Housing Search (Atlanta, Marietta, Alpharetta: fit in, buying a home, buying)

[loolr21]

Toll Brothers is known as a "luxury" builder. Lennar is mid range and then D.R. Horton tends to build starter homes.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

$25-$30k? That is going to be a very small pool. We built a 12x24 (1' - 6' deep) pool three years ago. With all of the equipment it ran us about $50k. I suppose you could do without a heater, pool cleaner and the like in order to save some money, but you would not enjoy your pool as much (particularly the heater).

$50k to install a pool??? $30k to install a small pool??? ... A pool that most likely may very rarely be used outside of the 3-month period between Memorial Day and Labor Day?

It’s understandable why community pools have grown to be so popular, LOL.

[hereticiam]

Our current home was built by a small family-owned builder. Lennar bought them and started building homes with a lot less options but were including more in the base home. There are a lot of Lennar homes in MN.

I was excited about Toll Bros as they had 2 new communities in Cumming. They website showed pictures of model homes that looked amazing.

I began reading reviews of Toll Bros and they were universally bad.

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/hous...-brothers.html

I understand covid is causing supply chain shortage and labor shortage. But nothing can justify these types of reviews.

[hereticiam]

We are hoping to move from MN to great Atlanta this summer.
We have 10 and 12-year-old sons.
My kids have lived in the same house since they were born.
For us, our biggest priority is to move into a community that gives our kids the greatest chances of making new friends.

My wife is 100% remote. I am in Tech and I am remote at this time. In the future, I do want to be able to go to work in person if needed. With these constraints, we are looking for homes in and around the Alpharetta area.

Good public schools, access to parks, shopping, and proximity to Alpharetta tech jobs are important for us.

Our short list is:
Alpharetta
Cumming
Suwanee
Johns Creek
Milton

Did consider East Cobb (excellent schools, closer to the city but not enough parks).
Looked at Roswell, Sandy Springs but the schools are not as nice as the cities I listed above.

We want the budget to be less than $1.1 million.

Looking into new home builders but many of them are selling out quickly, charging a bit too much, and suffering from massive delays. So we are primarily looking at existing homes.

We have found a few homes that have everything we need except for the fact that they were standalone homes with no access to community pools and tennis courts. Our assumption is that if we are in a community our kids will have a better chance to make friends. Is this assumption correct?

I am hoping for recommendations for communities we should focus on. Even if the home does not have everything parents desire we will compromise and select a home that offers a better chance of making friends.

Thanks

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by hereticiam

We are hoping to move from MN to great Atlanta this summer.
We have 10 and 12-year-old sons.
My kids have lived in the same house since they were born.
For us, our biggest priority is to move into a community that gives our kids the greatest chances of making new friends.

My wife is 100% remote. I am in Tech and I am remote at this time. In the future, I do want to be able to go to work in person if needed. With these constraints, we are looking for homes in and around the Alpharetta area.

Good public schools, access to parks, shopping, and proximity to Alpharetta tech jobs are important for us.

Our short list is:
Alpharetta
Cumming
Suwanee
Johns Creek
Milton

Did consider East Cobb (excellent schools, closer to the city but not enough parks).
Looked at Roswell, Sandy Springs but the schools are not as nice as the cities I listed above.

We want the budget to be less than $1.1 million.

Looking into new home builders but many of them are selling out quickly, charging a bit too much, and suffering from massive delays. So we are primarily looking at existing homes.

We have found a few homes that have everything we need except for the fact that they were standalone homes with no access to community pools and tennis courts. Our assumption is that if we are in a community our kids will have a better chance to make friends. Is this assumption correct?

I am hoping for recommendations for communities we should focus on. Even if the home does not have everything parents desire we will compromise and select a home that offers a better chance of making friends.

Thanks

You are indeed correct in your assumption that your children will have a much better chance of meeting other kids and making new friends if your family lives in a swim-tennis community with community pools and tennis courts.

