Things Locals Hate About Living in Gainesville Area
Let’s face it most towns have their downsides and there’s always something you wish you would have known before you move to an area. Today, I’m giving you the things locals hate the most about living in the Gainesville hall county area. One of the things I get asked the most for people relocating from out of town is “What do people not like about your town?”. I recently asked my friends who lived in Gainesville what they did not like about living here. They gave me their list of grievances and today I’ve compiled them into a list to tell you things locals hate about Gainesville. 1. Urban Sprawl One of the selling points of towns in Hall County, like Braselton, Flowery Branch, and Hoschton is the small-town feel they have. Although, these small towns are expanding fast. Flowery Branch has gone through so much change and expansion over the years. If you ask people who have always lived here, they will tell you that Flowery Branch used to be a tiny, quaint town with a two-way road and a four-way stop that has turned into a huge retail area with lots of traffic. It used to be tons of wooded areas with a few small neighborhoods, and it has gone through some major growth over the last decade or so. By using my Facebook to ask, the number one comment that I got from my friend “Carl” is that, well, people are fed up with the urban sprawl that we’re experiencing here in Gainesville, and more specifically and south hall county were growing fast like really fast. As I mentioned before, we’ve been here for about six years and in that short amount of time, the number of new construction developments industrial parks in the area has exploded so we used to rent a house off of Mac Ever road which connects Oakwood to Fiery Branch come south hall area. The people are talking about its new construction and development after new construction development. The land is being cleared left and right, and you had more industrial parks going in with many residents and guests. Then, a county seems to be growing out at an unexpected pace and they feel that the proper planning has not been taken into consideration especially when it comes to the amount of traffic our ruins can handle. So while this growth is great for the local economy residents like myself, we feel the headaches every single day from that growth. Primarily, we’re battling traffic on these roads that can’t seem to keep up with the pace and the demand of the neighborhoods. This is still a hugely popular area to live in, with its close proximity to Atlanta and being close to the lake. Some people in the county are afraid the area is becoming an extension of Atlanta and losing its small-town charm, but others are happy that the area is growing and all of the new opportunities it brings. 2. Lack of Diverse Food Options Another complaint that locals and myself have is that we found that there’s a lack of dining options in our area that are not chain restaurants. So sure, we had you know some local restaurants but there’s always room for a lot more. It seems as if some areas and other towns nearby have much more local restaurant options. Gainesville has beautiful weather almost year-round. You can enjoy being outside many many months of a year, far more than what you would want to stay inside. You often find yourself wanting to take advantage of the beautiful weather and perhaps dine outdoors. Well, there aren’t that many options to go outside and enjoy a nice meal on a great patio or something overlooking the lake. Surprisingly, there are just not that many options here. We are in desperate need of more you know kind of rooftop dining options and more great patios, with great ambiances. Hopefully, as the county continues to develop and bring in more restaurants, maybe it will attract some of those entrepreneurs that will give us what the locals want. A lot of people also mentioned that they thought Gainesville was missing a really good, quality Italian restaurant. There are some awesome pizza places, like Atlas on the Square in Downtown Gainesville, but I think people are really missing some delicious pasta and bread that doesn’t come from Olive Garden. Where Gainesville lacks in Chinese and Italian food, it definitely makes up for it in Mexican food. I could list amazing taco stands, sit-down restaurants, a little hole in the walls- all that serve some of the best Mexican food you’ll ever try. There are tons in Gainesville that I recommend, I have favorites in Oakwood and Buford, so if you ever need a recommendation on where to get a bomb taco, I’ve got you covered. If you know me, you know that I’m a fan and I love tacos! We have really great authentic Mexican restaurants here, but locals like myself, wish we had more options for cuisine like Chinese food and often take Italian. Look, I love the Olive Garden, just as much as the next person gives me all of the unlimited breadsticks, so I eat at least two baskets myself. But, I wish we had options for more authentic Italian and if you want that right now you’re looking at getting in the car driving a good 30-45 minutes away to find another Italian restaurant. 