New to Atlanta from Korea (Dunwoody, Duluth: to rent, condo, how much)

[bigup]

Yeah, for $800,000 you can purchase a 5000+ sqft mega-home in a place like John's Creek. Maintaining a house like that is very expensive (not to mention the yard that it sits on)--this will need to be factored into your monthly payments. Another thing to consider is that if you're accustomed to the size of typical apartments in Seoul, you may find a house that size to be overwhelming. I lived in Japan for many years, and my sub-2000sqft house in Decatur still feels big to me.

And a final thought is that realtors don't usually have your financial future in mind. If you tell one that you want a million dollar home, that's what they're gonna try and sell you. A realtor once told me that I could afford up to a $2800/mo mortgage--that's almost half of my pre-tax income! I ended up in a place half of that price.

[bmw335xi]

Go to "Honey Pig" the best all you can eat Korean BBQ. I have family in Seoul who I visit often, so I can say it's legit.

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Go to "Honey Pig" the best all you can eat Korean BBQ. I have family in Seoul who I visit often, so I can say it's legit.

Absolutely! They're fantastic, and definitely worth a visit: HoneyPig Atlanta | 2017 New

Glad you made it out there on your Atlanta trip, bmw335xi! Just curious as a former Orlandoan, but how's the Korean dining scene down there now?

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by RorMc

If it were me, new to the city, working at GT & downtown, I'd suggest living intown first. These 3 hoods will enhance your experience of Atlanta and have excellent elementary schools: Ansley Park, Morningside, Virginia Highlands.

You can always run up to Duluth on the weekends to shop at H-mart & go out to eat. I don't see any sense in commuting 1 hour+ each way to a bedroom community.

Those are pretty pricey areas.

[atlocal]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

I would say Chamblee would be your best bet. It has a direct rail connection to the city (one line with no transfers to Midtown and Downtown) and prices are still affordable for rents. There are also a lot of Korean restaurants, grocery stores, cafes, lounges, you name it. Lots of Koreans there as well (though not as many as Gwinnett County) as well as tons of other recent transplants from the rest of Asia (China and Pakistan mainly), Africa, and Central/South America.

It's the perfect place to ease in to American life since you will still get all of things you're used to back home, plus also get to live among people from all of the world in a more urban environment. It's a pretty legit place.

Chamblee's a good compromise given the Marta access. I would rent there for a year and figure out where you want to buy after.

[scholastic]

Looks like you are leaning toward the northern suburbs with sizable Korean population such as Johns Creek and Duluth, but hesitating going for it because of the terrible rush hour commute to Georgia Tech (you job site) and downtown (your wife's job site)

I'd like to recommend you take a look at southern suburbs like Peachtree City, Tyrone, and Newnan where Korean population has been increasing in the past 10 years, even though not comparable to northern counterparts. Because of Hyundai and Kia, along with many subsidiary companies, those southern suburbs have attested to the influx of Korean population, as evidenced by several Korean churches and Korean markets (H mart at Riverdale, and local market at Newnan)

The beauty of those southern suburbs, compared to northern suburbs, is the easy rush hour commute to downtown (around 40 minutes) and Georgia Tech (around 50 minutes). In recent years, southern suburbs have been on the rise because of the easy access to Atlanta international Airport and many large economic developments. The housing prices in southern suburbs have risen rapidly (for instance, according to Realtor.com, Peachtree City has been chosen as hottest 50 markets in the nation for two years in a row, the only city in Georgia). But compared to the northern counterparts, southern suburbs still provide more house and land sizes for the same amount of money. As for Peachtree City, the highest in school rating in south side cities, you might purchase the 4000-6000 sq house with 0.5-1 acre land at between 600-800K (even though the inventory for sale is very small, compared to in Johns Creek and Duluth). As for (east) Newnan and Tyrone, they will provide you with much newer and bigger house and the shorter commute time than Peachtree City (with excellent school system, even though not comparable to Peachtree City).

I wish your good luck for your house search in Atlanta metro area!

[Beretta]

I would find a suitable place to rent that is easily accessible to both you and your wife's job locations. Even if you only do this for 6 months you can look while you are here and get acclimated.

Is your child starting school right away or do you have a year? The commute really is a consideration. With having a child at home you will want to be able to spend time with your child at home and the commute will easily eat up 2 hours a day getting up to Johns Creek or a northern suburb. Not great for family life.

Best of luck and welcome!

[wonshirim]

Thanks everyone! I'm sorry for the late response. I've been talking to my wife about many of the places mentioned throughout the thread and it seems like short commute time is a priority for her. Our boys are ages 2 and 4 so we need to think about schools too. I greatly appreciate the helpful comments shared in this thread. You guys are really helping us narrow our search. With that, if it isn't too much of a hassle, can I ask a couple more questions?

