Absolutely agree that the entire Forsyth County is an excellent place to buy and hold. 95% of my personal investments, including my primary are concentrated in this county. I also like all the cities you mentioned in North Fulton County. As I study the demographics in the area, I would take out Lawrenceville from your Gwinnett County list. I would also take out any homes located within the Lanier HS cluster in Sugar Hill. N. Gwinnett is the best high cluster in Gwinnett County... and buy and hold in this school cluster is a solid choice.
The only areas I would buy and hold in Gwinnett County are in the following HS clusters : Mill Creek, N. Gwinnett (Best), Peachtree Ridge, Collins which covers the following cities: Duluth, Suwanee, & Buford, and Sugar Hill. Paulding is up and coming, but one county I think is really up and coming is Oconee County which is located right next to the University of Georgia in Athens. My gut tells me that there is a lot of profitable opportunities near UGA.
Only Oconee and Forsyth County has an unemployment rate less 5%. Johns Creek has the lowest unemployment rate as a city within Georgia state limits at 3.8%. One of the top high schools that rivals Johns Creek's flagship school Northview is Walton HS located in east Cobb. East Cobb is at least 20 years older than North Fulton and South Forsyth.
All Good stuff for those who are in love with Georgia.
Originally posted by @Account Closed:
I am born and raised in Atlanta and can tell you the hot spots very easily. These are all within a 20 to 30 mile radius of the inner city.
• Cherokee County - cities of Woodstock, Canton, Holly Springs, and Ballground.
• Cobb County - Mostly east Cobb and some parts of northern Cobb county in the Marietta city district. If you go into west Cobb, stick to Kennesaw and the surrounding area.
• Forsyth County - Anywhere in this county. It's a great one all around.
• Gwinnett County - I grew up here and there are pockets you now want to stay away from. Stick to cities of Suwanee, Buford, Sugar Hill, and Lawrenceville. Parts of Duluth are ok as long as it's closer to Johns Creek.
• North Fulton County - This includes Alpharetta, Johns Creek and Sandy Springs. Sandy Springs has more crime typically while Alpharetta and Johns Creek are family suburban areas.
• Paulding County is up and coming. While it's slightly further out, it's becoming a hotbed for new development.
• Dekalb County is ripe for seasoned investors in my opinion. It's got a lot of older properties that need rehabbing, plus there is more crime in that area. I wouldn't start here as a newbie. If you stick to properties around or close to Stone Mountain you'll be better off as Stone Mountain is a state park and much of the area around it is kept up fairly well.
• Stay away from south Fulton county. There are too many pockets of bad neighborhoods that make it difficult to determine if your property will appreciate properly or get the right tenant / cashflow. If you want to buy in the city of Atlanta you really need to know what you're doing and have some serious cash in the bank as I've seen many houses just sit there for quite some time. The seasoned investors with lots of cash are the ones that are typically more successful here.