3. Lack of Organic/ Diverse Grocery Stores Another drawback about Gainesville is the lack of more organic, health-conscious, or unique grocery stores like Whole Foods, Trader Joe, or Sprouts. There are tons and tons of these grocery stores all over Atlanta, and in Athens which is southeast of us here in Gainesville. But unfortunately, we don’t have any of these options this far north in Gainesville. Here in the Gainesville hall county area, we have plenty of options as many Publix grocery stores. We have several Kroger and you have plenty of options as well, but if you’re hoping for some more specialty grocery stores like Whole Foods, well, good luck. Right now, you’re going to be looking at least a 30-45 minute drive to reach the nearest Whole Foods. As you can see from all of the comments from my Facebook post, Trader Joe would be a welcome addition to our area. And again, the nearest one you can reach us at about a 45-minute drive possibly an hour to the nearest Trader Joe. So during the summer months, you can visit the downtown farmer’s market that they have every single Friday on the square. You can also visit the popular Jaemor Farms for fresh produce. As far as like one-stop shopping for organic options and getting meat and all that kind of good stuff all at the same place, well, Gainesville hasn’t grown that much for these big retailers to open up a shop here. This means you have more limited accessibility to a wide variety of organic or vegan options that these grocery stores give you. Don’t get me wrong, we have a lot of grocery store options, from Kroger to Walmart, to Aldi, to Publix- so there is no shortage of places to buy groceries, but I know a ton of people love all of the healthier options that Whole Foods have to offer, and who doesn’t love Trader Joes and all of their fun treats? Some of the regular stores like Walmart and Aldi have a smaller assortment of organic or vegan options than you would find at Whole Foods, so there is a limited variety but you still have some good options. 4. Chicken Plant Smell Gainesville is crowned the “Poultry Capital of the World” because there are so many chicken plants. It’s not uncommon to get stuck behind a big rig that’s hauling chickens down the road with a flurry of feathers floating around your car. One of the big complaints about the chicken plants is well, they stink! We even have a lighting of the chicken at Christmas, where we light a giant Chicken. So, we are the Chicken capital because our biggest industry is chicken farming. If you’ve ever been anywhere around chickens or behind a chicken truck, well, it stinks. There are some parts of town that you will drive through and think yep, that’s the smell of chicken poop. Sometimes the chickens go rogue and somehow manage to get out of the chicken trucks and just kind of stand in the middle of the road, and I know of several people actually who have stopped and picked them up and now subsequently, have pet chickens. Welcome to Gainesville. But these chicken plants are some of the biggest employers in our town which allows families in our area to put food on the tables for their families, so I think the unpleasant smell you get a waft of while driving through certain parts of town is definitely worth it. Want to learn more about buying or selling , or get more information on the Gainesville/ Hall County area? Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel, I put out two new videos every week!
The TRUE Cost of Living in Gainesville, Georgia
Any time I work with out of state buyers, they are shocked to find out the cost of living in our area. Compared to many other states in the US, the cost of living here in Georgia is SO low! Gainesville is a metro town about an hour north of Atlanta up Interstate 85 and the population of Gainesville is just over 40,000 with a total of about 200k people in Hall County. We have many great places to live and work around Gainesville, including beautiful Lake Lanier–in fact, if you haven’t watched this video on the different areas, make sure you check it out. To kick things off, let’s have a look at bestplaces.net which is a website that many people use to compare cost of living in various different cities. They say that the median price of a home in Gainesville is $181,700. In my opinion, more recently, this is closer now to around $236,000, but we’ll talk about that a little later. As you can see, most everything in Gainesville is below the overall price in Georgia, and definitely below the US average. Healthcare is the only thing that is above Georgia average, and national average. We do however, have great healthcare here in Gainesville- the Northeast Georgia Medical Center, which is a huge employer in our county. Grocery prices are lower, gas is lower, transportation, and utilities are all lower as well. Let’s break down these numbers. Bestplaces.com uses a sale to 100 to describe the overall cost of living in an area compared to the national average. Gainesville ranks at 89.6, meaning the cost of living is below national average here. If you look at our neighbors in Atlanta however, they score at 107.5, meaning they are higher than the national average, and much higher than here in Gainesville. One of the great things about living in Gainesville is that you are just a hop, skip, and a jump from Atlanta, close enough to commute into work, but your cost of living