Some swim-tennis communities that immediately come to mind in that North Fulton County/South Forsyth County area that you appear to have narrowed your focus down on are:

> The Windward Community (Alpharetta)

> Windermere (Cumming)

> Laurel Springs (on the Forsyth County side of the Suwanee mailing area)

> St. Marlo Country Club (on the Forsyth County side of the Duluth mailing area)

> Olde Atlanta Club (on the Forsyth County side of the Suwanee mailing area)

> Bridleton (on the Forsyth County side of the Suwanee mailing area)

> The Reserve at Old Atlanta (on the Forsyth County side of the Suwanee mailing area)

> Laurelwood at Shakerag, and Devonhall (two communities that adjoin each other and share a pool, tennis courts and a playground in Johns Creek)

> Blackstone (Johns Creek)

> Sugar Mill (Johns Creek)

> St. Ives Country Club (Johns Creek)

> Medlock Bridge Subdivision (Johns Creek)

> White Columns Country Club (Milton)

> Crooked Creek (Milton)

> The Manor Golf & Country Club (Milton)

> Champions Run (on the Forsyth County side of the Suwanee mailing area)

> Grand Cascades (on the Forsyth County side of the Suwanee mailing area)

> Three Chimneys Farm (Cumming)

> Longlake (Cumming)

> Creekstone Estates (Cumming)

> Polo Golf and Country Club (Cumming)

> Hampton Golf Village (Cumming... if you ever become interested in extending your housing search out into the North Forsyth or East Forsyth school clusters)

> Rivermoore Park (on the Gwinnett County side of Suwanee in the North Gwinnett school zone)

> The River Club (on the Gwinnett County side of Suwanee in the North Gwinnett school zone)

> Stonebridge (on the Gwinnett County side of Suwanee in the North Gwinnett school zone)

> Lansdowne (on the Gwinnett County side of Suwanee in the North Gwinnett school zone)

> Lansfaire (on the Gwinnett County side of Suwanee in the North Gwinnett school zone)

> Forest Plantation (on the Gwinnett County side of Suwanee in the North Gwinnett school zone)

> Stonebrier at Sugarloaf (in the Peachtree Ridge school zone in Duluth)

> Sugarloaf Country Club (in the Peachtree Ridge school zone in Duluth)

There are many more swim-tennis communities in than what I have listed in the North/Northeast outer-suburban metro Atlanta area that you have narrowed your focus to.

If you haven’t already contacted one at this point, you likely may need a good realtor/broker (a good buyer’s agent) to help you comb through all of the numerous swim-tennis community options that the North/Northeast outer-suburban metro Atlanta area features.

[hereticiam]

Thank you very much for sharing these communities. We will seek local realtor help in the future and also independently look into these swim communities.

[bu2]

I'm going to offer more generic advice as someone who moved frequently as a child:

Elementary school will probably not be difficult in meeting new friends. Its middle school where it gets more difficult.

Even if your children are not the type who will be playing on HS varsity teams, there are a lot of swim teams and rec sports leagues around. These are places to meet other kids and get good exercise. Clubs at school can be good places to find others with similar interests.

If you have a faith, church/synagogue/etc., are good places for kids to meet each other.

Encourage them to take the initiative in meeting other kids, especially the 12 year old. Don't wait for them to invite you.

[Go Blue 99]

Do your kids play sports? Even if your home isn't part of a traditional subdivision, I imagine they'd make a bunch of friends from their teams.

[hereticiam]

Originally Posted by bu2

I'm going to offer more generic advice as someone who moved frequently as a child:

Elementary school will probably not be difficult in meeting new friends. Its middle school where it gets more difficult.

Even if your children are not the type who will be playing on HS varsity teams, there are a lot of swim teams and rec sports leagues around. These are places to meet other kids and get good exercise. Clubs at school can be good places to find others with similar interests.

If you have a faith, church/synagogue/etc., are good places for kids to meet each other.

Encourage them to take the initiative in meeting other kids, especially the 12 year old. Don't wait for them to invite you.

Thank you for your suggestions. I am especially concerned about my 12-year-old. He is an introvert. We will enroll him in a bunch of activities.

Originally Posted by Go Blue 99

Do your kids play sports? Even if your home isn't part of a traditional subdivision, I imagine they'd make a bunch of friends from their teams.

My kids play soccer, flag football and Tennis.
We do plan to enroll them in sports activities.
We do think that having kids around the neighborhood will accelerate the process of making friends.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by hereticiam

Thank you for your suggestions. I am especially concerned about my 12-year-old. He is an introvert. We will enroll him in a bunch of activities.



My kids play soccer, flag football and Tennis.
We do plan to enroll them in sports activities.
We do think that having kids around the neighborhood will accelerate the process of making friends.

Yeah, it sounds like a good swim-tennis community would be a good fit (if not the best fit) for your family’s social needs.