Thoughts on Doraville real estate market? (Atlanta, Alpharetta: new house, neighborhood, schools) - Georgia (GA) - City-Data Forum

zombied · 05-21-2013, 09:18 AM

So I have a home in Cumming on the Alpharetta side near Canton Highway and Post Road I am looking to sell. Want to sell it so I can move closer to the city and since I don't plan to have kids, don't really care to be this far out here for great schools.

So far, my list of desirable locations has been Lindbergh #1, LaVista/North Druid Hills #2, and Brookhaven #3. I work in IT full-time work-from-home, but I'm thinking my next job will be in Dunwoody, Windward Parkway/Alpharetta, or Norcross Technology Park most likely, so I really want to be close to hopping on GA-400 or I-85.

So far, my housing search has been a bust. I'm looking for a 3 bed, 1.5+ bath single-family home that is at worst 3 miles from an exit, ideally north side of I-85 and east of GA-400. Looking to spend up to the low 300s on something that is pretty nice, recently renovated (I don't want a house with a lot of potential if I dropped 50k in it or something). I'm just not having great luck so far finding a nice house.

So then my wife started sending me some links to some places in Doraville right near I-285 and I-85 barely OTP. Sure, it's not as close, but from a next job perspective it is a good location and although it is farther out than where I want to be, I'm wondering if I can get a really good bang for my buck here. My friend once told me that he was looking for a brand new house. He had the same builder, same model, same everything. One sub-division was OTP by a mile, the other ITP by a mile. The difference was about 50k for a $150k or so house.

So I guess what I'm wondering is what are the general thoughts are of the Doraville area, specifically right off of Northcrest as close to 285 as possible.

lastminutemom · 05-21-2013, 10:18 AM

I am wondering if what made the difference wasn't the ITP.OTP location, but the schools.

Are they inside the City of Doraville or just have a Doraville mailing address? How close to Buford Highway?

zombied · 05-21-2013, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

I am wondering if what made the difference wasn't the ITP.OTP location, but the schools.

Are they inside the City of Doraville or just have a Doraville mailing address? How close to Buford Highway?

In his specific example, it was actually Decatur ITP vs. OTP. I guess it was more of a "are you paying a significant premium for being ITP even if it it's my a matter of yards"?

lastminutemom · 05-21-2013, 10:55 AM

If it is really the City of Decatur (as opposed to Decatur mailing address) then there is a huge premium for City of Decatur. Schools are much stronger than DeKalb, for the most part.

Have you looked in Chamblee, specifically Huntley Hills? I am not sure what North of I 85 means?

zombied · 05-21-2013, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

If it is really the City of Decatur (as opposed to Decatur mailing address) then there is a huge premium for City of Decatur. Schools are much stronger than DeKalb, for the most part.

Have you looked in Chamblee, specifically Huntley Hills? I am not sure what North of I 85 means?

I'm not looking at Decatur. Too far from major highways.

I looked a little in Chamblee, but wasn't finding much. Found one place I really liked but it was priced at $290k when it should have been at $220k because the dude was so far underwater.

North of I-85 means if you staring at it on a map, above it, not below.

Cameron H · 05-21-2013, 12:24 PM

We liked the Northcrest neighborhood a lot. There are a number of split level MCMs and atomic ranches in the neighborhood that fit your profile. We liked the area around Northcrest somewhat less...

zombied · 05-21-2013, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cameron H

We liked the Northcrest neighborhood a lot. There are a number of split level MCMs and atomic ranches in the neighborhood that fit your profile. We liked the area around Northcrest somewhat less...

Yeah, I kind of feel the same way. Drive into the subdivisions, lots of nice unique houses. Drive out of the subdivision, a lot of not-so-nice pawn shops and liquor stores.

ATLTJL · 05-21-2013, 03:19 PM

I can't imagine spending $300k in Doraville.

It's simply not a desirable part of the city for most people.

willrusso · 05-21-2013, 11:51 PM

Why all the hate for Doraville? Granted, it is not the best area in the world, but at least I don't get robbed every five minutes like I did when I lived in Holy Midtown...smh

ATLTJL · 05-22-2013, 12:19 PM

I can explain why I hate Doraville.

I don't like old an run down things. That's what Doraville is. If you live east of I-85, you do have access to the Northlake Mall area...but I don't like that area either because, well, it's old and run down. But at least it's something.

Now consider the part of Doraville that's between I-85 and Buford Highway. It's pretty much a wasteland. There is nothing there. Well, there are things there, but they are all cement companies, welders, oil pipe distribution networks, etc. It's industrial. These are all wonderful things, and I'm sure they contribute a lot to Atlanta's economy, but they aren't things you want to live next to. They are also going to make gentrification impossible because these businesses are not going anywhere. They have everything they need, great infrastructure, highway access, and perhaps most importantly, incredible access to rail. So the industry is in Doraville to stay.

I can't think of anything about Doraville that would make it desirable. There's no downtown to speak of, there is nothing there that is any kind of draw. There really aren't even many grocery stores and hardly any retail, except a bunch of trashy things on the Doraville section of Buford Highway. It's the kind of place I can imagine spending $50k or $75k on a house, but $300k? No way! Why would you do that when for $400k you can probably get into Brookhaven, which is a zillion times better. You could definitely get into a place like Peachtree Corners, Chamblee, certain parts of Dunwoody, etc.....and these are ALL infinitely better than Doraville.

I used to live in an unincorporated area of Gwinnett county adjacent to Doraville that had a Norcross mailing address (think I-85 access road between Pleasantdale and Jimmy Carter). That certainly wasn't the best area of town, but Doraville was considered even worse. I remember driving on Pleasantdale Road to get to Buford Highway thinking, "Man, this is just GROSS!"

I know there are some parts of Doraville that are better, like on Northcrest, but it is still not close to anything nice. The closest businesses around Embry Hills and along Chamblee Tucker are all fairly nasty. At the very least, they are old and run down.

That's why I don't like Doraville, but your individual mileage may vary.