Possibly moving to Atlanta, so confused! (Roswell, Alpharetta: cul-de-sac, real estate, renting)

[Vizion12]

Hello all,

I am possibly moving to Atlanta in the new few months and needed some locals help. My job will entail traveling to locations such as Snellville, Kennesaw, Alpharetta, Duluth, Norcross, and Buford. I would like to buy a house central to these locations, for about $150k. I have found a lot of gorgeous houses in the Atlanta area on realtor.com for this price range, but I am not sure at all what the area is going to be like. One of the houses I like the most is in Snellville on London Berry CT and are few others are on Stonelake Drive in Atlanta, Harrier Lane in Atlanta, and Atticus Ave in Douglasville. Any input on these locations or where I should be be looking? I obviously, like everyone else, want a safe neighborhood with as country of a feel as possible, but still close to all the ammenities needed.

[joey86]

The commute between Snellville and Kennesaw would be horrible. Norcross might be a better "in between" for you.

[bornjacksonian]

You can XXX Douglasville out of this... you will catch complete hell if that commute is even attempted at any time. Check the Chamblee/Doraville area, and you might can find a nice home for that price around Tucker/Lilburn/Norcross area too.

[Vizion12]

Thank you! Is getting a house right in Atlanta not advisable? The house seem like they are a great bang-for-buck, and the neighborhoods look nice (lot's of cul-de-sacs) but pictures may be deceiving. Any input on that?

[cwkimbro]

You will find more bang for your buck and good schools in the North Duluth/Suwanee area. There is also a stable chance home values will go up. It is an up and coming suburban area.


Atlanta mostly grew to the north and the northern suburbs are a bit more affluent. They have invested a decent amount on arterial roads.

If you live in that area you will be able to get to Duluth, Norcross, Buford, and Alpharetta with a short-to-decent commute.
Snelleville will be a bit further away (you will want to end up on pleasant hill east of I-85. It will turn into a mini-freeway that goes straight to snelleville, ronald reagan freeway).

The only really bad, and I mean really bad, commute in the bunch will be kennesaw.

I wouldn't advise getting a home in atlanta, because you would be close to none of your locations.

[ATLTJL]

There's no such thing as a nice house in a good neighborhood in Atlanta for $150k.

What you are probably seeing is areas like southwest Atlanta that have Atlanta addresses, but these are not places that most people with reasonable jobs who want reasonable homes would live. Oh, here come the urban pioneers to tell you it's not so bad and they see baby carriages every day and all you have to do is walk with a purpose and not make eye contact and you'll be okay so long as you don't leave valuables in your car and have burglar bars on all of your windows.....

Sure, that opinion exists, and if you are someone who considers yourself an urban pioneer, then the $150k houses are fine places to start.

But getting back to the logic of 99% of the population, you're looking for a reasonable house in a decent area that won't break the bank. For that, I think an area like Chamblee is probably pretty decent. That's if you want to be central.

Another thing you can do is what you are already thinking of. You could buy in an area like Snellville and on the days you work in Snellville, it's going to be a breeze. The problem is, on the days you work in Kennesaw, it's going to be awful.

The big question is, how is your travel going to work? Can you gear it so that you spend more time in one area? Can you make it so when you are traveling to far away areas, you are not doing so during rush hour? The bottom line is, with a territory that large, there is no single right answer. There is simply nowhere you can live that is going to make travel to all of those places easy, it's just math.

If I were you, I would either try to figure out where you will be working the most and live close to that. If it's a perfectly even mix, I would say that due north (GA 400 corridor) is going to be the most central location. It's close to Alpharetta and already half way to Kennesaw and Snellville. The problem is, this is also some of the more expensive real estate in Atlanta because as you may have figured out, everybody else wants this central location too. And the residents have already sorted out how to have functioning schools, lots of retail, green space, and other amenities valued by most people.

Your best bets are going to be an area like Chamblee that is a little bit closer to town and centrally located, but it isn't quite up there just yet in terms of quality, so a $150k home may not be out of the picture. Anywhere in Dunwoody, Roswell, or Alpharetta it probably just ain't gonna happen, so you'd be looking further up into south Forsyth. You could also consider places like Norcross and Duluth where you may be able to achieve this. If you try to get as close as you can to 141 or Peachtree Industrial, you will be able to easily get to Norcross, Duluth, and hop over to Alpharetta.....but Kennesaw and Snellville are going to be bears.

For a situation like this, you really should consider renting a house for the first year. It's likely that whatever you decide, you are going to think it's a wrong decision pretty soon. You just have to travel such great distances that there is no obvious right answer. You're going to be sacrificing something no matter where you go, so the key is finding a place that you like the best so at least the sacrifices seem more worth it.

I'm a good example. I live in Duluth. Yeah, I hate it sometimes. It's far out, sometimes I get in traffic, and I'd rather be close to cooler and hipper hangout spots. However, I have an amazing piece of property that I would never be able to have in most other parts of town. If it even exists anywhere else, it would be ludicrously expensive. So the sacrifice is worth it when I come home and look at my view and relax in my big house. That's the decision everyone makes. A lot of intowners use the same logic to make opposite decisions....maybe it's harder for them to get to certain stores, maybe their houses are smaller and older, and maybe they get broken into once in a while -- but that sacrifice is worth it to them because being able to walk to a cool bar or neat restaurant makes the sacrifice all worthwhile.

To end this rambling, your question is rather impossible to answer without knowing what you value and what attributes are important to you. I made an assumption based on what I believe most people want, but maybe you want something different. What you need to do is understand that there isn't a location that is going to be perfect. Figure out and tell us what is most important to you, understanding that each thing you get is going to come at the expense of something else. Once you know what you want and what you are willing to sacrifice to get it, it will be much easier for us to help steer you in the right direction.

[hbmoore]

Welcome to Atlanta. Atlanta is a fun city and I am sure you will find your stay here enjoyable. $150K is going to be a little rough in the areas you stated. All are nice areas, however them homes you saw were probably fixer-uppers and are gone by now. We are experiencing a shortage of inventory. How about averaging twelve offers in four hours of listing. I recommend a consultant. I am available if you decide to go that route. I can be reached at firstchoiceatlanta@gmail.com.