is obviously much lower. Let’s talk about gas and transportation. Georgia is one of those states where you pretty much have to have a car. Public transportation is not something we really have here, however, that isn’t all that much different from most other states in the US. Sure, a few cities in the states have busses or the subway, but it really isn’t all that common, so you probably won’t be missing out on that. This is where the price of gas in Georgia really shines, the average gallon of gas in Georgia currently is $2.24, which is cheaper than 40 other states in the US. Each gallon of gas in Georgia is only taxed $0.27 per gallon, which compared to states like Pennsylvania at $0.59 per gallon, and California at $0.62 per gallon- is very low. The cost of a gallon of gas is currently $0.32 cents below the national average. Another thing to note that makes transportation cheaper here is that you do not have to have your car inspected every year or every two years, like you do in many states. You also don’t have to have it inspected any time you buy or sell a car, like you also have to do in many states. Plus, we don’t have to pay for parking in Gainesville either! You can go pretty much anywhere and not have to pay for parking- no need to worry about carrying around change for the meter. Next up: Housing The median cost of homes in Georgia is $185,000. In Gainesville, that price is a little closer to $236,000. I have to say, because of the current real estate market, it can be pretty difficult to find a home in that price range in the north metro Atlanta area currently. Anything at that price is selling insanely quick (which, by the way, if you are considering selling- now is a fantastic time to do so.) That price will definitely increase the closer to Atlanta you get, as well. If you’re coming from somewhere like Alabama or Kentucky where you can find homes in the lower 100’s, living in Gainesville will come at a higher price tag. To some people, this median home price is extremely low, if you’re moving from somewhere like California, Utah, or Massachusetts where average home prices are in the upper 3’s, 4’s, and 5 hundreds- this sounds like an incredible deal. It all depends where you are coming from, and what you are used to paying. Here in Gainesville, we have homes in a huge range of prices, and I’m confident we could find the perfect one for you that would fit in with your budget. Another thing to consider when thinking about the cost of housing are HOA fees. Most homes in Georgia are located inside neighborhoods, many of which have homeowners associations. These homeowners associations, or HOA’s, charge homeowners anywhere from $100 a month up to several thousand dollars a year- depending on the amenities they provide. This fee is used to maintain the neighborhood pool, tennis courts, keep up the landscaping in the common areas, et cetera. If you choose to live in a golf course community, your HOA fees will definitely be on the higher side, and you may have to pay an additional fee to become a clubhouse member in order to actually use the golf course. If you choose to live in one of the awesome 55 and older communities here in Gainesville, you’ll see that the monthly HOA fees are closer to say lower $200’s to $300 a month- but these communities take care of your yard work, many of them have gyms so you don’t have to pay for a gym membership, and most of them cover the cost of trash pick up as well, so it is a higher monthly cost, but it cut down on a lot of the other things you would have to either take care of yourself or pay someone else to do. Obviously not every home in Gainesville is in a neighborhood, but they are pretty common and that’s a cost that you will want to think about up front so you can budget it into your monthly or yearly expenses. Property taxes are another thing to take into consideration. Many buyers from states like California, New York, and other northern states are thrilled to learn about the relatively low property taxes and the many exemptions that you may be able to qualify for. One exemption that you may qualify for is the senior homestead exemption. This exemption, depending on the county you are living in, will exempt you from all or part of the school tax portion of your property tax bill. This can result in a savings of thousands of dollars each year and is one of the reasons that makes living and retiring in Georgia so attractive. If you’re curious about all the property tax exemptions you may be eligible form, let me know, I’d love to send you that info. Alright. What about groceries and utilities? The average cost of groceries is below the national average in Gainesville. We have tons of great grocery stores- Aldi, Publix, Kroger, Walmart, just to name a few. Of course we have Target as well- can’t live without Target. We have lots of cool small businesses and restaurants in town if you aren’t into big box stores. Utilities are below the national average too. I’ll give you an example of pricing- I recently had a client purchase a home that was nearly 5,000 square feet. The previous owner’s gave us a breakdown of their utilities so my buyer would know what to expect. During the hottest summer months where the air conditioning was pumping at full blast, the