Home resale value in Smyrna and Mableton (Marietta, Dunwoody: sale, real estate)

[emma31]

Going through the posts on this forum, I see a lot of negative remarks about the school systems in West Cobb, specifically Mableton and Smyrna.

Since the school system supposedly impacts the resale value of property, I'm wondering if anyone has any comments on how the school systems in these areas are currently (or historically) impacting the sale of houses. I know the housing market is slow, but any personal experiences would be appreciated.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by emma31

Going through the posts on this forum, I see a lot of negative remarks about the school systems in West Cobb, specifically Mableton and Smyrna.

I've asked this before, and I'll ask this again. Why are Mableton and Smyrna sometimes referred to as "West Cobb" when they're located no further west than the center line, and especially when Smyrna is actually located in southeastern Cobb County??!?

http://www.visi.com/~rsteiner/CobbCounty3.GIF (broken link)

Do East Cobb people consider I75 a dividing line of sorts, so that everything which isn't "East Cobb" is somehow considered "West Cobb" (i.e., "the other guys") even though the latter comprises most of the area and population in the county?

I could see the area in the western half of the county south and west of Kennesaw (and west of Marietta) being called "west Cobb", since that's unincorporated area that doesn't have its own label I'm aware of, but Smyrna? That term doesn't seem to be used by anyone who actually lives in Smyrna or Mableton, so I'm curious where it comes from, and as a former Smyrna and current Mableton resident I find it rather annoying. It's very misleading.

[emma31]

I have seen people refer to this area as SW Cobb. But everyone at my workplace (where I am relocating too) refers to this area as West Cobb.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by emma31

I have seen people refer to this area as SW Cobb. But everyone at my workplace (where I am relocating too) refers to this area as West Cobb.

Huh. Of course, most of the folks I know live in the areas which are south and/or west of I-75, so most of them simply refer to the various cities and regions south of I-75 as their actual names , and the area as a whole is simply referred to as Cobb County.

I-75 isn't a particularly significant boundary as far as I'm aware, either. It's just a place to avoid during rush hour if one wants to actually travel anywhere in a timely manner.

My speculation (pending correction/clarification from someone else who uses the terms) is that the terms "East Cobb" and "West Cobb" are local to the East Cobb region. Folks who don't live in the NE corner of Cobb County don't see any real need to make such a differentiation. There isn't even a city north of the freeway, at least within Cobb's borders.

For the edification of others, I'll indicate where I-75 is on the previous map by attempting to draw a big blue line :

http://www.visi.com/~rsteiner/CobbCounty4.GIF (broken link)

The term could be correct in some contexts. I'm mainly just curious why I only seem to hear the "West Cobb" term here in this forum to describe areas like Smyrna, but not used in that way anywhere else.

[gt6974a]

Well, it's definately not a grid layout....

some of PS, Austell, Smyrna, and Mableton are considered South Cobb......

some of PS, some of Kennesaw/Acworth considered West Cobb, i.e. West of Highway 41

rest of Kennesaw/Acworth is considered North Cobb...

....East Cobb is just generally East of 75 with Marietta mailing address

[casualobserver]

rcs, there you go again.......trying to be logical!!! How about this, you and I shall properly refer to Vinings, Smyrna and the eastern half of Mableton as Southeast Cobb. In this way, not only shall we initiate a logical labeling system, we'll usurp some of the secret panache of "East Cobb" by sneaking the "east" into our moniker. Your home value shall increase forthwith.

emma, all I can say to you is I think there is a law in Georgia that forbids people from providing factual and compelling explanations as to why or why not the Southeast Cobb schools are good/not good. Test scores are dismissed as irrelevant to demonstrating educational achievement........yet nothing else is offered as demonstrative proof of comparative achievement in its stead........lack of parental involvement has also been proffered, but that doesn't pass the basic smell test in an affluent community. So far I've learned that there is a great curriculum offered, but apparently no one can pass the test at the end of the year.

[blackrabbit]

Originally Posted by emma31

Going through the posts on this forum, I see a lot of negative remarks about the school systems in West Cobb, specifically Mableton and Smyrna.

Since the school system supposedly impacts the resale value of property, I'm wondering if anyone has any comments on how the school systems in these areas are currently (or historically) impacting the sale of houses. I know the housing market is slow, but any personal experiences would be appreciated.

