Confused amoung cumming/suwanee/Alphretta johns creek (Atlanta, Alpharetta: fit in, houses)

[eastfacing]

Hello All,
We are planning to buy existing construction not older than 2000 and our end price is $350 .We are interested in south forsyth and lambert school district in cumming/suwanee .
And in fulton county schools are all good so probably any high school district that will fit in our price range would be ok for us.
Now, our realtor is pressurizing us to short list most desired and least desired areas so that we could focus more on most desired and less on least dersired.
We would prefer 4 bed room with basement and in our price range in johns creek and Alpheretta we mostly are finding homes older than 2000 that maches our crietrion and if we do find a match they are either not nice looking or they don't have any backyard at all.But in cumming finding a home that fits our crietrion in our price range is little easy .
But i am a bit confused as i have heard a lot bad things about traffic in cumming and which probably will be worse in future.And also i have found that road are not as wide as they are in Alphretta, which is another thing to consider as it shows that city in not ready to accomodate rapidly increasing population (But its just my opinion and i could be wrong that this may convert cumming from suburban to urban in future so more developed an area is more would be the property rates and rents too)
But on the other hand in cumming i will get get a lot more for my money as compared to Alphretta and johns creek.But alpheretta and johns creek are currently developed areas and have best schools so indeed better than cumming in this respect.
So, I would appreciate your recommendations,personal views and pros and cons on this.And i know you all are very helpful as I’ve followed this forum so highly hoping that your suggestions will help me to make a decision on this.
Thank you so much.

[nanhi]

If u want a home that is not older than 2000 u will have to go to Cumming. I am doing relocation research as well . Another thing to keep in mind is that u might get redistricted in Cumming bcoz of the new high schools & new middle schools , to be built in future. It is a growing county.

[dblackga]

Well, traffic in Cumming depends on where you are going. Where will your work be? THAT is the major determinant. If you lived in Cumming and worked in Midtown, I'd say that you better get used to life on the road. On the other hand, if you lived in Cumming and worked in Woodstock or Alpharetta, that's a piece of cake.

Cumming will catch up with itself -- that's the thing about Atlanta, it grows, and it tends to accommodate. Sometimes the growing pains ache a bit, but hey, those are the trade-offs. Alpharetta used to be a little village "waaay out in the boonies" in the late 80's, early 90's -- who in the heck would live out THERE? And then see what happened . . .

If you like Cumming and can find a good quality house in your price range there, I wouldn't be afraid of living in Cumming if my work was a reasonable distance away. The school may not be "THE" best, but it is certainly good.

[eastfacing]

Originally Posted by nanhi

If u want a home that is not older than 2000 u will have to go to Cumming. I am doing relocation research as well . Another thing to keep in mind is that u might get redistricted in Cumming bcoz of the new high schools & new middle schools , to be built in future. It is a growing county.

Hey nanhi, thanks for your reply.I could be wrong but based on what i have learned about redistricting it is'nt a scary stuff unless you are in a good school district.Lambert is the newest of 5 high schools in forsyth county school district .

But ya one thing is how bad is to buy a home older than 2000 i mean lets say you buy a 1995 built home in alphretta which is like 20 years old what would be its re-sale value lets say after 10 years ?
How you liked windermere area?

[eastfacing]

Originally Posted by dblackga

Well, traffic in Cumming depends on where you are going. Where will your work be? THAT is the major determinant. If you lived in Cumming and worked in Midtown, I'd say that you better get used to life on the road. On the other hand, if you lived in Cumming and worked in Woodstock or Alpharetta, that's a piece of cake.

Cumming will catch up with itself -- that's the thing about Atlanta, it grows, and it tends to accommodate. Sometimes the growing pains ache a bit, but hey, those are the trade-offs. Alpharetta used to be a little village "waaay out in the boonies" in the late 80's, early 90's -- who in the heck would live out THERE? And then see what happened . . .

If you like Cumming and can find a good quality house in your price range there, I wouldn't be afraid of living in Cumming if my work was a reasonable distance away. The school may not be "THE" best, but it is certainly good.

I agree with you and commute should not be an issue as my husband has the 'work from home' option and he also is planning to find a job in Alphretta really soon.But i want to ask how is the traffic from cumming to gwinnett county.Thanks

[Tarzanman]

Originally Posted by eastfacing

I agree with you and commute should not be an issue as my husband has the 'work from home' option and he also is planning to find a job in Alphretta really soon.But i want to ask how is the traffic from cumming to gwinnett county.Thanks

The traffic up there sucks. The best routes (GA 20 or GA 141) are routinely bumper to bumper 6 days a week.

Move to Alpharetta if you can. At least you will have GA 400 as a conduit. Johns Creek is very insular, IMO.

[nanhi]

I think the property value won't go down for a 20 year old house if its in a good school district. Walton high school cluster is an example of that. Houses 40 years old are still expensive. I also want a basement & I am willing to buy a 20 year old house in Johns Creek.

[ktmari]

There are so many new neighborhoods going up in Cumming exit 13 area, that you will not have to worry about ones older than 2000. Lambert and South Forsyth are excellent schools, I attended both, however, Lambert wastes alll their money on football. when I was there, they had no pencil sharpeners in any classrooms, but had a football simulator for the players. ridiculous. Cumming is a very family friendly area. Traffic is really not that bad...Alpharetta is much worse! (I lived there this past year). You should look is Grand Cascades/Olde Atlanta Club area.

[eastfacing]

Originally Posted by ktmari

There are so many new neighborhoods going up in Cumming exit 13 area, that you will not have to worry about ones older than 2000. Lambert and South Forsyth are excellent schools, I attended both, however, Lambert wastes alll their money on football. when I was there, they had no pencil sharpeners in any classrooms, but had a football simulator for the players. ridiculous. Cumming is a very family friendly area. Traffic is really not that bad...Alpharetta is much worse! (I lived there this past year). You should look is Grand Cascades/Olde Atlanta Club area.

thanks for sharing this info.

[CMMom]

Going east to west & vice-versa in the Northern suburbs is a challenge. North to south is at least a little easier. I've people say "you can't get there from here" re: the trip between Gwinnett & Johns Creek/Alpharetta.