electric bill was $240 at its highest, but during a typical month, like 8 or 9 months of the year- it only ran them $150. Their gas bill stayed between $30/$35 dollars. Keep in mind- 5,000 square feet is a pretty huge house, meaning higher bills because higher usage and higher square footage. You can expect those costs to be quite a bit lower for a smaller house. Last but not least, taxes. Just like most everything we’ve talked about today, property taxes in Gainesville are lower than the national average. The median real estate tax payment in Georgia is $1,448 per year, which is around $650 less than the $2,090 national mark. The average effective property tax rate is 0.91%. In Gainesville, that number is 0.84% However, if you live on Lake Lanier, you can expect higher property taxes. Georgia falls at #25 when ranking real estate taxes in the US, right in the dead center. In line with what we talked about earlier with inspections on vehicles, there are also vehicle property taxes that residents in 27 states have to pay for. Luckily, Georgia is not one of those states. Something we do have that you won’t find in every single state is sales tax. Currently when you buy clothes or food, or anything in a store really, you will pay 7% sales tax. As someone who has lived in Georgia my whole life, I don’t even really notice it. However, if you move from a state where you aren’t used to paying taxes on food and groceries, you’ll quickly get used to the fact that the cost of an item on the shelf isn’t going to be the cost of it when you go to check out. We also have progressive income taxes, which are fairly average compared to the rest of the US. Every state’s taxes are different, so be prepared for changes if you decide to move away from your current state. I know that I just threw a ton of numbers at you- but basically, the cost of living in Gainesville is much lower than if you were to live in the heart of Atlanta, or in many other states. We have tons of great jobs that will allow you to pay for those costs, not to mention, it’s a beautiful place to live. The people are friendly, the scenery is great, you can’t beat the location, and as we’ve figured out in this video- it’s a pretty affordable place to live. If you’ve given any thought to moving to Gainesville, Georgia, give me a call and I’d love to help you with that process. Want to learn more about buying or selling, or get more information on the Gainesville/ Hall County area? Make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel. I put out a new video every week!
Retiring in Gainesville, GA: The Best Communities
Warm weather and a low cost of living make Georgia a top retirement destination, and the Gainesville area offers plenty of options for retirees. Let’s cover all the available options that you have in the Gainesville hall county area. I help many retirees downsize and relocate from all across the state, and from out of state as well. People love retiring in Gainesville- not only because of the great weather we have here, but also because of our location. We are located about an hour north of Atlanta and about an hour south of the North Georgia Mountains. Gainesville is located on Lake Lanier which provides for endless entertainment and enjoyment. Retirees love the affordability of housing here, and we have excellent health care. Not only do we have North Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville and Braselton, but we also have many specialists and outpatient facilities as well. Let’s look at some of the top retirement neighborhoods that you have available to you in the Gainesville Hall County area. One of our area’s newest retirement communities is Cresswind at Twin Lakes. This community is located near Downtown Hoschton, which is really close to Braselton, so you’re gonna have lots of restaurants and development happening. It also gives you great, easy access to 985 and 85. This community is brand new. They are just building out their first phase and there are tons of lots available, but you have to know this community is selling out fast! It’s one of the area’s most affordable 55+ communities that you can buy a brand new home in right now, and you have to check out their spec homes that they’ve built, or take a look at their 12 different model homes that are fully decorated. You could spend the entire day browsing and find your dream retirement home. You can build your home from the ground up, or you can purchase a spec home where the builder has already built that home so that you can come along and buy one without having to wait for the entire build process. You have two bedroom, two bathroom homes in this neighborhood that are about 2,000 square feet and those are going to start at $247,000 or you can go up to a three bedroom, two and a half bath all the way up to 3,500 square feet and that’s going to top out around $400,000. This neighborhood has a great clubhouse and amenity center that includes a fitness center with yoga and aerobics studio, pickleball courts galore, and they also have tennis courts, an event lawn, resort style pool, arts and crafts studio with a kiln, and more! You also have an indoor pool that is planned as part of phase two. I mentioned those pickleball courts, right? So you need to know that they’re