Looking to move to North Georgia: Cleveland, Clermont, Dahlonega, horse and small farm friendly, welcome any feedback (Lumpkin: broker)

[MommaOphelia]

Looking to move to North East Georgia; Cleveland, Clermont, Dahlonega. Have two children 13 and 16, who are currently homeschooled. The younger would like to go to high school. Am looking for a safe area. Looking for a small town community feel. Don't mind "tourists" as they help with the local economy and I pretty much know how to "avoid the crowds". I don't mind traveling 20 minutes to shopping areas (I'm not a huge shopper, and prefer to go as little as possible). Prefer to be within 45 minutes of some type of cultural center. Don't mind diversity at all. Prefer a community that values education. Recommendations and insights are greatly appreciated. We are looking for affordable horse and small farm friendly areas. Will consider areas outside of this if needed. Thanks in advance...

[go falcons]

All of those mentioned are good candidates for horse country .I would also and Blue Ridge and Blairsville to the list of possibilities . The areas where their two counties intersect ( Union County - for Blairsville and Fannin County for Blue Ridge ) along hwy 60 would be especially good for horses . Skeenah Gap Road area and a settlement called Dial that are right on the border of both counties .

As for a cultural center , I am not sure what you are looking for ? Dahlonega ,in Lumpkin county does have lots of fairs , festivals and is the home to the University of North Georgia's Appalachian studies.Young Harris college in Towns County has a super nice performing arts center and does several plays through out the year that are open to the public .
Hope this helps -

[ngamountains]

Originally Posted by MommaOphelia

Looking to move to North East Georgia; Cleveland, Clermont, Dahlonega. Have two children 13 and 16, who are currently homeschooled. The younger would like to go to high school. Am looking for a safe area. Looking for a small town community feel. Don't mind "tourists" as they help with the local economy and I pretty much know how to "avoid the crowds". I don't mind traveling 20 minutes to shopping areas (I'm not a huge shopper, and prefer to go as little as possible). Prefer to be within 45 minutes of some type of cultural center. Don't mind diversity at all. Prefer a community that values education. Recommendations and insights are greatly appreciated. We are looking for affordable horse and small farm friendly areas. Will consider areas outside of this if needed. Thanks in advance...

do your research carefully, learn about the counties property tax, and pay attention to zoning, your told one thing one day and by the time you buy and close something changes and your pretty much out of luck. do not I repeat DO NOT trust realtors in the area, particularly the dahlonega/lumpkin county area, too many were related to each other and connected with state and local politicians, (yes this area is very political and not for the good of the county) a couple nation wide named companys are run by them, -yes there are some honest ones, find a buyers broker and see who they are willing to work with.

if your over 65 Lumpkin countty has a no means test tax exemption, basically your property taxes will be little to none (simple example a 2400 sq ft home in my area with full basement on over a acre they are paying 14 dollars a year and it is a home that was on market about '04/'05 for 240,000.00 the down side is, if your well under 65, your going to be paying HIGHER than surrounding counties property taxes for years! Ours have gone up even though values have dropped so much

good luck, I like the views of the areas, but id get as far away from the 400 corridor as possible