Housing Search (Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Roswell: insurance, houses, buyer)

[hereticiam]

Yes I am all for community pool. I agree that it will be an excellent way to meet people. We currently use our community pool and Tennis courts. It has been great. Unfortunately, pool season on MN is rather short. It was my wife who had proclaimed that if she is moving he wants an outdoor lifestyle with a pool and outdoor(built-in bbq grill, perhaps a fireplace and covered patio) cooking.

The biggest question I am grappling with is the timing of moving to ATL. My kids will change schools next year(elementary to middle, middle to high) so we are debating if we should move next year or this year. Property prices for homes keep on rising and I don't want to experience another MN winter. Rest of the family wants to move next year.

We plan to visit ATL this summer when it is really warm and visit once again in winter.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[hereticiam]

We are looking for 4BR, 3+ Bathroom home in ATL suburbs. We like the contemporary style.
Open to both new and existing homes. In either case, we will hire an inspector the examine the home.
I hope it will not get so crazy like in other cities where we are not allowed to have a contingency in our offer.
We have a preference of bigger communities that a community with 10-15 homes.

Are there new/existing home builders we should prefer and avoid?

I found Lennar homes but I did not like what they were building.
I also found DR Horton and they did not have homes in locations we prefer.
I did see Toll Bros homes but they start in mid 900's. They seem to have a good reputation but I read that if you build a Toll Bros home you have to select a lot of upgrades as the quality of what is included in base prices is not great. Mid 950K home can easily get to $1.1 million. We can afford it but I am trying to keep it less than $1 million.
Which other builders should we look into?

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by hereticiam

Yes I am all for community pool. I agree that it will be an excellent way to meet people. We currently use our community pool and Tennis courts. It has been great. Unfortunately, pool season on MN is rather short. It was my wife who had proclaimed that if she is moving he wants an outdoor lifestyle with a pool and outdoor(built-in bbq grill, perhaps a fireplace and covered patio) cooking.

Well, I hate to kind of have to burst your bubble a little bit, but...

Even though Atlanta and North Georgia obviously and undeniably has a significantly warmer climate and features a significantly longer growing season than Minnesota, the outdoor pool season in North Georgia really does not seem to last much longer than in Minnesota.

In Minnesota, many private community and public outdoor pools appear to operate from about late-May through about the first week of September.

In North Georgia, many private community and public outdoor pools only operate a few days longer than in Minnesota, from mid-May through about the first or second week of September.

And even the normal mid-May through early-mid September outdoor pool operation schedule may be prone to substantial disruptions from wet and rainy weather.

That’s particularly during wetter-than-normal years, which are not necessarily the most uncommon in an Atlanta region that receives nearly 60% more precipitation than the Twin Cities.

(The Twin Cities receive an average of about 32 inches of precipitation each year, while Atlanta receives an average of about 50 inches of precipitation each year, with yearly precipitation totals of up to or more than 70 inches not being uncommon...

... Some recent years that were significantly wetter-than-average include 2020 (66.24 inches of precipitation), 2018 (70.03 inches of precipitation), 2015 (68.38 inches of precipitation), 2013 (66.02 inches of precipitation) and 2009 (69.43 inches of precipitation)...

... Heck, there was a year when nearly 15 inches of rain fell in one month in July 2005, while nearly 14 inches of rain fell during the month of September 2004, nearly 10 inches of rain fell during the month of June 2013 and nearly 9 inches of rain fell during the month of July 2013...

... And nearly 9 inches of rain officially fell during the notoriously historically rainy month of September 2009 where some parts of the Atlanta area were estimated to have received more than 30 inches of rain that month during a Gulf of Mexico-generated tropical rainy season that dumped so much rain during an 8-day period that the rain gauges were unable to measure the exact amount that fell in some areas that received more in 20 inches of rain in 3-4 hour period on a Monday morning that month.)

Atlanta is not Houston or Miami when it comes to relentless torrential rains.

But Atlanta sometimes can do one heck of an impression of Houston or Miami in the rainfall department.

Atlanta undoubtedly will feature many pleasant days throughout the entire year during all four seasons where outdoor activity will be viable.

But even though Atlanta is located more than 1,100 miles south/southeast of the Twin Cities and features a much warmer climate than the Twin Cities, you realistically probably shouldn’t expect to be doing much outdoor pool activity in Atlanta outside of the roughly 4-month period between mid-May and early-mid September.

