Looking for houses under $150,000 w/decent schools and w/in walking distance to public transportation (bus or rail) (Atlanta: apartment, rental)

[PJ0712]

Hi, I have an interview next week in Atlanta, and while my husband and I are down there, we'd like to look around at some of the different areas where we may live if I get the job. Here is what we are looking for--any suggestions would be appreciated!

*Houses under $150,000 (or houses to rent $1000 or under--we'd like to buy if we can afford it)
*Areas with decent schools--I don't need the top/very best schools--but I don't want to be in a terrible school district either. My daughter is only 10 months old, so we're mainly concerned about elementary schools, not middle or high school at this point, since we'd most likely move again before she got to that point
*Safe area
*Area where I could be within walking distance to public transportation because I'd be working in downtown Atlanta and we currently only have one car and would like to keep it that way if possible. I'd like to keep my commute to an hour or under.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[pellur]

Every one here would first ask where are you gonna be working at?

You could get a decent 2 bed room apartment around perimeter area in your range. Schools are also not bad at all and it is a safe fun place to be. MARTA would take you directly to downtown ( commute time is about 25 minutes)

Alternatively you could move up north near Alpharetta and you would have access to great schools but with that budget, it might be a stretch to get a house. You could still take MARTA bus to MARTA rail line and then head to downtown.

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by pellur

Every one here would first ask where are you gonna be working at?

You could get a decent 2 bed room apartment around perimeter area in your range. Schools are also not bad at all and it is a safe fun place to be. MARTA would take you directly to downtown ( commute time is about 25 minutes)

Alternatively you could move up north near Alpharetta and you would have access to great schools but with that budget, it might be a stretch to get a house. You could still take MARTA bus to MARTA rail line and then head to downtown.

Would Ashford Park have homes for rent in this price range?

There are houses in Briarcliff Heights/Executive Park for around $1,000. North Druid Hills area.

[Mgyeldell]

I would say River Park in East Point the neigborhood is nice older houses not run down ghetto. Diverse neigborhood Latinos Blacks and Whites. The elementary school is in the neigborhood so there is not a lot of kids that go there. transportation is great 85 75 285 are really close to the neighborhood. There is 6 bus routes close to the neighborhood with one going to downtown atlanta. The East Point MARTA train station is located less than a Mile walk from her house. And in Downtown east point there is new shops and businesses that are really hip and chic. the neighborhood is really safe there is a strong police presence(not with sirens going off but maybe every few hours policemen driving through) and there been no violent crimes in the neigborhood for a few years

I personally like the neighborhood and the commute for my mom to her job in East Cobb is wonderful on Pu.Trans. it takes her a 1 1/2 hours and in a car its 45 min and for me to get downtown by bus is 45 min and if a walk to the train station it is about 20 minutes

[Sweet Atlanta Peach]

Originally Posted by Mgyeldell

I would say River Park in East Point the neigborhood is nice older houses not run down ghetto. Diverse neigborhood Latinos Blacks and Whites. The elementary school is in the neigborhood so there is not a lot of kids that go there. transportation is great 85 75 285 are really close to the neighborhood. There is 6 bus routes close to the neighborhood with one going to downtown atlanta. The East Point MARTA train station is located less than a Mile walk from her house. And in Downtown east point there is new shops and businesses that are really hip and chic. the neighborhood is really safe there is a strong police presence(not with sirens going off but maybe every few hours policemen driving through) and there been no violent crimes in the neigborhood for a few years

I personally like the neighborhood and the commute for my mom to her job in East Cobb is wonderful on Pu.Trans. it takes her a 1 1/2 hours and in a car its 45 min and for me to get downtown by bus is 45 min and if a walk to the train station it is about 20 minutes

Public schools in East Point are not the best though. What school are the children in River Park zoned to go to? I know all about those schools. There is only one decent one though, and I don't know if River Park is near it.

[lastminutemom]

I would rent first. Keep in mind that really accessible public transportation is a challenge in metro Atlanta and is really limited to Fulton and Dekalb but some other counties have their own systems that feed into MARTA.

I wouldn't buy yet. Metro Atlanta is a complex place to buy a house (lots of choices) and your price range is either going to have you looking at multi-family housing (condos, etc that will be hard to resell for many years), transitional closer in neighborhoods or far out neighborhoods. You need to have a lay of the land before rushing into such a purchase.

Given the fact that home prices are continuing to drop and may take a while to recover, there is no need to rush.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

I would rent first. Keep in mind that really accessible public transportation is a challenge in metro Atlanta and is really limited to Fulton and Dekalb but some other counties have their own systems that feed into MARTA.

I wouldn't buy yet. Metro Atlanta is a complex place to buy a house (lots of choices) and your price range is either going to have you looking at multi-family housing (condos, etc that will be hard to resell for many years), transitional closer in neighborhoods or far out neighborhoods. You need to have a lay of the land before rushing into such a purchase.

Given the fact that home prices are continuing to drop and may take a while to recover, there is no need to rush.

A rental rates are low/dropping as well...

[PJ0712]

Thanks for the info--we probably would rent for 6 months or so, since we wouldn't have time to make a house purchase. I have seen some houses online in the Decatur area that are affordable and not more than an hour commute on the bus/train (according to Google maps). Is that an okay area?

[lastminutemom]

If it is in the City of Decatur (the way you can tell is the schools. If they are Decatur High School or Renfroe Middle school, they are in the city of Decatur and are probably ok.

After that is gets a little more dicey. Lots of unincorporate DeKalb calls itself Decatur. A lot of this area isn't very dice but some is extremely nice. If you have a specific address or two, feel free to add it to this post.

Also, keep in mind that even with the downturn, 150K won't necessarily get you much of a nice house in a close in neighborhood with decent schools and near MARTA. So, if you have a good situation where you live now, you might want to factor that into your decision making process about whether to move or not.

[Sweet Atlanta Peach]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

If it is in the City of Decatur (the way you can tell is the schools. If they are Decatur High School or Renfroe Middle school, they are in the city of Decatur and are probably ok.

After that is gets a little more dicey. Lots of unincorporate DeKalb calls itself Decatur. A lot of this area isn't very dice but some is extremely nice. If you have a specific address or two, feel free to add it to this post.

Also, keep in mind that even with the downturn, 150K won't necessarily get you much of a nice house in a close in neighborhood with decent schools and near MARTA. So, if you have a good situation where you live now, you might want to factor that into your decision making process about whether to move or not.

Exactly. I know a colleague that found a nice house in Dallas, Georgia in that price range, but, that is Paulding County, no where near public transportation, and the school system is decent.

The only areas I know that have homes in the 150K range and are near Marta are areas of Union City (Blah), and certain areas of College Park (Blah to the second power). Both areas have South Fulton schools that are not so great. Fulton as a system is pretty good, but, speaking as a Fulton teacher, the better schools are on the north end. There are a few good ones on the south end of Fulton (such as Stonewall Tell and A. Phillip Randolph) but both of those are no where near public transportation and home prices are not in the 150K range in those areas.