Powder Springs? (Atlanta, Marietta, Kennesaw: sales, crime, home builders)

[Homer12]

I have read on here that Powder Springs is going in the wrong direction. One of the communities I like very much is Hawthorne at Lost Mountain in Powder Springs, can anyone comment on this Community or the Builder, Haven Properties, that also builds in various other neighborhoods?

Here is some info-

Hawthorne at Lost Mountain is conveniently located just south of Dallas Highway (Highway 120) and just west of Lost Mountain Road on Corner Road, and minutes from historic Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Park and downtown Marietta. The community is served by great schools including Kemp Elementary School, Lost Mountain Middle School and Hillgrove High School, and is convenient to major shopping and entertainment venues.

New homes at Hawthorne at Lost Mountain will be EarthCraft and Energy Star certified providing homeowners a healthier, more comfortable and substantially more energy efficient home. New home prices will begin in the high $400's.

Thank you

[atlantagreg30127]

I live in Powder Springs and have for going on more than 14 years now. Here's my take on the comments you have heard (perhaps some from my own posts), and some of the things you're saying:

PARTS of the actual city limits of Powder Springs have gone downhill in the last 2-3 years. There has been an increase in teen crime and some gang activity in some areas. Much of it is related to drugs, and car break-ins (but this is also an increasing activity in lots of suburban areas today I'm afraid). The Powder Springs police have had "some" progress in keeping "some" of this in check - while not so much in other areas. This doesn't mean that as a whole, the city of Powder Springs is an armpit to live in - it just means that a town that was once literally unknown to most in the metro area and very much "Mayberryish" is now a typical Atlanta suburb - with the problems living close to Atlanta brings with it. It's not as bad as say, Stone Mountain - but it's not the innocent sleepy unknown small town it was a few years ago.

I'm not sure about the Hawthorne development. There were some problems in that area when a lot of those new subdivisions were under construction a couple of years or less ago with people stealing from the job sites and a couple of arsons of unfinished homes, but since all that stuff has been completed it's not really been mentioned. In the upper $400s places them in the higher price range in this particular area, and so long as the quality is good, Earthcraft homes are certainly worth a few dollars more. Maybe someone else can comment on the developer though, and as always I recommend you get a good home inspector to do their things with any home you're planning on buying in the Atlanta area.

Their location is pretty good. You're not far from the Kennesaw retail shopping area along Barrett Parkway with all the shops and restaurants there, as well as Town Center Mall and one of the busiest Costcos in the U.S. (be warned, it's a highly congested area traffic wise at times). Just East on Hwy. 120 is the "Avenue of West Cobb (http://www.shoptheavenue.com/FindAnAvenue/TheAvenueWestCobb/tabid/88/Default.aspx - broken link)" outdoor shopping complex with somewhat higher-end shops. There's not much to downtown Powder Springs except a couple of antique stores and restaurants, but there is a neat (but small) farmer's market on Thursdays from 4-8pm in the town square. A few miles West in Hiram are a ton of typical chain stores and restaurants along a stretch with stuff like Sam's Club, Circuit City, etc. You will of course be within 6 miles of about 55 Wal-marts in this area, too.

I'm not sure Marietta Square is "within minutes" as the Hawthorne sales site says. My idea of "minutes" is like, 8-10 minutes. Hwy 120 can be very busy at times, so it's more like 20-30 minutes depending on traffic and time of day, but it is a straight shot into Marietta Square if you stay on that road (whos name changes to Whitlock Ave. as you go East).

Schools: McEachern in Powder Springs has gone downhill in the last few years, causing a number of families to move a couple of miles North of here so their kids can go to Hillgrove. So far I've heard nothing but good comments about Hillgrove, and comments like, "It's like McEachern USED to be like" (but no specific details). Lost Mountain Middle School has a good rating at least on the school ratings site - HERE. Kemp's rating and parent comments are also - HERE.

Couldn't answer it all - but maybe gave some slight insight.

[Homer12]

Wow, great information. Thank you very much. I think a couple of the comments I read were from you earlier. My kids are 2 1/2 year old Twin Boys so the Elementary School is most important now, the others will change by the time the kids get that old.

Thanks again

[scgraham]

Originally Posted by Homer12

I have read on here that Powder Springs is going in the wrong direction. One of the communities I like very much is Hawthorne at Lost Mountain in Powder Springs, can anyone comment on this Community or the Builder, Haven Properties, that also builds in various other neighborhoods?

Here is some info-

Hawthorne at Lost Mountain is conveniently located just south of Dallas Highway (Highway 120) and just west of Lost Mountain Road on Corner Road, and minutes from historic Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Park and downtown Marietta. The community is served by great schools including Kemp Elementary School, Lost Mountain Middle School and Hillgrove High School, and is convenient to major shopping and entertainment venues.

New homes at Hawthorne at Lost Mountain will be EarthCraft and Energy Star certified providing homeowners a healthier, more comfortable and substantially more energy efficient home. New home prices will begin in the high $400's.

Thank you

I can't comment on this builder specifically; but, always move with caution on any home purchase, particularly new homes. Some home builders are having financial problems, so you don't want to have funds tied up with one of these builders. Identifying such a builder is not always easy.

However, with that said, you can sometimes strike a really good deal on one of their completed inventory homes.