going to have over 30 plus courts, and an eagles nest viewing area for tournaments as well. This is going to be something that people that live in the neighborhood are truly going to love and enjoy and if you know anything about retirement communities, pickleball courts are storming the nation. Upon completion, this pickleball center at Cresswind is going to be the largest private pickleball facility in the state of Georgia. One thing you need to know here is that the HOA fees are expected to be in the mid $200s with reduced fees of $99 monthly until some of those amenities are complete. You need to move quickly though if you want to purchase a home in this community- like I said, the homes are selling very quickly and you need to go check them out. Pick out your lot and plan your next home! Another Cresswind community that you need to consider is Cresswind at Lake Lanier. This is located in Gainesville and it sits directly on Lake Lanier. One thing that you need to know about this community is that they are no longer building any more new construction homes. The neighborhood is completely built out, so you’re only going to have resale options. However, people buy and sell homes there all the time so you’re still going to have plenty of options and you’re going to have prices that are maybe a little bit more affordable than a brand new construction home. They started building Cresswind at Lake Lanier in 2011 and the clubhouse in the community cost over $8 million dollars, and frankly, you can tell- It’s an amazing facility. You’re looking at prices ranging anywhere from $300,000 all the way up to $675,000 and you’ve got square footage ranging from about 1,300 square feet all the way up to 3,000 square feet on basement lots. Now we talked about how great that amazing clubhouse is, it’s three stories with a state-of-the-art fitness center, aerobics studio, indoor pool, as well as tennis courts, pickleball, bocce ball, and horseshoes. They even have a community garden, dog park, and a playground for your grandkids. Cresswind at Lake Lanier is located on a wide finger lake of Lake Lanier, and you can purchase a boat slip at the dock behind the community clubhouse, or you can use the dock there for day use and put in kayaks or just simply go down and sit and enjoy the water. This community is located really convenient to Downtown Gainesville, and you’ve got plenty of shopping, restaurants, the lake obviously, and it’s really convenient to Northeast Georgia Medical Center. Another community located on Lake Lanier that you need to add to your list to check out is Stephens Point. This brand-new new construction community started in 2020 and it has plans to build over 174 houses in the neighborhood. You’ve got eight different floor plans that you’re going to be able to choose from, and your price range is going to be from about $320,000 all the way up to $400,000 for a three bedroom, two bath, two thousand square foot house. You currently have some spec homes that are already built, and they’re move-in ready. At the time that this video is being recorded, they have five that are move-in- ready right now, with prices ranging from $338,000 all the way up to $382,000 thousand dollars. The amenities that are going to have here at Stephens Point are a clubhouse, you’ve got a swimming pool, lake access, and a boat dock with14 boat slips on a first come, first serve basis. You also have four sides of full service lawn care, pickleball courts, and private gated community entry. Not only do you have the clubhouse and the pool, you also have amenities that have not been built yet, but construction is going to start soon. This is another neighborhood that is located on Lake Lanier, so if you are looking for neighborhoods that are going to give you the access to the lake and be able to enjoy everything that the lake has to offer, and even have your boat here at the community, you are going to want to put Stephens Point on your neighborhood list to check out, as well as Cresswind at Lake Lanier. Now, your HOA fees here in Stephens Point are going to be approximately $200 a month. Stephens Point is also located in Gainesville, so you’re only about eight minutes away from Cresswind at Lake Lanier, which means you’ll have easy access to the lake. You’re also really conveniently located near Downtown Gainesville and the hospital that we mentioned earlier, restaurants and more. It truly is a great community that’s located right off of McEver Road in Gainesville, and you’re really going to love that location and heck, it’s on the lake! If you have not added the Village at Deaton Creek to your list, well- you need to add it. This community is located in Hoschton so it’s convenient to Highway 211 and I-85. It’s also very close to Chateau Elan, which is going to give you plenty of shopping and restaurants, and it’s located really close to the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Braselton. This is one of the older 55+ communities in the Gainesville-Hall County area. They first began building this community in 2005, with the first home being completed in 2006. Now you need to know that there are no more new construction homes in this neighborhood, it is resale only, and you can find some garden type homes that are about 