[hereticiam]

Thanks "Born 2 Roll" for your detailed response. Based on what you said pool season in Atlanta seems similar in duration as MN. However, our winters are brutal and that is what we are trying to escape.

You did make a great argument for not having a private pool. We could not justify it in MN and cannot justify it in ATL as well.

[Citykid3785]

Originally Posted by hereticiam

Yes I am all for community pool. I agree that it will be an excellent way to meet people. We currently use our community pool and Tennis courts. It has been great. Unfortunately, pool season on MN is rather short. It was my wife who had proclaimed that if she is moving he wants an outdoor lifestyle with a pool and outdoor(built-in bbq grill, perhaps a fireplace and covered patio) cooking.

The biggest question I am grappling with is the timing of moving to ATL. My kids will change schools next year(elementary to middle, middle to high) so we are debating if we should move next year or this year. Property prices for homes keep on rising and I don't want to experience another MN winter. Rest of the family wants to move next year.

We plan to visit ATL this summer when it is really warm and visit once again in winter.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Yes, pool season in my neighborhood is Mother’s Day through September. But schools start in early August here (as opposed to post Labor Day in MN). What I’ve noticed is that it almost doesn’t matter when the pool closes. Once kids get in the swing of things in school, the pool is hardly used.

What prevents pools from opening even earlier is actually govt inspection. The pools have to be inspected every year, and the inspector prioritize high schools, swim lesson businesses, etc.

[Dd714]

Originally Posted by hereticiam

I have been looking into potential relocation to Atlanta area.
We were also looking at Dallas.
In Dallas homes with pools are fairly common however we are not finding as many homes with pools in Atlanta area.
Is there a reason for lack of pools?
Is it weather or cost or some other factor?

Weather!
Atlanta has a mild winter, but it is winter nevertheless, and it extends into Fall and Spring. Pool season is short. MN winters may be brutal compared to Atlanta, but for pools it doesn't matter if it's -10 or 55 degrees, you ain't going swimming in either condition.
Dallas I can't explain, they have similar winter weather to Atlanta but it gets hotter and drier in the summer, maybe the cold seasons are a bit shorter.
Now Florida where I used to live, everyone had a pool and it could be used almost year round.

[AtlJan]

One reason to move this year is to give your oldest a chance to adjust in 8th grade--prior to high school when grades and activities start to count toward college. Might be good to allow 8th grade to be the year to get settled in, understand what level of academics is right in the new locale, get to know the sports scene--and most of all make friends!--so that all that doesn't stress him/her out during her pivotal high school years.

[bellhead]

Originally Posted by hereticiam

Thanks "Born 2 Roll" for your detailed response. Based on what you said pool season in Atlanta seems similar in duration as MN. However, our winters are brutal and that is what we are trying to escape.

You did make a great argument for not having a private pool. We could not justify it in MN and cannot justify it in ATL as well.

I live in a swim/tennis community in South Forsyth during the summer the pool is where almost all the kids hang out, & for the winter I have membership at Lifetime fitness which is a upscale fitness club which has both a indoor & outdoor pool.

https://www.lifetime.life/life-time-...ek.html#spaces

[bellhead]

Originally Posted by hereticiam

We are looking for 4BR, 3+ Bathroom home in ATL suburbs. We like the contemporary style.
Open to both new and existing homes. In either case, we will hire an inspector the examine the home.
I hope it will not get so crazy like in other cities where we are not allowed to have a contingency in our offer.
We have a preference of bigger communities that a community with 10-15 homes.

Are there new/existing home builders we should prefer and avoid?

I found Lennar homes but I did not like what they were building.
I also found DR Horton and they did not have homes in locations we prefer.
I did see Toll Bros homes but they start in mid 900's. They seem to have a good reputation but I read that if you build a Toll Bros home you have to select a lot of upgrades as the quality of what is included in base prices is not great. Mid 950K home can easily get to $1.1 million. We can afford it but I am trying to keep it less than $1 million.
Which other builders should we look into?

What is your target area?

[ShenardL]

I heard good things about Ashton Woods and The Providence Group, they're similar to Toll Brothers. Century Communities is pretty good too.