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Thanks for everyone's replies, its very encouraging. Is 300-350k for a house enough in those towns ?
Basement is not mandatory, but its preferred.
It looks like Alpharetta, I hope its not downtown.
If it does turn out to be downtown, is it more than a hour's commute one way from up north ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by desifamily23
Hi,
Alpharetta is where I might be working, but I would be looking for houses in the feeder zones for the schools, so probably Johns Creek, Duluth or possibly Marietta.
Quote:
Originally Posted by desifamily23
Is Alpharetta High also good ? Then I guess I can look into homes there too.
Good information.
It is important to know that you will probably be working in Alpharetta--but there is small chance that you could be working downtown. When you say "downtown"...do you know where exactly?
Of the areas you've mentioned...Parkview, Norcross, and East Cobb/Marietta (I think you mentioned, yes?) offer the better commutes to downtown. A lot of the places you mentioned offer a good commute to Alpharetta.
So, here is my recommendation--
You should look in areas that offer a really great commute to Alpharetta, but would still be a decent/less-horrendous commute to downtown. Based on your criteria, your best options would be right along the GA 400 corridor in North Fulton County. Your second best options would be the west side of the I-85 corridor in Gwinnett County.
Being close to GA 400 or I-85 would be ideal for you just in case you end up working in Downtown Atlanta. Eastern Johns Creek, for example, while not a bad commute to Alpharetta, is not close to GA 400 or I-85.
The GA 400 corridor also gives you the option of using MARTA if you need to go downtown (bus and/or rail station down at North Springs). Norcross is also very close to Doraville which would give you MARTA access on the inner I-85 corridor.
~Look in the following school clusters:
Primary search
a. Alpharetta High Cluster in Fulton County*
b. Centennial High Cluster in Fulton County
c. Roswell High Cluster in Fulton County
d. The southern part of the Milton High Cluster in Fulton County
Secondary search (if needed)
a. Chattahoochee High Cluster in Fulton County
b. The western part of the Johns Creek High Cluster in Fulton County
c. The southern part of the Cambridge High Cluster in Fulton County
d. Duluth High Cluster in Gwinnett County
e. Peachtree Ridge High Cluster in Gwinnett County
f. North Gwinnett High Cluster in Gwinnett County
g. Norcross High Cluster in Gwinnett County
+All areas listed above are excellent locations for an East Indian family. No worries at all.
Below are two very helpful maps for your search. Learn and study them carefully:
It is important to know that you will probably be working in Alpharetta--but there is small chance that you could be working downtown. When you say "downtown"...do you know where exactly?
Of the areas you've mentioned...Parkview, Norcross, and East Cobb/Marietta (I think you mentioned, yes?) offer the better commutes to downtown. A lot of the places you mentioned offer a good commute to Alpharetta.
So, here is my recommendation--
You should look in areas that offer a really great commute to Alpharetta, but would still be a decent/less-horrendous commute to downtown. Based on your criteria, your best options would be right along the GA 400 corridor in North Fulton County. Your second best options would be the west side of the I-85 corridor in Gwinnett County.
Being close to GA 400 or I-85 would be ideal for you just in case you end up working in Downtown Atlanta. Eastern Johns Creek, for example, while not a bad commute to Alpharetta, is not close to GA 400 or I-85.
The GA 400 corridor also gives you the option of using MARTA if you need to go downtown (bus and/or rail station down at North Springs). Norcross is also very close to Doraville which would give you MARTA access on the inner I-85 corridor.
~Look in the following school clusters:
Primary search
a. Alpharetta High Cluster in Fulton County*
b. Centennial High Cluster in Fulton County
c. Roswell High Cluster in Fulton County
d. The southern part of the Milton High Cluster in Fulton County
Secondary search (if needed)
a. Chattahoochee High Cluster in Fulton County
b. The western part of the Johns Creek High Cluster in Fulton County
c. The southern part of the Cambridge High Cluster in Fulton County
d. Duluth High Cluster in Gwinnett County
e. Peachtree Ridge High Cluster in Gwinnett County
f. North Gwinnett High Cluster in Gwinnett County
g. Norcross High Cluster in Gwinnett County
+All areas listed above are excellent locations for an East Indian family. No worries at all.
