Ok, so this is what I'm looking for in a neighborhood (Atlanta: wood floors, for sale)

[Heifzilla]

We're a 4 person family, two kids under age 10. Couple of dogs, a cat. We're looking for a somewhat diverse, upper middle class area. Homes in the 2500-2800 sf range, 4 beds, 2.5 baths, must have a basement. 1/2 acre would be ideal, nothing less than 1/4 acre. Good schools. Right now our school district is an 8 on greatschools.net and we want a district at that point or better. Hubby works from home right now, but wants to stay somewhat close (w/in 35 miles) to the airport because he travels and if he ever does decide the change jobs he doesn't want to be too far out because that limits his choices.

I'm a vet tech so I want to be in a reasonably populated area where there are lots of clinics, and maybe even to the CDC (they probably have vet techs on staff there for their research animals, I'd think?). We want to live in the suburbs, though, so Atlanta proper is out. We're just suburban-loving people

Price point is $200k to $300k. We'd really like to keep it more in the middle of that, but that's the range. Our current home is very nice. We have a lot of bells and whistles: wood floors, granite counters, upgraded maple cabinets with crown, oak trim & doors, ceramic in the baths, 3 car garage, brick, etc.. We're also on a well and septic, so we don't mind that, either. We're currently on an acre, so we're willing to give that up, but really don't want to compromise on the rest. I know it sounds like we're being prima donna but we'd like to move to significantly drop our mortgage payment, and get out of the Chicago winters, but we don't see the point of going through the trouble and aggravation if we can't have house-wise and school-wise about what we have now at a lower price point. We don't *have* to move. We figure that since we can, and hubby is so flexible with his job, why not consider it?

That said, this is just in the beginning stages. We're just talking about it. There's no real time frame. We're just trying to locate the areas around Atlanta that fit the bill so we can research into it, come down for a few days, check it out, what have you. So, any suggestions on areas or specific subdivisions to look into would be great.

Thanks very much!

[nature's message]

Sounds like you'll get some good deal in Buford & most of Gwinnett County.

Buford, GA, Real Estate Listings and Buford Homes for Sale - REALTOR.com®

Gwinnett County Homes for Sale & Real Estate - GA | Homes.com

However, I suggest Fulton County as an alternative option. You may not like Gwinnett County schools, as they are HUGE.

http://www.homes.com/Real_Estate/GA/County/FULTON

Both are excellent schools systems.

[brook2ga]

Try Suwanee also. Lots of animal care places in the area.

[Herr_Brush]

I'm not sure why anyone would suggest Buford or Suwanee - those are 45-50 miles from the airport (not less than 35, liked you asked for), plus on the opposite side of Atlanta from the airport so you have to drive either through or around the entire city to get to the airport. You can hardly pick worse places for airport access.


I don't think you will have trouble finding what you are looking for. Within 35 miles of the airport covers a huge area with lots of suburban neighborhoods.

I would suggest starting with Fayette County. It's very convenient to the airport, there are lots of good schools, and there are plenty of newer homes, some of which will probably meet your requirements.