Mableton vs. Powder Springs (Atlanta, Roswell: real estate, condominiums, crime)

[ReaderOne]

Wife and I are loking to purchase a home this year. We're looking at Mableton or Powder Springs.

Smyrna and Marietta seems too expensive for what we're looking for.

IF we're gonna drop $500k for a house, then we might as well just move to the D.C. area.

My job is in Roswell, so the commute is not going to be quick in either scenario; however, what is it like living in either city?

Schools? future growth? demographics?

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by ReaderOne

Wife and I are loking to purchase a home this year. We're looking at Mableton or Powder Springs.

Smyrna and Marietta seems too expensive for what we're looking for.

IF we're gonna drop $500k for a house, then we might as well just move to the D.C. area.

My job is in Roswell, so the commute is not going to be quick in either scenario; however, what is it like living in either city?

Schools? future growth? demographics?

If your job is in Roswell, you most likely should not be looking for housing in areas like Marietta and Smyrna.

And if your job is in Roswell, you most likely definitely should not be looking for housing in areas like Mableton and Powder Springs.

If you are going to be commuting to a job in Roswell and look for housing in Cobb County, then you probably should look for housing in Cobb County no further west than the enclave of East Cobb (probably not much further west than Johnson Ferry Road, and probably definitely no further west than East Piedmont Road).

(East Cobb includes both Marietta and Roswell mailing addresses.)

Otherwise, your search for housing more than likely should focus on areas closer to your job like Roswell, Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Milton and Cumming and maybe some parts of Woodstock that are closest to your job in Roswell.

... All high-quality suburban communities that are in a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area that is loaded with high-quality amenities (including highly-rated schools, upscale retail shopping, parks, outdoor recreation trails, etc.).

Because of concerns about metro Atlanta’s traffic congestion, particularly during more normal non-pandemic times, areas like Smyrna, Mableton, Powder Springs and even much of Marietta, likely are not the best areas for you to look for housing for a commute to and from a job in Roswell.

If you are looking for relatively lower-cost housing of good quality, look to see if you might be able to find anything within your preferred price range in the Centennial High School attendance zone.

Otherwise, extend your search for relatively lower-cost good-quality housing into relatively close nearby areas like extreme southeastern Cherokee County and extreme southwestern Forsyth County.

One thing to keep in mind about Atlanta’s northern suburbs is that the combination of highly rated schools, the presence of nearby large employment hubs of good-paying jobs (like Alpharetta/Roswell, etc.) and a continuing large influx of new residents into the area from higher-cost parts of the country like the Northeast and California has made housing costs in the area higher than newcomers like yourself might expect for a historically lower-cost Southeastern metropolitan area like Atlanta.

(... The pandemic apparently has in some cases seemed to increase migration into the North Atlanta suburbs from higher-cost parts of the country like the Northeast and California, putting upwards pressure on home prices throughout much of the North Atlanta suburbs.)

To increase your chances of finding a relatively lower-cost good-quality home, you probably should also seriously consider making townhomes and condominiums a central part of your housing search in the high-demand North metro Atlanta suburbs.

[sedimenjerry]

Agree with B2R. There are closer better options. N Fulton itself is hard to find much under 500k at the moment but you can look nearby

[ddm2k]

Originally Posted by ReaderOne

Wife and I are loking to purchase a home this year. We're looking at Mableton or Powder Springs.

Smyrna and Marietta seems too expensive for what we're looking for.

IF we're gonna drop $500k for a house, then we might as well just move to the D.C. area.

My job is in Roswell, so the commute is not going to be quick in either scenario; however, what is it like living in either city?

Schools? future growth? demographics?

Why would you EVER...

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by ReaderOne

Wife and I are loking to purchase a home this year. We're looking at Mableton or Powder Springs.

Smyrna and Marietta seems too expensive for what we're looking for.

IF we're gonna drop $500k for a house, then we might as well just move to the D.C. area.

Originally Posted by ddm2k

Why would you EVER...

