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My husband and I are relocating to the Atlanta area in the late spring, and are planning to tour some neighborhoods with a real estate agent in the coming weeks. We have stumbled upon a few good ideas in earlier posts, but in light of the constantly changing state of home values, price trends, and school performance, I thought it might not be a bad idea to ask for some up-to-date advice. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. I hope that some day I might have the chance to return the favor.
Okay, on to our basic information...
My husband will be working full-time at the CDC, and I will be working part-time at an office near Northlake Mall. We would prefer to keep our normal commute times under 30 minutes.
We are in our early thirties, with 2-year-old twins.
We have a budget of around $300-350K.
We are partial to solidly-built 50's and 60's brick ranches.
We'd like to find a 3/2 or 3/1.5, between 1,500 and 2,000 square feet, ideally with a basement that could be finished for future expansion. We are not particularly handy and don't have great cash reserves right now, so we may not be in the market for a true fixer-upper. That said, we don't need updated features and appliances (stainless steel, granite, new tile); original tacky styling is fine so long as everything basically works.
We are looking for a quiet, leafy neighborhood. We don't need anything super hip, just safe and normal.
Quality of public schools is paramount, even if that means making some informed projections into the future.
My real estate agent has made some preliminary neighborhood/elementary school suggestions:
Fernbank
Laurel Ridge
Oak Grove
Sagamore Hills
Briarlake
Evansdale
City of Decatur (particularly Oakhurst and Winnona Park)
GreatSchools ratings and test scores for these schools vary, but I know that's just one piece of the puzzle. We are also interested in knowing more about the middle school and high school terrain, even if it's still many years away, as we'd like this to be a permanent purchase.
Does anyone have strong feelings about the neighborhoods zoned to these schools? Do you think they would be a good fit for us? Should we expand our list? Are these areas within our budget (From what I've read, I'm thinking that Oak Grove and Decatur may be a stretch)? What about Druid Hills High, Lakeside High, and Decatur High? By the numbers, they all look good-to-great today. Any thoughts about where they might be 10 years from now?
Thank you in advance for your input! We look forward to becoming your Atlanta neighbors.
You need to google DeKalb County schools. DeKalb Schools are in real trouble and it is being felt by all schools with increased class sizes and fewer resources in the schools. It isn't looking like DeKalb's challenges will be solved anytime soon. The first six schools you listed are in DeKalb.
You asked for informed projections -- I think we are years away from any real relief in DeKalb. Even if we ever get a good superintendent, DeKalb is really in trouble in terms of property values. Property values set tax revenues. DeKalb's digest dropped 9 percent last year, may drop at least 3 percent more this year. The bottom is hard to see. In the last 5 years, system budget has dropped from 1 billion to a little bit less than 800 million annually.
Decatur is a safer bet but you will get less for your money.
Ten years is a lifetime in public education. For example, the school system routinely recommends that Evansdale be moved to Tucker High school -- it hasn't happened, but it very well might. The Tucker schools have been considered less desirable than the Lakeside schools. Hard to tell what that will be 10 years from now.
If the commute suits you, the Parkview district in Lilburn has nice ranches at half your budget, and currently has good schools. I would feel very confident that Camp Creek Elementary will be a good school by the time your kids would start. While Trickum Middle and Parkview High are currently good schools, ten to thirteen years is a long time, but at ~$150K, at least the risk to your investment would be minimal.
If you can find something you like in the City of Decatur, I would be much more confident that the school system will be as good, or better in the next 15 years. It has three big things going for it: 1) it currently has good schools that are improving. 2) unlike the new Dekalb cities, it controls its own school system, and every school in that system is good. 3) it is close to Emory-CDC and Atlanta.
I know several of my neighbors commute to the Emory/CDC with no issues. Not a lot of ranch homes in Kirkwood, but it is a good neighborhood with LOTS of young kids.
Lastminutemom is right, Dekalb county schools are not in a good spot right now. Weigh it up carefully, could you afford private school if necessary?
ITP, City of Decatur is your best bet. Great school system, great walkability and, on my street alone, 8 houses out of 12 are owned by someone who works at the CDC or Emory.
You are going to struggle to get what you want inside the city for that price. Houses hardly ever go on the open market anymore. They are either sold privately or bought by builders. Fixer uppers are snapped up by builders who then turn around and sell them as a Reno or new build. They never go on the open market and are built for owners who pay upfront.
If you do find something, remember that coD property taxes are the highest in GA. Make sure your mortgage company takes that rate into account when estimating your monthly payments. We moved here from city of Atlanta and our first tax bill was quite a shock!
Good luck!
You will have very slim pickins' with your criteria and price range in City of Decatur with your price range. There are not a ton of ranch houses to being with, they tend to be older bungalows. . . . which means they tend to be smaller. If you are willing to accept less square footage (~1300), it will open things up a bit more. It's not impossible to find something, but you need to have your finger on the trigger if something shows up that checks all your boxes. It'll have multiple offers within a week, typically. Many listings are under contract before hitting the MLS services because agents have the jump on them.
The Emory/CDC thing comes up a LOT (twice this week, I think). The search function will probably be pretty valuable.
If you need some agent recommendations that have more experience in the Kirkwood/Oakhurst/Decatur area I can recommend a few that specialize there. Sounds like whomever you are working with might focus more on Dekalb County based on their neighborhood recs.
Many thanks to all for your suggestions. Though the commute seems a tad bit daunting, we will give Lilburn a look, and we will definitely keep our eyes peeled for any deals that might come around in the City of Decatur (It's so difficult to house hunt from a distance! We considered putting a contract on one home site unseen at S Candler and Buchanan Terrace, but flinched and missed our shot. We don't relish the idea of renting, but that may be what we have to do for a while.)
