second that the ONLY toilet in the house has broken.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by plessthanpointohfive

You know, for someone who came here asking the opinion of the NATIVES, you sure aren't very openminded.

Here's the thing...you're poor. Probably not forever but right now you are. You want to buy a 100K house on a 30K income. That is more than 2.5x your income, which was the recommended cap for mortages the last time I checked. AND you've got a child to care for.

I fact, considering the cost of home ownership....you might be overextending yourself. One plumbing visit can be $700. A new roof is $7000. Price of gas to get from $36 miles out to GATech will cost more than $300/month!

The NATIVES are telling you what they know about these areas, etc, and YOU appear very unappreciative. Sure, you should come down and see for yourelf but to disregard to knwledge of others is foolish.

If the NATIVES are telling you that, in general, homes in your stated price range in those areas are likely not what you had in mind.

O yourself a favor...I know your heart is wanting your own house...but you need to consider the damage you could do to yourself if you buy a low-end house in a low-end neighborhood and can't sell it in 3 to 5 years...

Rent. When your husband graduates then buy.

______________

BRAVO! http://bestsmileys.com/clapping/2.gif (broken link)

(very good points) Of course, I get called a jackass when I say this stuff, but hey, it's nice to know common sense 'aint dead yet. LOL

[VJP]

Originally Posted by misstristyn

In Georgia he may be carpooling with another grad student who's settled in Dallas so that they can share the parking permit for GT

Careful with this. I was a tech student for four years getting my EE - sharing permits is a no-no and spot checking is common. You're asking for whoever is not registered for the permit to get the car booted, which was ~100 $ when I was going to school there.

GT Parking is on par with the parking nazis of Chicago.

[VJP]

One thing you have neglected to answer here is how long you plan on staying? I have plenty of friends from college who went to get their Ph.D, while most of us went to work. Many of them are now finishing and not one of them is staying in Atlanta. If academia is his calling, I can almost certainly guarantee you he won't be working at any of the good colleges in this town (unless he is going to be a lab rat - which still won't pay enough).

If it's private sector work - I would have to know what kind of work he will be doing but engineering jobs for private sector ph.d's are still fairly difficult to come by in this town - that is just how it is.

In the event you think you would move in four-five years, my recommendation would echo everyone elses, with some added tidbits - rent, first off. I would even recommend the inner parts of Berkeley park (away from the bellemeade area where the undergrads live, there are some nice houses in the community, I used to live in one 0 and you could walk to underwood hills and go to the park and get your shopping done), or check out Howell station. Getting to GT is about 5-8 minutes by car - you could even drop him off.

Have either of you thought about his work hours prior to talking about MARTA? Marta stops running for about 4-6 hours each night. My Ph.D acquaintances and friends frequently spend hours burning the 'midnight oil'. What do you do then?

The concerns raised about credit markets are very valid here and at this time. Unless you have income other than what he will earn from his stipend, or have other savings, how are you going to get a loan? Remember taxes are taken out from this stipend - albeit very little - just FICA at that income level. Also - I read a figure a few posts up about 2500 dollars per month - well, between the cost of food, utilities, mortgage, gas, car tax, hazard insurance, property tax, books - and odds and ends for the home, you still have a child to pay for (my friends tell me those aren't cheap either).

Remember also - when you sell this home, you are basically attempting to recoup all the money you paid for insurance, upkeep, maintenance, repair, replacement, and the 6% you lose out on the back end for real estate commission, and then some, through appreciation. I somehow don't see that working for you in your price range.

Parking permits at GT are upwards of $500 now, though Ph.D students get the best spots.

-VJ

[misstristyn]

