Why so few rentals in East Cobb/Marietta? (Atlanta: sublet, home)

[atlantabound2012]

We are moving in November and are looking to rent a home in the Walton, Pope, or Lassiter High School boundaries. My kids are elementary age so when we go to buy I will choose a specific high school. I cannot seem to find a middle ground rental! They are either 5000 sqft monsters at $3500/mo or tiny little ranches that haven't been updated since 1978. I'm looking for a nice 2500 sqft home at around $2500 a month. What am I doing wrong? Is the rental market really hot there? I am getting very nervous about finding a home. I'm afraid we may be stuck paying more than we'd like just to be in the school boundaries.

Also, I've been studying the feeder patterns for the schools. Is it hard for kids to go to an elementary school that feeds 50% to one middle and 50% to another? I want to make this transition as smooth as possible and I worry about my son who is in 5th grade being sent to a middle school where he might not know anyone from elementary. Does anyone have experience with this? Where we live in AZ the whole elementary school feeds into the same middle school which feeds into the same high school so this is new for us.

Thanks. I really appreciate the help

[deacongirl]

Originally Posted by atlantabound2012

We are moving in November and are looking to rent a home in the Walton, Pope, or Lassiter High School boundaries. My kids are elementary age so when we go to buy I will choose a specific high school. I cannot seem to find a middle ground rental! They are either 5000 sqft monsters at $3500/mo or tiny little ranches that haven't been updated since 1978. I'm looking for a nice 2500 sqft home at around $2500 a month. What am I doing wrong? Is the rental market really hot there? I am getting very nervous about finding a home. I'm afraid we may be stuck paying more than we'd like just to be in the school boundaries.

Also, I've been studying the feeder patterns for the schools. Is it hard for kids to go to an elementary school that feeds 50% to one middle and 50% to another? I want to make this transition as smooth as possible and I worry about my son who is in 5th grade being sent to a middle school where he might not know anyone from elementary. Does anyone have experience with this? Where we live in AZ the whole elementary school feeds into the same middle school which feeds into the same high school so this is new for us.

Thanks. I really appreciate the help

The feeder pattern hasn't been an issue. My dd finished up 5th at Timber Ridge and is doing fine at Dodgen. From talking to neighbors it really isn't that big of a deal for their kids either. Sorry--no input on rentals! Good luck--we love it here.

[cittic10]

You're looking for the same thing everyone else is looking for in the part of town and school district everyone else is looking for it in.

[Mishap]

Seems to me there ought to be quite the industry walling up those 5,000sf behemoths into 2x 2,500 sf duplexes...or just doing a sublet to your "cousin" who needs a similar amount of space.

[lastminutemom]

Originally Posted by atlantabound2012

We are moving in November and are looking to rent a home in the Walton, Pope, or Lassiter High School boundaries. My kids are elementary age so when we go to buy I will choose a specific high school. I cannot seem to find a middle ground rental! They are either 5000 sqft monsters at $3500/mo or tiny little ranches that haven't been updated since 1978. I'm looking for a nice 2500 sqft home at around $2500 a month. What am I doing wrong? Is the rental market really hot there? I am getting very nervous about finding a home. I'm afraid we may be stuck paying more than we'd like just to be in the school boundaries.

Yes the rental home market is really hot, plus I think the home selling market is picking up a bit, reducing the potential inventory for rentals.

Where is the job?

Originally Posted by Mishap

Seems to me there ought to be quite the industry walling up those 5,000sf behemoths into 2x 2,500 sf duplexes...or just doing a sublet to your "cousin" who needs a similar amount of space.

Because virtually no where in the metro area would allow this through their zoning ordinances.

[10 feet tall]

There are fewer rentals because East Cobb is a high income area. There just aren't that many renters. You will see that good schools correlates with fewer rental properties as a rule.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by atlantabound2012

...
Also, I've been studying the feeder patterns for the schools. Is it hard for kids to go to an elementary school that feeds 50% to one middle and 50% to another? I want to make this transition as smooth as possible and I worry about my son who is in 5th grade being sent to a middle school where he might not know anyone from elementary. Does anyone have experience with this? Where we live in AZ the whole elementary school feeds into the same middle school which feeds into the same high school so this is new for us.

Thanks. I really appreciate the help

I would not worry about the feeder patterns in East Cobb. In my opinion, as long as a school has at least a 24% feed to a school, kids/students will be fine. 24% offers enough of a critical mass of students to go on as a group.

In East Cobb, most of the feeder patterns are great. There is only one case of a "too small" feeder pattern from middle school to high school, and that is McCleskey Middle's feed to Sprayberry High.

There are a few cases of East Cobb "too small" elementary to middle school feeds, but let me know if any affect your interests. Most are not that bad--because the "too small" is usually one mega-neighborhood like Mount Bethel's feed to Dodgen (Easthampton) or Kincaid's feed to Dodgen (Chestnut Springs--which should really be redistricted to Simpson Middle/Sprayberry High anyway!). The mega-neighborhood offers a sense of community as the kids move on--even though the feeder pattern can be slighly smaller than normal.

[bsharynu]

I was in the same situation as you in August looking for a rental. The rental market is really tough and you are accurate in your assumptions. I saw 8 rental properties in 1 day. The first one was ok and then it went downhill from there. However, keep your eyes open as something will turn up. You just have to jump on it. Good luck.

[GeorgiaLakeSearch]

Originally Posted by Mishap

Seems to me there ought to be quite the industry walling up those 5,000sf behemoths into 2x 2,500 sf duplexes...or just doing a sublet to your "cousin" who needs a similar amount of space.

That is not happening. Like Lastminutemom pointed out the zoning laws. It is also not happening because most of the layouts are not conducive to just putting up a few walls.

[Ant131531]

Because so many people want to live in those areas because of the good schools lol. I swear the whole northern half of the Atlanta metro is going to become overpopulated at this rate.