#1_Schools: I've run a search of good public elementary schools in the Atlanta area and it seems like the schools mentioned in these rankings are heavily concentrated in Forsynth County. Both my wife and I never went to American elementary schools (she spent most of her life in Singapore and my life in Korea) so we're wondering how much of a difference we can expect from these supposedly "highly-ranked schools". In Korea, being allocated to good elementary schools pretty much makes or breaks real estate prices because the quality of elementary schools vastly differs (Korea's private schools are mostly high schools, not elementary and middle schools). Would it be worth it for us to live in Forsynth County despite the commute, to send our kids to Forsynth County elementary schools?

#2_Neighborhoods: At the moment, my wife likes Ansley Park, Morningside, Virginia Highlands and the area between Midtown and Emory University. Also, we're looking at Brookhaven, as suggested by previous posts in this thread (thanks a lot!) And finally, though expensive, we want to know more about the Buckhead area--Wyngate, Brandon, Castlewood in particular. Do these areas seem too much for newcomers? Do you think we'll be able to fit into these neighborhoods? I actually really like Brookhaven due to its proximity to both Midtown and Northeast Atlanta, but I am unsure about the commute hours from Brookhaven (to Georgia Tech and Downtown). How is Brookhaven? How is Buckhead?

#3_Realtors: We're doing our research now and we plan on visiting Atlanta in mid January. We're planning on Airbnb-ing the aforementioned neighborhoods + one night each in the Northeast/East suburbs. However, we're not only first-time buyers, but we're also pretty new to the United States as well. So we would really appreciate it if you guys could help recommend some reliable realtors, or give us some tips on how to approach home buying/renting in Atlanta.

And on one last note, we're a Catholic family. It seems that Atlanta much more Protestant than most American cities. How are the Catholic churches in Atlanta? Are Catholic high schools good in the neighborhoods mentioned in this thread?

Once again, thanks a ton. Seems like I've been bombarding everyone with random questions. Thank you so much

[Atlwarrior]

Brookhaven has easy access by train into Midtown and Downtown. It also has easy access to Buckhead going south on Peachtree Street. You also have access to interstate 85 South, it will be a easy commute before 7am, but after 8 am, a 10-15 min ride into downtown, could turn into 45 minutes, but the Waze app could easily give you some alternative routes depending on what traffic event is occurring that day. Yes you will definitely fit in anywhere, as Atlanta loves diversity. Brookhaven is a perfect neighborhood of both old and new Atlanta. Chamblee the neighborhood next to Brookhaven is a good choice too. I would even say to research the Dunwoody area, if you are considering Brookhaven. Atlanta metro have so many wonderful neighborhoods choices.

[scholastic]

[quote=wonshirim;50428715]
#1_Schools: I've run a search of good public elementary schools in the Atlanta area and it seems like the schools mentioned in these rankings are heavily concentrated in Forsynth County. Both my wife and I never went to American elementary schools (she spent most of her life in Singapore and my life in Korea) so we're wondering how much of a difference we can expect from these supposedly "highly-ranked schools". In Korea, being allocated to good elementary schools pretty much makes or breaks real estate prices because the quality of elementary schools vastly differs (Korea's private schools are mostly high schools, not elementary and middle schools). Would it be worth it for us to live in Forsynth County despite the commute, to send our kids to Forsynth County elementary schools?





As a person who came from Korea almost three decades ago for graduate study in America (I am a Stanford PhD), I might answer some of your school related question in comparative perspective. Like parents in Korea, school is definitely one of the most important factors for American parents in their house search. Like in Korea, some parents here value the quality of elementary schools, and in case of Atlanta, they choose to live in urban area with good public elementary school such as Buckhead, Brookhaven, and Emory neighborhoods. And when their kids grow up enough to go to middle/high school, many parents take action between the two options: to send them to private schools or to move into suburbs with good middle/high school.


I believe more American parents prefer the area with good public elementary/middle/high schools (within the easy commute, of course). Forsyth county school district is definitely in that category, but I am not sure whether Forsyth would be a good fit for your family because of the tough commute to Atlanta downtown area. As you might have already noticed, almost all good public elementary/middle/high school districts are located in the suburbs. For instance, the highest SAT achieving schools center around East Cobb (Marietta), Forsyth, Gwinnett (Johns Creek), Fayette (Peachtree City), North Fulton. Coincidentally those areas have the reputation of the family oriented with the highest rating of the safety in Georgia.




New 2017 SAT Scores for Georgia Released




After all, if you just focus on the quality of the elementary school (without looking for Korean population presence), you'd better go for urban good public elementary school area with easy commute, rather than to venture into Forsyth county school area.