work in atlanta (Macon, Marietta, Smyrna: real estate, apartment, rent)

[volcanic99]

Hello everyone,

I am from Turkey, I'll come to work to Atlanta end of the 2007 . I have been working for a big company in Istanbul/Turkey for 7 years. Actually I will have been in Toronto in March 2007. I and my family have immigration right for Canada. But my company doesn't want me leave. They offer me to go Atlanta and work for our company there. Our campany has a warehose in Atlanta. I have accepted the suggestion. But I dont know Atlanta . I and my wife are industrial engineer. We have a daughter. How is the life in Atlanta. Is it cheap or expensive. Our warehouse is in Warrenton. Is it small town?

Thank you

[catschmidt]

I was born and raised in Atlanta and have seen it go from a 'small town' to a huge, booming big city. It became too large for me and I had to move to SC to get away from the expense, traffic, congestion, population, etc. Atlanta is a good town to live in if you have money and like the 'big city' aspect of life. It is very expensive. Even with the cities surrounding downtown (and outskirts), you will pay dearly for. I own a 5 br $300K home here in SC and for that in Atlanta, you could get a one room studio apartment. Rent is also high. Property taxes and vehicle tax are also very high.

Warrenton, GA is located in Warrenton Co. Population is over 2,000. It's a fairly small town. Warrenton is southeast of Atlanta. You'd actually be closer to Augusta, GA than you would Atlanta. Real estate would be cheaper here than it would be in Atl. My father was from Macon, GA so I do know the area. Macon is also growing and those small towns around Macon and Augusta have really grown up. You'd just have to do some research and visit these towns and see for yourself if you'd like living in these areas. Read the local papers. Atlanta's paper is online at www.ajc.com and Augusta's paper is online at http://chronicle.augusta.com. My best advice: visit before you move!!!!

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by catschmidt

I was born and raised in Atlanta and have seen it go from a 'small town' to a huge, booming big city. It became too large for me and I had to move to SC to get away from the expense, traffic, congestion, population, etc. Atlanta is a good town to live in if you have money and like the 'big city' aspect of life. It is very expensive. Even with the cities surrounding downtown (and outskirts), you will pay dearly for. I own a 5 br $300K home here in SC and for that in Atlanta, you could get a one room studio apartment. Rent is also high. Property taxes and vehicle tax are also very high.

Housing prices in the Atlanta metro are actually quite low compared to other metro areas of similar size. My wife and I moved down here from a Minneapolis suburb (Eden Prairie) in the fall of 2004, and we found housing to be roughly 20% less expensive here (and national average housing figures confirm this -- housing in Mpls/St.Paul is somewhat inflated, while Atlanta housing is closer to "real" pricing). Note that we were looking in Cobb County, not Fulton, and mainly in the Smyrna and Marietta area and surroundings.

We were able to find a nice 4BR house in an older Wieland neighborhood roughily 4 miles from 285 (outside the perimeter) for 225k, and that's with a decent wooded lot in what has proven to be a very nice covenant community. Property taxes are slightly lower here in unincorporated Cobb County then they were in Hennepin County, MN, and vehicle taxes seem comparable (since I have an older 1994 Accord, I don't pay much!).

[jeweloflight]

Originally Posted by catschmidt

I was born and raised in Atlanta and have seen it go from a 'small town' to a huge, booming big city. It became too large for me and I had to move to SC to get away from the expense, traffic, congestion, population, etc. Atlanta is a good town to live in if you have money and like the 'big city' aspect of life. It is very expensive. Even with the cities surrounding downtown (and outskirts), you will pay dearly for. I own a 5 br $300K home here in SC and for that in Atlanta, you could get a one room studio apartment. Rent is also high. Property taxes and vehicle tax are also very high.

Warrenton, GA is located in Warrenton Co. Population is over 2,000. It's a fairly small town. Warrenton is southeast of Atlanta. You'd actually be closer to Augusta, GA than you would Atlanta. Real estate would be cheaper here than it would be in Atl. My father was from Macon, GA so I do know the area. Macon is also growing and those small towns around Macon and Augusta have really grown up. You'd just have to do some research and visit these towns and see for yourself if you'd like living in these areas. Read the local papers. Atlanta's paper is online at www.ajc.com and Augusta's paper is online at http://chronicle.augusta.com. My best advice: visit before you move!!!!

Uhm, catschmidt, I don't know what you're talking about 300K only getting you a one bedroom condo in Atlanta. You must mean in the heart of Buckhead, Midtown or Dunwoody. $300K can go a long way in the Atlanta area depending on where you choose to live. And I've even seen 2 bdrm condos in those areas for $300K, new. I have a girlfriend in Gwinnett that just bought a brand new, 4 bdrm, 2 and 1/2 bath, three sided brick, two car garage home for 249K. There is plenty to be had here for $300k, maybe new, maybe not so new.