moving to ga (Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Marietta: apartment, renting, hotel)

[gabound]

The prices seemd great for us. We found a 6/3 in Gwinett for $248,000 this includes up grades so I am assuming a smaller home would be even more affordable.

Good luck in your search and i hope you find what you are looking for!

[bellydance2290]

I currently live in Gwinnett County, specifically Duluth and am very close to I-85. My husband and I are both from Florida and have actually decided to move back home. Our main deciding factor on moving back to Florida is that we miss the beaches. The other option we were contemplating was moving into Atlanta or to another beach area. After living in Georgia now for 6 years with no family or close friends in the area, we decided that friends and family are also too important not to have them closer.
It seems like alot of you are moving to Gwinnett County so here is a little info: If you will be working in Atlanta or even another suburban area expect your morning and evening drive to be horrible. Depending on where you are commuting to, this can be well over an hour or longer depending on traffic. There is no good public transit. You will be around 30-40 mins to the city on a really good day depending on where you live. There are Walmarts, Targets, Home Depots, etc located pretty conveniently to all areas. Many chain restaurants. The Mall of Georgia is in Buford and is an OK Mall. Lenox Mall and Phipps Plaza, which are the better malls, are located in Buckhead. Most of the arts, good restaurants, etc are in Atlanta. I think overall it just depends on what you are looking for, what you think is important and what you need close to your house. The weather here is overall pretty good except in Jan/Feb/March we go a little crazy with the dreary cold weather. If anyone has any specific questions please feel free to email me. I remember how lost we were when we first moved up here!

[jeweloflight]

Originally Posted by yLocate

I am looking for advice on Georgia. I am a middle school teacher currently liviving in South Florida ( a place with nothing to offer for the young) with my husband and son. We are trying to relocate to Atlanta in Jan. 07. I visited once and fell in love. I am specifically interested in living in Gwinette County (Snellville). Is there anyone out the who can say if this is a good place to be. I would love to hear both the positives and negatives. I would also like to know about jobs. I have searched AJC, monster, and hotjobs as well as for county websites is there anything tht i am missing? Your respnse is appreciated.

Well, if you are interested in Gwinnett County, you're on the right track. Gwinnett has some of the best schools of all the counties. Snellville, however, can be touch and go, it depends on what part of Snellville you move to. Some parts of Snellville are ratty and some are o.k. I would look more in the Duluth, Lawrenceville, Suwanee or Dacula if you're interested in Gwinnett County, those areas are nicer. It also depends how much you want to spend to live, if you want to buy or rent. As for jobs, well, I'm sure you know teachers are under paid, and Georgia is no better in that sense. The other thing about Atlanta, you often get jobs because of who you know outside of retail. Try also checking craigslist.com and clicking Georgia then Atlanta. Good Luck!

[Georgia]

Live in the Dacula area. In my opinion, the Mall of Georgia is very nice along with surrounding shopping. Personally, I like it better than Lenox, but I respect Belly's opinion. It's all what you like.

Traffic in N. Gwinnett is not New York City like. Lived in Jersey for 10 years and spent more hours on the BQE than I care to remember. Granted, traffic is a shear pain, but you are in a major metro area. The key is where you work.
For example I work in Duluth, an 18 mile ride can go up to 45 minutes, maybe an hour. I have also cruised in 25 minutes. There are 2 major construction projects going on with completion scheduled for 2008. This should assist in the gridlock.

Cold in January? Well not for this guy. Heck, I'm in shorts through February. Then again, I spent 3 years before here in Chicago. If you want cold, go there in the winter. Average is -15 to 0 degrees in January.

Good Luck, Feel free to PM for info if in need of locations or directions.

[goodbyenyc]

Hi Ga bound, My husband and I too have decided to relocate to Ga, we went down 3 yrs ago, and purchased a lot in Grayson only to back out because of being so far away from family and friends. Needless to say, we are going back in Feb to purchase a home, can't afford to stay in NYC! and are kicking ourselves for chickening out then. We think it is better to raise our family there. Can't wait to leave!!

[Brad Patterson]

Originally Posted by yLocate

I am looking for advice on Georgia. I am a middle school teacher currently liviving in South Florida ( a place with nothing to offer for the young) with my husband and son. We are trying to relocate to Atlanta in Jan. 07. I visited once and fell in love. I am specifically interested in living in Gwinette County (Snellville). Is there anyone out the who can say if this is a good place to be. I would love to hear both the positives and negatives. I would also like to know about jobs. I have searched AJC, monster, and hotjobs as well as for county websites is there anything tht i am missing? Your respnse is appreciated.

We moved from South Florida in April 2006 and relocated to Grayson, Georgia and love it. It is located just a few miles from Snellville. Without hesitation the people here are a lot nicer than the people in South Florida. The auto insurance, home owners insurance and taxes are much cheaper here. The auto insurance was about 50% less than what it was in Florida. The home owners insurance was only 10% of what we were paying in florida. The real estate taxes here was $ 2,000.00 cheaper than what I paid in Florida.

[Harold]

Schools should always be your first concern. You must always have an exit strategy when buying a house. The reputation of the local H.S is one of the first determinates of the value of your home. It shouldn't matter if you have school age kids.

[tiffani]

Originally Posted by Harold

Schools should always be your first concern. You must always have an exit strategy when buying a house. The reputation of the local H.S is one of the first determinates of the value of your home. It shouldn't matter if you have school age kids.

What kind of "exit strategy" would you suggest? If you're buying a home to live in for many many years, and don't have school age kids, I don't understand why it matters.

[Harold]

Many people buy homes thinking that they'll never leave but the average home turns-over every 5-7 years. It is always important to buy a home that appeals to the widest pool of buyers without getting something you don't want. For example, 2 bedroom townhouses are not as sort-after as 3 bedrooms single family homes, so, if you can find an affordable 3 bedroom single family that is as "low maintance" as a 2 bedroom townhouse buy the 3 bedroom house. If or when you need to sell you'll have more equity and sell quicker, all other things being equal.

Good schools are linked directly to property values. I read a recent article about how redistricting high schools changes the property value in some areas and even increase the amount of time they take to sell. Savvy home buyers are very aware of how the nearest high school is ranked. I dont have the article on hand but I'll look for it if anyone is interested in reading more.

[RH2]

What surrounding area would be affordable, good school district and nice to live in. Thank you! new to the site