Below are two very helpful maps for your search. Learn and study them carefully:
* --> The Alpharetta High Cluster is the absolute best option for you, in my opinion.
I hope this helps some. Good Luck.
Thank you for sharing a wealth of information, really appreciate it. I am going to try to map these areas into my mind so that I can tell quickly by looking at an area map where a house belongs.
Also expense wise I think I will save some money because everyone tells me that NY is one of the most expensive for all utilities. But I am not sure how much of a swing will it be.....
For example my expenses are as follows...
Oil heat - $2500 per year. Small house around 1700 sq.ft. with 2 heating zones.
Electricity - 5974Kwh per year amounts to $1300 per year. Everything electric. This includes thru' wall A/C's during summer months, cooking and washer dryer.
House Insurance - $1100 per year.
Auto Insurance (1 minor incident in past 3 years.) - $2000 per year for 2 non luxury cars.
Water + Sewer = $800 per year.
Lawn Maintenance - approx $1000 per year. $25 per week for 8 months + spring and fall cleaning.
PPO Health Insurance - $8000 per year.
I do not want to compare groceries as I think it should not be that much of a swing (I think).
Do you guys have any approximations/average figures ?
Hi,
I am thinking of visiting the northern suburbs for a couple of days (Johns Creek, Alpharetta), where should I hangout and ask questions about neighborhoods, schools etc ?
I see there are lot of houses in the subdivisions, can I drive through them or are they gated and will refuse non-residents entry etc ?
Hi,
I am thinking of visiting the northern suburbs for a couple of days (Johns Creek, Alpharetta), where should I hangout and ask questions about neighborhoods, schools etc ?
I see there are lot of houses in the subdivisions, can I drive through them or are they gated and will refuse non-residents entry etc ?
Great areas. For most of the gated subdivisions, you will need to contact a realtor or resident to gain you access.
If your budget is $300k-$350k you will NOT be in a gated community in Johns Creek. You can find a nice house in that price range though. Coming from NY, even a $200k house will be an improvement, and there are a couple of subdivisions in that range that feed Chattahoochee HS, Johns Creek HS and Northview HS.
If your budget is $300k-$350k you will NOT be in a gated community in Johns Creek. You can find a nice house in that price range though. Coming from NY, even a $200k house will be an improvement, and there are a couple of subdivisions in that range that feed Chattahoochee HS, Johns Creek HS and Northview HS.
Tell me about it.... and the taxes are lower too, and on top of that I personally would get a good school upgrade if I move to one of the areas mentioned above.
I did go to some random realtor website from the internet and found a bunch of homes in the 300-350k range that feeds into the above mentioned high schools (I have to admit I threw in Pope and Walton HS too). Obviously I intend to rent once we move, but if possible I would like to rent in the area where my kids will go to school so that they do not need to change schools when we buy the home. I know its wishful thinking but.....
I see something on listings called Association Fee. Is that like a Homeowners Association ? or is that something like a common charge for the condos ? Also on some listings I have seen it as like $500 per year. And on some it clearly says like $200 per month.... For example... this is a house that has a Master Association fees of $500. I hope that is per year. 3693 Dartmouth Way, Marietta, GA 30062 (MLS# 5215460) - Marietta GA Real Estate - ColdwellBankerAtlanta.com
... Obviously I intend to rent once we move, but if possible I would like to rent in the area where my kids will go to school so that they do not need to change schools when we buy the home. I know its wishful thinking but.....
This is actually the wisest thing to do. It is not wishful thinking...it should be a very high-priority.
I see something on listings called Association Fee. Is that like a Homeowners Association ? or is that something like a common charge for the condos ? Also on some listings I have seen it as like $500 per year. And on some it clearly says like $200 per month.... For example... this is a house that has a Master Association fees of $500. I hope that is per year. 3693 Dartmouth Way, Marietta, GA 30062 (MLS# 5215460) - Marietta GA Real Estate - ColdwellBankerAtlanta.com
It must be HOA homeowners Association and it should be annual , amount could be different for every subdivision as a very good subdivision will have high HOA and the one with no swim - tennis might have low.
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