Housing Search (Atlanta, Roswell, Alpharetta: safe neighborhoods, magnet school, property taxes)

[hereticiam]

Originally Posted by Citykid3785

TL,DR: it looks like you’d be paying an extra $700k for an extra 2 acres and and extra 3,000 sqft over what I’d call the typical upscale east Cobb home, at the expense of a real neighborhood feel. If those things are important to you, then by all means…

Yes this is east Cobb.

I know I have responded to your past posts, as I’m a MN transplant living in east Cobb.

This will be 30-40 mins to Alpharetta depending on the specific location.

This house is good in that it is fairly close to highway 75 for city access. While this is the Walton district, it’s just nearly in the wheeler district, right on the edge.

Am I reading it right, that this home sold for the mid $500s in 2021, and now they want $1.25M!?!?

As nice as east Cobb is, I too would be worried about buying a luxury high end house in a declining market. Are the neighboring homes claiming to be worth a similar value, or closer to the $500k mark? I would need to know that answer.

Do you want/need 6,500 sqft and 3 acres? If you don’t, the. I’d saying you are way over paying, but I don’t want to assume too much.

Also, the pool/lack of sidewalks….most hoods have a community pool. Assuming this hood doesn’t, I worry you aren’t buying into a community with young children looking to hang out. In other words, the large lot, high price point, and individual pool are screaming to me this is a house for a family that wants to keep to themselves, not meet new people. Versus, if you told me a $600k east Cobb home with a beautiful community pool on 2/3 acre, which screams “I want to be a part of the community” much more

Thanks for confirming most of my concerns about this home.
I don't need extra 2 acres or extra 3000 sq ft..
This home seemed nice but does not fit well with our needs.
I did notice $500K purchase price in 2021. It must have been a massive renovation to increase the price by $750K.
Summer is over in MN and we had our first morning with 30 degree temps. The prospect of spending another long/cold winter is making us irrational. This was a hail mary pass by my spouse and I wanted alternate opinion before telling her that we will not move forward with this home.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by hereticiam

Thanks for confirming most of my concerns about this home.
I don't need extra 2 acres or extra 3000 sq ft..
This home seemed nice but does not fit well with our needs.
I did notice $500K purchase price in 2021. It must have been a massive renovation to increase the price by $750K.
Summer is over in MN and we had our first morning with 30 degree temps. The prospect of spending another long/cold winter is making us irrational. This was a hail mary pass by my spouse and I wanted alternate opinion before telling her that we will not move forward with this home.

If you’ve got a housing budget that goes up to as far as $1.25 million, you should probably look to see if you can find housing that may be 1) much newer in age, and 2) much closer to your job in Alpharetta.

You should probably be concentrating your search for housing in North Fulton and South Forsyth counties with that high an amount of a housing budget.

And even with the falling home prices, I also might be somewhat hesitant to call the current housing market “a declining market” just yet.

If anything, the current housing market is hopefully entering a period of correction that one might could call ‘a slightly less insane’ housing market.

Though, I don’t know if the market may see a post-2008 Great Recession style price correction anytime soon like many seem to be hoping for.

[VJP]

The area is very nice, I live about 3ish miles east near Johnson Ferry. The price for that size house is in line and at this price point I wouldn't expect rapid appreciation but the schools and proximity to metro will help the value hold (I at least hope so, my house is similar size, slightly less money).

I WOULD caution heavily against buying someone else's flip. I had this experience in my last house and fell for the lipstick on the pig - really hard to swallow as an engineer at that! Luckily it only cost me about $25k to fix the things I found, before I got out of there. With your budget I would look for something built 95 or newer and remodeled the correct way. I could be wrong, but a full gut, done that fast, almost certainly means corners can be cut and covered up. Commute to alpharetta is about 30 minutes ish, maybe 40 depending on what part.

[y8tiger]

If I had that housing budget and a need to commute to Alpharetta I would definitely be taking a look at Sweat Mountain, Mountain Park, and Crabapple areas.

For reference, I used commute to Alpharetta from the Sprayberry HS area in the mid 90's and it took 45 minutes back then. I had also done that commute from Gainesville and it took the same amount of time.

[ShenardL]

If you have a budget of 1.25 million, I would look into a Toll Brothers new construction in Roswell: https://www.tollbrothers.com/luxury-.../Grand-Reserve

Very close to Alpharetta and it's a good area although you would have to wait some months before you can move in but at least you can select the finishes and exactly how you want the interior to look.

[hereticiam]

Originally Posted by ShenardL

If you have a budget of 1.25 million, I would look into a Toll Brothers new construction in Roswell: https://www.tollbrothers.com/luxury-.../Grand-Reserve

Very close to Alpharetta and it's a good area although you would have to wait some months before you can move in but at least you can select the finishes and exactly how you want the interior to look.

Thanks. I have already checked out Grand Reserve in Roswell. It is a wonderful community with large lots and Milton schools. They even had 1 Move in Ready home. When I reached out to them they told me that it takes them 6 months to get a permit. So the move-in-ready home already had the permit to build but it had not started construction yet. It was $1.4 million.

Last year I reached out to Toll Brothers about Brooke Meade in Cumming. They told me that it is taking 18-24 months to build a new home. In general, most people would be better off avoiding New Construction.
Supply chain and labor shortage have had an adverse impact on all home builders including Toll Bros.
Check out these awful reviews for Toll Bros.

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

[ShenardL]

Originally Posted by hereticiam

Thanks. I have already checked out Grand Reserve in Roswell. It is a wonderful community with large lots and Milton schools. They even had 1 Move in Ready home. When I reached out to them they told me that it takes them 6 months to get a permit. So the move-in-ready home already had the permit to build but it had not started construction yet. It was $1.4 million.

Last year I reached out to Toll Brothers about Brooke Meade in Cumming. They told me that it is taking 18-24 months to build a new home. In general, most people would be better off avoiding New Construction.
Supply chain and labor shortage have had an adverse impact on all home builders including Toll Bros.
Check out these awful reviews for Toll Bros.

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

I know a couple that bought a Toll Brothers home in Cumming and they have nothing but praise.

[hereticiam]

Originally Posted by ShenardL

I know a couple that bought a Toll Brothers home in Cumming and they have nothing but praise.

Did they buy in Brookemead or Northfield?
Build quality depends on the building supervisor so the couple you know may have had a good build crew.

[ShenardL]

Originally Posted by hereticiam

Did they buy in Brookemead or Northfield?
Build quality depends on the building supervisor so the couple you know may have had a good build crew.

It was Lakehaven Brighton back in 2020.

[HomeSweetGeorgia]

As a former Chicago resident, I feel you on being done with midwestern winters.

With your budget and the potential need to be near Alpharetta, you have a lot of options. Johns Creek to the east will give you the best bang for your buck and decent schools. Have you considered a home in Alpharetta itself? Homes there have appreciated a ton and should continue appreciating long-term with the retail development and it being a tech hub. Forsyth County/Cumming in general has really good schools and areas with good schools will best withstand any downturn in the housing market. There's also a strong Asian (mainly South Asian) population in Cumming. The commute from East Cobb to Alpharetta is doable but would definitely suck.