The OP probably would move to spend $500k on a house in D.C. instead of Atlanta because there are many people who do believe that a Northeastern city like D.C. is a more established, more cosmopolitan urban commodity with much more to offer from a cultural standpoint (arts, theaters, museums, restaurants, shops, etc.).

The fact that D.C. is part of the multi-cored Northeast Corridor/Northeast Megalopolis region and is located less than 230 miles from New York City, the cultural and financial capital of the world also makes a city/metro like D.C. an attractive destination for many.

Add in the fact that D.C. is the site of the seat of the U.S. federal government and all of the large government institutions and facilities that come with that and D.C. seems to have much more prestige for a lot of people.

Now a large major Southeastern metro like Atlanta clearly has very much to offer from a cultural standpoint.

But all of the numerous cultural amenities that a city/metro like Atlanta has to offer often may not always jump off the page or publicly standout like they often do in more established large major Northeastern metros like D.C., Philly, New York and Boston.

A lot of people (including many who might have been living in Atlanta for an extended period of time) might often seem to (mistakenly) think of Atlanta as nothing more than a suburban Sun Belt metro with little depth of cultural offerings.

They often may not necessarily be aware of all of the numerous cultural amenities that a city/metro like Atlanta has to offer because Atlanta’s cultural offerings often may not standout in the way that cultural offerings often may publicly standout in more established Northeastern metros like D.C., Philly, N.Y.C. and Boston.

[Otakumaster]

Originally Posted by ddm2k

Why would you EVER...

Public transit/better infrastucture
Walkability,
Higher Salaries
Much more cultural offerings,
Less Crime,
More diversity.

[Otakumaster]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

To increase your chances of finding a relatively lower-cost good-quality home, you probably should also seriously consider making townhomes and condominiums a central part of your housing search in the high-demand North metro Atlanta suburbs.

Move to an Atlanta suburb just to live in a condo or townhome?

That doesn't sound like a deal at all.

[JC84]

Originally Posted by ReaderOne

Wife and I are loking to purchase a home this year. We're looking at Mableton or Powder Springs.

Smyrna and Marietta seems too expensive for what we're looking for.

IF we're gonna drop $500k for a house, then we might as well just move to the D.C. area.

My job is in Roswell, so the commute is not going to be quick in either scenario; however, what is it like living in either city?

Schools? future growth? demographics?

Just curious, why Powder Springs/Mableton and not Roswell? I just moved to Roswell and I love it here, and it's still relatively affordable and has better schools (for real estate investment purposes that matters to me). I bought a beautifully renovated 3 bed, 3 bath finished basement and two separate garages for 400k. In a safe and established neighborhood.

Back to your question, I lived in Powder Springs and I liked it enough. Close proximity to shopping in Hiram and Marietta but there's not much of anything to do in Powder Springs itself. Very quiet. (though if you like BBQ, Johnny's just outside the little downtown area is the spot)

I wouldn't recommend Mableton, my best friend just moved from there. Crime is a bit disproportionate and there's really no pros to Mableton to justify moving there. I wouldn't invest in real estate there.

[Otakumaster]

Originally Posted by JC84

Back to your question, I lived in Powder Springs and I liked it enough. Close proximity to shopping in Hiram and Marietta but there's not much of anything to do in Powder Springs itself. Very quiet. (though if you like BBQ, Johnny's just outside the little downtown area is the spot)

I wouldn't recommend Mableton, my best friend just moved from there. Crime is a bit disproportionate and there's really no pros to Mableton to justify moving there. I wouldn't invest in real estate there.

Cheap new builds.

If the OP is choosing Atlanta for price then it makes sense that those areas are on their radar vs. East Cobb or North Fulton.

Otherwise, as they said, they can just go to DC.

NC is another option if they want to stay cheap.

[sedimenjerry]

Originally Posted by Otakumaster

Public transit/better infrastucture
Walkability,
Higher Salaries
Much more cultural offerings,
Less Crime,
More diversity.

Can you really get that for 500k in DC though? It was my impression that DC had a higher col than Atlanta. Like significantly higher.