Relocating to Atlanta, advice much appreciated (long post)! (Alpharetta, Suwanee: rental car, extended stay)

[ivada]

Hi,

I have been a lurker on this forum for a few months now, and recently my wife and I decided to move to Atlanta for various reasons (some of which are listed at the end of this post).

I have been interviewing with prospective Atlanta employers for the past month. I recently accepted an offer with a very good company based in Atlanta, and we are now in the early stages of the relocation process. As you know, picking up and relocating is not a trivial process and we will appreciate any guidance and advice from forum members here. I have spent many hours searching and reading through this forum, but will appreciate any advice that might be a tad more specific to our situation. I am absolutely in awe of so many forum members here who do everything they can to help folks make good decisions about their move to Atlanta and I'm sure I'll get great advice here.

Some additional information about our current situation:

- We are a couple, no kids
- We are relocating to ATL from NJ
- My new office is in the Perimeter area
- I will be earning $110k/yr. My wife is earning approx $80k/yr at her current job. She will be able to keep her current job and will be able to work remotely, at least for the next several months.
- We have a home in NJ that we need to sell first before we look at homes in ATL. In the meanwhile I will rent in an extended stay-type of hotel in ATL while my wife stays behind in NJ and works with our agent to sell our current house.
- We visited ATL recently and scoped out some areas that we would both like to live in, at some point. We have some friends in these areas and that's also a huge help. I also did some dry runs in a rental car from these areas to Perimeter during rush hour on both 141 and 400 to get a better idea about my prospective commute. The commute ranged from about an hour to an hour and fifteen each way. That's not too bad from our current commute, and I will definitely be leaving for work much earlier in the morning (around 6:30AM) anyway.
- Here are some of the areas that we are considering: Suwanee, John's Creek, some areas of Cumming, and Alpharetta (everyone seems to be focusing on these areas lately!)
- In case our current home sells fast (one can hope, right?) and we decide to buy to take advantage of relatively low interest rates and a buyer's market, our budget will be around 450k. Don't want to go higher than that. Although we do not have kids yet, we would like to be in a nice school district so that resale is easier if we decide to sell. Also, we do plan to have kids soon and we would like to stay in our new home for the next 10 years or so.
- Based on recommendation from several folks here we'll probably go with 2 Men and a Truck for relocating. My new employer is not paying for our move.

Here are some of our questions/concerns:

- Ideally we would like to be near 400 (not too much north of exit 11). How is the commute between let's say exits 11 and 14? We have seen some homes close to exit 14 and even more north, but if it takes several minutes from there to exit 11 we would rather not consider looking so far north.
- We have been told by several folks that we should look at areas east of 400 and should not look west of 400. Is there any truth to this?
- We really like the feel of the Windward community. Any feedback on this specific subdivision? We also like 7 Oaks but that's a bit further north and east than I would like.
- Any other subdivisions we should be looking at that feels like these two and near 400? We would prefer newer construction but don't think we can afford newer homes in these subdivisions (Windward and 7 Oaks). Any subdivisions with newer construction in these areas? How about Habersham on Laurel Springs? I could take 141 instead of 400, although I would prefer to take the 400.
- Any feedback on the Madison Park subdivision from Ashton Woods? What about their new Balmoral subdivision? That's also a bit north but wondering whether anyone had any feedback on that.
- Any recommendation for a good Realtor specializing in these areas/subdivisions?

Sorry for the long post. We have a bunch of other questions but I think this is good for round 1 :-)

We are very excited about our move to Atlanta. We loved the feel of the areas we visited, the openness, the greenery, the houses, the weather, and most of all the people! Everyone was so polite, we did not feel like strangers at all!

We will appreciate all the help and guidance we can get from forum members here to ensure that our move is as pleasurable as it can be. Thanks much!

[staywarm2]

Originally Posted by ivada

Hi,

I have been a lurker on this forum for a few months now, and recently my wife and I decided to move to Atlanta for various reasons (some of which are listed at the end of this post).

We visited ATL recently and scoped out some areas that we would both like to live in, at some point. We have some friends in these areas and - Here are some of the areas that we are considering: Suwanee, John's Creek, some areas of Cumming, and Alpharetta (everyone seems to be focusing on these areas lately!)

- Based on recommendation from several folks here we'll probably go with - Any feedback on the Madison Park subdivision from Ashton Woods? What about their new Balmoral subdivision? That's also a bit north but wondering whether anyone had any feedback on that.
- Any recommendation for a good Realtor specializing in these areas/subdivisions?

to ensure that our move is as pleasurable as it can be. Thanks much!

We looked at the Ashton Woods/Madison Park subdivision. We thought the model house was nice, but the kitchen cabinets were cheap looking. Another couple was looking at the same time and I heard them make the same comment. The area where this subdivision is located is very nice and convenient. However, when we were there, they had sold most of the homes/lots. I believe there were 48 homes.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by staywarm2

We looked at the Ashton Woods/Madison Park subdivision. We thought the model house was nice, but the kitchen cabinets were cheap looking. Another couple was looking at the same time and I heard them make the same comment. The area where this subdivision is located is very nice and convenient. However, when we were there, they had sold most of the homes/lots. I believe there were 48 homes.

Given the current state of the market, maybe you could get them to upgrade the kitchen cabinetry if you liked the house otherwise?