That said, our real estate agent simply insists that the Lakeside cluster in general, and Oak Grove in particular, remain strong despite the dysfunction of DeKalb County. For those who know the school, does that assessment ring true? Any thoughts on class size and the quality of teacher instruction? Parental involvement? I ask because the housing stock in our price range is good, and the proximity to work is ideal, but education comes first for us, and we're reluctant to go private. Many thanks!
Many thanks to all for your suggestions. Though the commute seems a tad bit daunting, we will give Lilburn a look, and we will definitely keep our eyes peeled for any deals that might come around in the City of Decatur (It's so difficult to house hunt from a distance! We considered putting a contract on one home site unseen at S Candler and Buchanan Terrace, but flinched and missed our shot. We don't relish the idea of renting, but that may be what we have to do for a while.)
That said, our real estate agent simply insists that the Lakeside cluster in general, and Oak Grove in particular, remain strong despite the dysfunction of DeKalb County. For those who know the school, does that assessment ring true? Any thoughts on class size and the quality of teacher instruction? Parental involvement? I ask because the housing stock in our price range is good, and the proximity to work is ideal, but education comes first for us, and we're reluctant to go private. Many thanks!
You will like the Parkview Cluster. It is great that people on this thread have recommended the area for you. It will be a good fit--with a nice commute to Emory/CDC.
Oak Grove is a very good elementary school, and I would expect that it would be good by the time your kids are of school age. (I think they may have an over-crowding problem--so stick to homes that you would expect not to be re-zoned out of its area). If your kids were 12 (and not 2) I would feel OK about the Lakeside area for the later grades, also. Even if the middle school/high school does decline, I would expect for the Oak Grove area to hold its value (it is close to Emory-CDC and the elementary school should remain good for some time)--so you may be able to build enough equity that you could have the option of moving after elementary school. If you look at Dekalb county, even as the high school-middle shcools declined, the best elementary schools remained good for quite awhile (Fernbank is still great, while DHS and DHMS are just so-so, Livesy Elementary remained competitive long after THS and TMS became less-so. I would expect the same of Vaderlyn). If you like Oak Grove, and are comfortable with the risks and the costs of homes, you may want to consider it along with Parkview (if you are comfortable with the Parkview commute).
The Parkview area has its risks, too (its high school is not what it was ten years ago, but still good)--but at least the cost of homes is less. I would stick to Camp Creek elementary if I was looking at the Parkview area.
BTW, if I seem a little wishy-washy on the issue, it is because I am trying to make the same decision as you are. (I think my budget is a little higher, so I am leaning towards City of Decatur and the Grady cluster, but Parkivew is still on the list-(my wife leans that way), and I am not totally writing off Oak Grove either.
My wife and I were in a very similar position when we moved from the Boston area for a job at Emory six months ago.
I grew up in DeKalb County schools, and have close friends and family with kids at Fernbank, Oak Grove and Sagamore Hills. We had followed the news about incompetence, waste, and corruption in DeKalb government closely, and worried about the impact on these schools, which have been historically very high-performing and still test well (Oak Grove and Fernbank in particular).
We decided to take our time, talk to parents and tour the schools. We saw schools in the Decatur cluster (Oakhurst and Winnona Park), the Lakeside cluster (Oak Grove and Briarlake), and the Druid Hills cluster (Fernbank). We also toured Renfroe Middle (Decatur) and Henderson Middle (Lakeside), since our oldest will be entering sixth grade next year.
Briarlake and Fernbank seemed fine -- if a little cramped --, but we received somewhat mixed reviews from parents. Many Fernbank parents gave us the impression that they might choose to go private for middle and high school.
Parent and teacher enthusiasm were strong at Oakhurst and Winnona Park, but our favorite was Oak Grove -- the garden, the nature trail, regular music and art, as well as Spanish, Mandarin and chess after school. The parents seemed manifestly dissatisfied with the county leadership, but willing to pitch in that extra bit to make up for it. Henderson serves a more socioeconomically diverse student base, but we were similarly impressed with the parent involvement.
We ultimately bought a 3/2 with a full daylight basement in Oak Grove that was well within our price range (under $300K), and so far, we love it. The neighborhood is full of families with dogs and strollers, and kids riding bikes and running from yard to yard playing. We like the big lots, the trees and the quiet, and the neighbors gave us a very warm welcome. Sometimes we almost feel like we're out in the country, then we remember that it's 15 minutes to Emory and 25 to downtown. We like being close to Buford Highway too, and the little commercial center at Vista Grove is cute and family-friendly. Most importantly, we have been thrilled with the teachers at Oak Grove. The future is anyone's guess, but we aren't seeing any mass exodus of good teachers and committed parents from Lakeside and Henderson, despite the county's foibles. I don't have a crystal ball, but with Emory, the CDC, good housing stock and very active neighborhood associations, I would be quite surprised if these schools were less than good-to-great in another 10 years.
I personally think that the City of Decatur is lovely as well, especially if you prefer urban living -- very walkable, great community spirit, lots of outdoor events, access to MARTA, and good schools with reliable leadership. We preferred a more subdued suburban setting (We're a little older.), a little more house and a lot more land for our dollar.
We didn't look at Lilburn, but we have a couple of friends who have a daughter in Camp Creek Elementary, and they are quite satisfied with it. It is a bit of a commute, but Stone Mountain Hwy doesn't seem to get too backed up during rush hour.
So, I would recommend checking out the schools and neighborhoods before rushing to judgment based upon the lack of county leadership (which has been ongoing for decades, while the strong schools have continued to thrive). Best of luck and welcome to the area! Feel free to message me if I can be of help.
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