Thanks for the advise. I appreciate the time it takes to write down your views. In response to some of the questions and concerns you raised: My husband wants to work on gov./ military materials research (armor, weapons etc), and we will almost certainly move after he gets his PhD. It's true that $30,000 a year isn't much; Even so, we've been living off about $10,000-$15,000 a year successfully to this point (we've been enjoying free housing with my in-laws), and I must say I'm very talented at stretching our money. I'm one of those women who looks at shopping like a part time job and I often get our groceries about 80% off through combining sales and coupons. Kids are not that expensive. Our biggest outgo on our little girl is diapers and that's only about $30 a month due to my deal-hunting. I've been fortunate to inherit all her cute little girl clothes from my Aunt (whose only child is a girl just about 9 months older than mine.) And I'm also a talented seamstress and have made a lot of clothes for our family myself from $1/yard fabric from Walmart or stuff I found on sale at JoAnn (fabric store).
As to being able to get a loan. My parents are willing to cosign because they know we are very fiscally responsible. And as to the home not appreciating enough in 4-5 years to break even or make money, well, as long as we don't lose more money than we would have renting, I think we come out ahead. Say we rent a modest 3 bedroom place for four years and the rent (not including utilities) is $1000 a month. Do the math. At the end of four years we would have spent $48000 on rent. Do you really think we'll lose that much money on buying a house? And if we put some work into it and really spruce it up, and if the market comes back a bit in the next five years... who knows, maybe we'll even make a little money and have some equity to use as a down payment on the next home we buy. Nevertheless, everyone may rest easy knowing that we're not buying right away. We're actually looking at renting at Tenth and Home for a year or maybe a home in Decatur... we'll see. Living at Tenth and Home would definitely save us money on gas (-:

[hindsight2020]

I lived in Atlanta and went to GA Tech before I transferred out. This was '98-'01. With the increase in pricing due to the explosion of transplants from CA and New England I'd say you are priced out of the housing market at 30K/yr. I also did graduate work (not at Tech but have many friends who did) and I can tell you are correct in assuming y'all are going to have to leave Atlanta at the end of his phD, he won't find a professorship in the area and certainly not in Tech. Industry is his best bet, but I would say civil service work is his best bet to getting out of the grad student poor house. I was a grad student and there's no way I'd even consider home ownership on that kind of money. 150K is considered sub-entry level in the Atlanta area, part of the reason I'll never return there. Part of the appeal of ATL was the cost of living for a city that size, but that is no longer the case, ATL lost the appeal in that respect, it is now another unaffordable metroplex.

Don't look at rent as wasted money. Housing is supposed to be a utility, not an ATM machine, people should have learned that after this whole decade. At best you'll break even, meaning for all your trouble you'll give it all back in closing costs. You're more likely to sell and end up out-of-pocket, the appreciation will be minimal on 100K property in 5 years. Also bear in mind that you should look at your potential buyer when you get ready to sell. A good rule of thumb is to look at yourself when looking for a buyer. The reality is that your fellow grad student families are not in the home ownership track and many won't bother with sub 100K properties that are inherently difficult to get rid of..the more you deviate from the median price for an area the less fluid said properties are to move hands. At 100K you're on the lowest end of prices in ATL metro, meaning it'll be very difficult to sell, and even harder to sell to people like you (your theoretical ideal buyer). I'd rent. Good luck to you and your husband.

[gtgrad]

Originally Posted by misstristyn

Thanks for the advise. I appreciate the time it takes to write down your views. At the end of four years we would have spent $48000 on rent. Do you really think we'll lose that much money on buying a house? And if we put some work into it and really spruce it up, and if the market comes back a bit in the next five years... who knows, maybe we'll even make a little money and have some equity to use as a down payment on the next home we buy. Nevertheless, everyone may rest easy knowing that we're not buying right away. We're actually looking at renting at Tenth and Home for a year or maybe a home in Decatur... we'll see. Living at Tenth and Home would definitely save us money on gas (-:

I just registered to respond to your query. My husband and I got our degrees at Tech. We lived in family housing for a while and it was pretty nice then. Something you might want to consider. As to losing that much money...yep, it could happen. Our house was close to 250,000 a couple of years ago. Now, we'd be lucky to get 170,000 if we could sell at all. (For the locals...Yes, we are in Clayton County.) The politics can kill home values down here.

[misstristyn]

Originally Posted by gtgrad

I just registered to respond to your query. My husband and I got our degrees at Tech. We lived in family housing for a while and it was pretty nice then. Something you might want to consider. As to losing that much money...yep, it could happen. Our house was close to 250,000 a couple of years ago. Now, we'd be lucky to get 170,000 if we could sell at all. (For the locals...Yes, we are in Clayton County.) The politics can kill home values down here.

I'm afraid you were a victim of very bad timing with your home value. Everyone who bought or refinanced a few years back when the real estate market was at its peak has had a really hard time with the current recession. Even so, the market is not at all likely to continue its downward trend indefinitely, and at our price range, we'd be buying one of the homes that had already experienced close to maximum devaluation. When you only spend $100,000 dollar on your house, losing $48000 of that would half its value... not at all likely when economists are predicting a slow recovery, not a continued decline.