Right now the market is very bad in Smyrna. I have two friends both trying to sell townhomes with no luck. Both dropped 50k from last year. Both wish they had bought smaller homes further in. The whole Smyrna area is overbuilt. Don't even conside Mableton as its a bad comute these days with horrible infrastrucure and a bad reputation for schools.

[netdragon]

The prospect for positive affects of the improving schools on Smyrna (South Cobb) real estate is high. Smyrna is starting to pump a lot of money into schools and a lot of wealthy people with children have moved in recently (and wealthy people had children), but visible school improvements take a while and may parents still send their children to private schools -- yet pay taxes nonetheless. Mableton (South Cobb as well) unfortunately isn't incorporated like Smyrna so the schools are up to the county until the GA township act is completely passed at which point they will have direct access to some percentage of their own tax money. Almost everyone sends their kids to private schools in Mableton if they can afford it..

Originally Posted by blackrabbit

Right now the market is very bad in Smyrna. I have two friends both trying to sell townhomes with no luck.

Two things going on... the townhome market in Smyrna is oversaturated and real estate is bad in general which together is bad for your friends for the next couple years. What your friends should do is rent because rental prices are high in the Smyrna/Vinings area and the rental market is very strong. I had no problem renting out my condo and townhomes are even easier to rent.

What's happening is people got a little exhuberant with new townhome buying in Vinings (and the spill into Smyrna) that was "hot" and "trendy" but when a $350k townhome with a $300/mo association fee is sitting less than 1000 feet from a brand new single family home on a tear-down lot for the same price with an extra 500 sq feet of living space it's obvious what's going to happen long-term and townhomes are not hot anymore.

Anyone buying a townhome should have been expecting to stay in it or rent it until the oversaturated market cleared out. Tis why I didn't even consider a townhome before I bought my new house... But... to the rescue is a strong rental market these unfortunate souls that jumped on the townhome bandwagon, especially when a lot of would-be home buyers now can't get mortgages. :-)

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by gt6974a

Well, it's definately not a grid layout....

some of PS, Austell, Smyrna, and Mableton are considered South Cobb......

some of PS, some of Kennesaw/Acworth considered West Cobb, i.e. West of Highway 41

rest of Kennesaw/Acworth is considered North Cobb...

....East Cobb is just generally East of 75 with Marietta mailing address

Also... Vinings and Cumberland are South Cobb. Canton Highway near Marietta is the only part on the East of 75 that is also considered North Cobb.

[blackrabbit]

Originally Posted by netdragon

The prospect for positive affects of the improving schools on Smyrna (South Cobb) real estate is high. Smyrna is starting to pump a lot of money into schools and a lot of wealthy people with children have moved in recently (and wealthy people had children), but visible school improvements take a while and may parents still send their children to private schools -- yet pay taxes nonetheless. Mableton (South Cobb as well) unfortunately isn't incorporated like Smyrna so the schools are up to the county until the GA township act is completely passed at which point they will have direct access to some percentage of their own tax money. Almost everyone sends their kids to private schools in Mableton if they can afford it..



Two things going on... the townhome market in Smyrna is oversaturated and real estate is bad in general which together is bad for your friends for the next couple years. What your friends should do is rent because rental prices are high in the Smyrna/Vinings area and the rental market is very strong. I had no problem renting out my condo and townhomes are even easier to rent.

What's happening is people got a little exhuberant with new townhome buying in Vinings (and the spill into Smyrna) that was "hot" and "trendy" but when a $350k townhome with a $300/mo association fee is sitting less than 1000 feet from a brand new single family home on a tear-down lot for the same price with an extra 500 sq feet of living space it's obvious what's going to happen long-term and townhomes are not hot anymore.

Anyone buying a townhome should have been expecting to stay in it or rent it until the oversaturated market cleared out. Tis why I didn't even consider a townhome before I bought my new house... But... to the rescue is a strong rental market these unfortunate souls that jumped on the townhome bandwagon, especially when a lot of would-be home buyers now can't get mortgages. :-)

Agree about the townhomes. I do however think long term the same money is better spent on a townhome in another area.
In Brookhaven or Dunwoody which are vastly better areas an older townhome is the same price now and a better buy. Property tax is also much lower with no Smyrna city tax.