Shocking TRUTH About Buying a Home in Alpharetta Ga

If you plan on buying a home in Alpharetta any time soon, there are a few things that you need to know about, so let's get right into it. In June of this year, the average sold price for a home in Alpharetta was $825,000, and then prices continued to plummet. In July the following month, the average sold price went down to $752,000, and then in August it jumped back up just a little bit to $775,000, and then in September it came down a bit more to $771,000. So while we are seeing that almost all the homes in Metro Atlanta have come down significantly in the last few months as we approach the holiday season and the school year has already started, this is a very big drop for Alpharetta. From $825,000 in June to $752,000 in July is a very big difference and not quite what we see in other parts of Metro Atlanta. However, the biggest surprise is what's going on when we look at the home prices in Alpharetta compared to other years. What's up y'all, my name is Victor with Atlanta Suburban Living, and we put out videos every week about what it's like to live in Atlanta. But when we look at Alpharetta home prices for the past few years, the highest month for the average sold price for Alpharetta tends to be the month of May. In May of 2022, the average sold price for a home was $730,000, and then in May of 2023, the average sold price jumped up to $838,000, and then just this past May 2024, the average sold price went up to $850,000. So we're definitely seeing a lot of fluctuation within the Alpharetta area when it comes to home prices, and this is very similar to what we're seeing in other parts of Metro Atlanta, but we're definitely seeing a much higher home price in Alpharetta. And if you're going to be buying a home here and you have any questions about what it's like to live here, feel free to call, text, or email me anytime. I'm the one who answers those phone calls and those text messages and those emails, and I'd be happy to help with your moving needs to the Alpharetta area. But the shocking truth that you really need to know about when it comes to buying a home here is that there are definitely other suburbs where you can find very similar amenities and not have to pay $850,000 for a home. Now if you are coming from a different state or different country and you hear a ton about the Alpharetta area and you're like, you know what, I definitely want the 10 out of 10 schools and I want the best area and the best restaurants and the best shopping, then by all means, Alpharetta is the best area for all of those things. But if you don't need the kind of shopping that you find at the Avalon in Alpharetta, like the Peloton store and the Tesla store and the restaurants where you pay $100 a person and you're just cool with Target or Whole Foods or the Best Buy, this is the area where I live. If you're cool with those kinds of stores, those kinds of restaurants, then there are definitely lots of other places, other suburbs where you can live and not have to pay $850,000. For example, in the city of Marietta, there are plenty of good restaurants, plenty of shopping. Instead of the schools being a 10 out of 10, the public schools are like a 9 out of 10. And you can find this in Marietta and the average sole price for a home there is more like $500,000. Or the city of Suwannee or even Beaufort, where you can still find all of these super popular places, shopping, restaurants, still very good schools. Some of the best public schools in Georgia are in Suwannee and in Beaufort, and the average sold price for a home there is like $600,000. So while the best things are in Alpharetta, you are going to definitely pay the highest price for homes there. And then another really shocking statistic that I'm seeing when it comes to Alpharetta is the amount of competition that there is for buying a home there. And if you're going to be buying a home in Alpharetta, there are a few things that we do here to get ahead of this competition or buyer demand that there is in Alpharetta. So to give you a good idea of what I mean by the amount of buyer demand or buyer competition, one of those statistics that we look at to really get a good sense of what the competition is like is the amount of days that a home is on the market before going under contract. So if homes last a very few amount of days, like if they go under contract super fast, then you can say there's a lot of buyer demand, a lot of competition in that area. But if listings take a long time to go under contract, then that means that there's less competition in that area. So when it comes to all of the suburbs of Metro Atlanta, all of Atlanta included, the average days that a home is on the market in the last few months is about 19 days. This is kind of typical for most of the areas in Metro Atlanta. Another good example is Cobb County. So areas like Marietta or Kennesaw, Ackworth, Smyrna, the average days on market in that area is 18 days. And then in cities like Buford, Suwannee, Duluth, Lawrenceville, the average days on market is 14 days. But in Alpharetta, the average days on market is nine days. So there is a lot more buyer competition, buyer demand in Alpharetta than there are in many of the other suburbs, actually in all of the other suburbs of Metro Atlanta. So these are a few things that we do and that you can do to get ahead of that competition, to beat out or to get an advantage over the other buyers who are also trying to buy a home in Alpharetta. Three super important things that we do is one, we get the buyers to go through underwriting before they find the home that they're looking for. So instead of like going and finding a home and then you find the right address and then the bank or the lender puts you through underwriting to approve your loan, we start that process before you even find a home. That way you're able to show the seller that you are already approved. This is not the case for every buyer. Most buyers, 90, 95% have to find the home and then go through underwriting. But if you go through underwriting before that, then you have a really big advantage over the others. Another thing that we do is video tours for clients who are out of town or out of state or even out of country. We come up with a list of the homes that they like and that they want to see. And then I go to those homes and FaceTime you or Zoom call so that we can see in person what that home is like. And then I can tell you, hey, look, you know, this is going on with the home. They're covering this thing up with the picture or these pictures are actually very good representations of the home. This is the feel of the home, the flow of the home. And you can get a much better idea of what the home is like with those videos. That way you don't have to come all the way here to the metro Atlanta area to see the home. And when a home comes on the market, you can right away, I can go and see that home video call you so that you can see what that home is actually like. And then another really good way to get the advantage over the other buyers is to have an inspection company ready to go that you like and trust as soon as you go under contract. One of the biggest things that sellers are looking at when it comes to figuring out which offer to take is the amount of days that a buyer wants for the inspection period. So, of course, they're going to look at the price and they're going to look at like the closing date, but a really big one is how many days they want for inspection period. So if you're like, well, you know, we go under contract and then we're going to find the inspector and then we're going to do the inspection. And this is going to take like seven to 14 days that never works here in metro Atlanta and sure as hell won't work in Alpharetta. Many buyers who are buying a home in Alpharetta have a inspection period of like three days. Like if you can do two days, that's even better. And so here at Atlanta Suburban Living, we have plenty of inspection companies that we like and trust and that you can choose from who do inspections within 24 hours. And this will definitely give you advantage over other buyers who are just, you know, having an inspection period of like seven days. Again, that never flies here in metro Atlanta. So two or three days in Alpharetta is far more appropriate. So are there other suburbs where you can get a good deal and not have to break the bank like Alpharetta and still get similar amenities? Absolutely. Some of my favorites are Marietta, Dallas, Powder Springs, Suwannee. Milton is a good one, though that's even more expensive. Ackworth, Woodstock, these are all great suburbs where you can find great amenities and not pay $850,000 for a home. Will Alpharetta continue to appreciate in home value? Absolutely. All of these areas that we're referring to will continue to appreciate in home price. They have every year for the last 10 to 20 years. Even in 2008 when the home prices like crashed, we're still higher home prices today than back in 2008 when home prices crashed. So it's all relative, of course. Yes, home prices will continue to increase and definitely so here in Alpharetta. Now, there are a lot of bad things about living in Alpharetta. There are certainly some downsides and some red flags to living here like every city has. In fact, I made an entire video about the pros and cons of living in Alpharetta. You can check it out right here. I'll see you in the next one.