<p>Does anyone have any recent experience with buying/selling in the Atlanta area? DD will be moving to the Atlanta area in June, and it looks like it may make more sense to buy than rent (she will be there for at least 7 years.) She will want to look in the area around Emory. We live 1400 miles from Atlanta, so any insight and advice from CC members in the area would be appreciated.</p>
<p>The Atlanta real estate market has been hit really hard by the economic downturn. There are some deals out there, but the reality is that appreciation may be slow or non-existent. </p>
<p>Is she coming for school? Homeownership comes with all kinds of responsibilities that renting doesn’t. </p>
<p>If she buys now, and her situation changes, she could be stuck with an asset that has actually declined in value in the short term. </p>
<p>The area around Emory is mostly unincorporated DeKalb, where both the county and the school system is a holy mess. The exception is the City of Decatur (within the city limits) where thing are doing very well, but the property taxes are among the highest in the state.</p>
<p>I would be reluctant to purchase any kind of townhome or condo, even if a terrific deal, as those types of housing don’t do as well in strong economies and do downright horrible in weaker ones.</p>
<p>I don’t forsee rapid appreciation in the Atl market so you might have her rent for 6 months to get the lay of the land.</p>
<p>Will she be looking at a 2 BR? My daughter will also be making her decision if she will go there (MD only) shortly and she’ll be looking for housing. :)</p>
<p>It’s often a good idea to rent for a year before buying in a new area. It gives a chance for the job to settle in and the person to have a better idea if they plan to stick there because of the job, and it gives the person a chance to get a sense of the area to know which neighborhood they’d prefer to live in. This doesn’t always end up to be whatever’s closest to work.</p>
<p>I think the safest way and in the end the way that’s liable to make her the happiest would be to rent for a year and then think about buying.</p>
<p>I’m only a casual observer but Lastminute mom is absolutely right about the “underwater” market at present. I have family in metro Atlanta and have been visiting the place for years. The market is astoundingly bad for sellers at this time. A house that a relative rented on a short term basis just literally a stone’s throw from Cobb County luxury townhomes and gated communities about 5 years ago is selling for 20% below what the owner paid for it in 2007. Far worse examples abound.</p>
<p>I recently read online that Atlanta has the highest rate of foreclosures now. </p>
<p>My nephews friend just purchased a 1 BR condo in Buckhead ( I beleive) which is an upscale area, for $90,000. Great deals are out there.</p>
<p>My son, currently at Emory for grad school, is renting a house 6 miles from campus. 3 BR, 2 bath, for $1200/month. (We were paying about $1000 a month undergrad for housing which is crazy but not uncommon depending on the area) so this is a real bargain for us at $400/month for his share!</p>
<p>The problem with buying and reselling after 7 years, is that the market may not rebound as much as you’d like, or if there is still lots on the market as there is now, it may be hard to sell.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses–you all have given me lots to think about! And GA2012Mom, yes, she will probably look for a 2 bedroom and a roommate. Keep us in mind when your D makes her final decision!</p>
<p>While 90000 may seem like a great deal on a condo, it is still a risky purchase. Once the economy fully improves, expect new construction of condos to begin again. This will impact older complexes. That is the way the market for multi-family housing works in Atlanta.</p>
<p>Even in good housing markets, condos/townhomes have not shown the appreciation that SFH have. In this housing market, it has been brutal for condos/townhomes.</p>
<p>It will be a LONG time before they start to build new conods. Developers are not looking for condo lands, they’ve been burned pretty hard. And in today’s market, building condos is suicidal.</p>