1,100 square feet all the way up to 3,000 plus square feet homes on basement lots. This is one of the larger retirement communities in the area with over 1,100 homes in the gated community. It has an amazing two-story 35,000 square feet clubhouse that offers state-of-the-art fitness facilities- you’ve got an indoor swimming pool, tons of classrooms for cooking class demonstrations, everything that you can imagine. Man, I want to live there! Every time I show a client in this community, I think about how I cannot wait until I am able to purchase a home and live in this community. It always looks like the residents are having so much fun and living such a great life. Not only do you have the great fitness facilities, but you also have a dance studio, there’s also a grand ballroom, we talked about the indoor pool with a spa, and you’ve got a library, the demonstration kitchen, and you’ve got several hobby and craft studios. They also offer over a hundred different social clubs and interest groups that include everything from sports, intellectual groups, faith-based groups, hobbies, crafts, everything. Anything that you could think of, there is a club for that, and there’s lots of people in the community that are going to share those same interests that you have. At the time of filming this video, there were about 13 homes for sale in the neighborhood ranging anywhere from $270,000 all the way up to $545,000. Your HOA fees at Village at Deaton Creek are going to run you about $300 a month. Right across the street from Village at Deaton Creek in the Braselton/ Hoschton area is Del Webb Chateau Elan. Since it’s right across the street, it is also going to give you really great convenient access to downtown Braselton and I-85. This is a newer community and construction started in 2018, and they’re still continuing to build other phases in this community. You’ve got nine different floor plans that you can choose from, and you get anywhere from two bedrooms to five bedrooms, and you even have homes that are built on basement lots. Like I said, they are still building new construction homes in this community and you’ve got prices ranging from the high $200,000’s all the way up to the low $400,000s. There’s endless options for recreation and socialization, just like in the other communities that we’ve discussed. Village at Deaton Creek is right across the street and it gives you a great comparison as to what an older community has to offer versus this newer community. Chateau Del Webb is going to offer you 19,000 square feet at this clubhouse. They’re still adding on to that and it has a fitness center, a heated indoor lap pool, you’ve got social areas, a ballroom, you’ve got multi-purpose rooms and you’ve got an arts and crafts studio. There are great tennis courts and they also offer pickleball courts, bocce ball courts, dog park, you got walking and biking trails, a playground for your grandkids, and even an event lawn. I have personally helped several people buy in this community, and there is a fantastic builder for this neighborhood, and you can customize some of the features in your home as well. If you have not added this to your list to check out, it’s a must. If you are looking for a bit of a smaller community and you don’t want the full-fledged 55+ community experience with the great amenities that some of these communities have to offer, you need to add McEver Mill to your list. McEver Mill is a new construction community, and they first started building these homes in late 2019 and beginning of 2020. It’s located in Oakwood which is just in between Gainesville and Flowery Branch, so really convenient to Interstate 985, restaurants, grocery stores, everything that you could want, and great access to Downtown Gainesville. You’re also only one mile from Lake Lanier. Upon completion, this neighborhood is going to consist of 105 low maintenance attached homes with luxury features, such as first floor master suites and spacious open floor plans. You’ve got private patios and all of these homes are going to offer a one and a half story ranch floor plans. They currently have five homes listed for sale and this is definitely a more affordable community, and the prices there range from $231,000 to $241,000. and your HOA fees there are slightly lower too. Those are only $189 a month, and that’s going to include all of your exterior building maintenance, landscaping, mowing, edging, trimming bushes, all that kind of good stuff and the HOA also provides weekly curbside trash service and common area maintenance. This is a smaller community so you’re not going to have the big amenities that you have in some of these other neighborhoods. It does not have a pool, pickleball court, or a large clubhouse that the other communities have, but it was designed for buyers who are just not interested in all those typical neighborhood amenities. But, if you want a stylish well-built 55+ community with lower HOA fees, this is definitely a community that you need to check out. If you’ve considered retiring or downsizing to the Gainesville area, I would love to help you. In the meantime, please check out my YouTube Channel for more videos about the Gainesville/Hall County Area.
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