My Atlanta visit : follow-up,opinions & results (Roswell, Marietta: for sale, rent)

[Karla with a K]

Hello everyone
I am back home in Jacksonville, I thought I would take a minute and share my impressions, especially for those considering moving there.
First let me say I love the area, it was so nice to be in a where everything wasn't flat. Reminded me allot of the area outside Phila where I grew up.

I guess the thing that I was the most worried about was the traffic, especially after reading all the things about it on this forum. I can say it was nothing worse than any other major city I have driven in, NYC,Phila,Jersey.Miami and yes the dreaded LA.
Lets face it, your in a growing city you are going to have traffic. Once we understood this it took some of the concerns away.

The 2 areas we looked were West and North of the city. Inside the 285 perimeter was not an option, I refuse to pay a "gazzillion" bucks for a house with barely any property.
West is some really pretty country, we saw some really nice subdivisions, Chapel Hills was nice if you don't mind how close the houses are. The thing that made us take West off our list is I didn't think my husband would want to add driving into the sun going and coming home into the traffic mix.
Next on the list was the North
Our old neighbors had just moved up to Cumming (30040 & 30041 zip codes) and raved about it so we decided to check it out.
I found that driving up 400 things slowed down between exits 7 & 11 (the Alpharetta exits) once we got past ext 11 things picked back up to speed. They are in the process of finishing up the widening to 4 lanes in this area. Everything I read showed that this should be done by the end of the year. This should help with the flow. There are also options to driving in . My husband can drive to or even take the express bus to the North Springs MARTA station.
I really liked this area it is a mix of new growth with subdivisions and retail and still somewhat of a rural feel.
We ended up going with new construction and found a lot that is .71 of an acre and the funniest part is that we will be across the street from our old neighbors.

Things I didn't realize till I got there:
1. For all of you coming from up north, the basements in Atlanta are NOT like you have up there. They are called daylight or walk out basements so your main living area is actually on the 2nd floor and access is from a deck down stairs. This is important to keep in mind if you will be going back and forth to your backyard due to kids or dogs(we gave up the basement because our Greyhounds do not do stairs and I garden so much that going up and down several times a day was a turn off)
2. Houses do not look like the MLS pictures. Houses were much closer than the picture showed. Kitchens that seem updated, needed work. We actually saw one empty house that had a pan of cookies in the oven that looked like they were months old.
3. Traffic is a way of life, you can make the decision that it is something you just deal with or you can let it make you a wreck. it is your choice. Try to travel the roads you will use to get to work during the "rush" hours to get a feel of your commute
4. Everyone has an opinion on where you should live. Just smile, say thanks and take a look. Our old neighbor had done tons of research of the Cumming area, saved us a ton of time.

Finally, everyone was I spoke to was so nice and friendly and believe me I spoke to everyone
Karla

[ready2move]

Hey Karla,

Thanks for all the info!

Our house is actually under contract and if all goes well we will be moving in December...We had some major decisions to make and we were torn between going to Tampa and renting and eventually buying in GA. Some things with my husband's job changed and we have decieded to go to GA and rent to get a feel for the areas that we are looking in, ie, Alpharetta, Woodstock, Roswell, Marietta.

So how long until you move?

BTW, there was somebody on the FL thread looking to buy a house in JAX.

[Karla with a K]

hey r2m
lol you will be there before us. they are saying the house should be done by the end of Feb. I have a feeling that my husbnad will be there before that. We haven't listed our house yet still waitng to find out what kind of relo package they are offering. We are heading back up the begining of Nov to "pick colors" lol I have already changed my mind on a couple things like adding a 3rd car garage and do I want granite instead of corrian.
I have gotten pretty good at getting around the 400 corrider so when you are ready to house hunt I would have no problem giving you a hand.
A friend of mine who use to live in Atlanta gave me the best driving advise:
If you are heading north and see atlanta in front of you turn around, if you get confused on 285 keep driving it's one big circle and you will get another chance.lol

Thanks for the heads up on the person looking for a house in jax, I took a look. Ours wont work for her we will be listing in the $350k range. but i do know someone who is selling one in her range I will send her a pm
keep me advised on your progress and we will have to get together once we are both up there
Karla

[kaday]

Hi, we are in the process of a relo to Atlanta as well though it probably won't happen until after the new year. I was wondering if you have any insight as to whether or not houses are going for their asking prices or below (or above). Did it seem like the market was strong or soft?

Thanks any info would be helpful!

[Zelia]

Kaday,

I'm glad to hear that you liked Atlanta.

When I was considering moving here, I didn't think I would like it. I had been in Atlanta ( downtown ) as a child, but only for a brief period of time. I guess most people have preconceived ideas on almost anything and everything.

The millions/billions of trees here add to the beauty. As a rule freeway drives aren't pretty drives, but the drive up Georgia 400 is really nice with the tall, beautiful trees on both sides up until Holcomb Bridge Road. Continuing north on 400, the drive up to the mountains is pretty, too. At around Windward Pky, you have the first glimpse of the mountains.

While your new home is being built, I would advise you to hire a home inspector. It will cost you a few bucks, but it's worth it. The various county home inspectors just can't spend a lot of time inspecting new homes being built. There's just too many homes and too few inspectors.

Good luck!

Z

[Karla with a K]

Kaday - I noticed on the resale homes that I looked at the selling Realtors would stress that the buyers really really wanted to sell. One house we really liked the Realtor kept saying make a offer make a offer. however the back steps were an issue. One realtor said they are getting between 94% and 96% of asking.
There is this sign for this major broker that lists the number of homes in the metro Atlanta area that are for sale once it said 92,231 homes for sale. I used that when working the deal for my new construction. I got them to give me $7500 toward closing and $4500 in upgrades. So I can just say it is a buyers market and with the inventory ask for what you want.
Zelia - thanks for the heads up, the builder said that the inspectors in our county are pretty strick but I agree with you. I will have to ask my realtor if he knows any inspectors. We had a framing inspection done on this house when we had it built.
I have to tell you while we were drivng up 400 and I saw the mountians it sealed the deal
karla

[kaday]

Thanks that is really helpful!

[Karla with a K]

your welcome kaday
I will pass along any information I gather as we go through the process
if the cumming area is of intrest to you, I think we looked at almost every subdivision up there I would be more than glad to share my experiences and thoughts. plus it was a blessing that our old/new neighbors spent months researching the area so I was able to make use of their leg work.
karla

[kaday]

I think Cumming might be to far of a commute. We'll probably head down there sometime in November and check it out. Thanks for your help though. I've seen so many houses on Realtor.com and they all look nice. I guess closer inspection is a must!

[Karla with a K]

it is quite an entertaining experience
we called it the "how does it compare in real life" game
we are heading back nov 11th for "color selection" I look forward to your updates
karla