Moving from California... (Atlanta, Marietta, Mableton: low income, fit in, real estate)

[sarahju@cox.net]

My family lives about 15 miles outside of downtown San Diego. We have a double-wide manufactured home for around $1300 a month rent (veries due to gas and electric- usually higher- closer to $1400). We have 3 kids- and would like to provide a good enviroment for them, with not always just making ends meet. The going rate for a 3 bedroom home in my area is $600,000. I keep reading great things about Georgia- but would really appriciate a honest opinion from people who live there. Where are the bad areas? Every place talks about how great it is to live there (not only Georgia-every state does)- but in reality- what are the bad? I also would love to know the good from "real people". Ok- gimme the good and the bad if it's not to much to ask!

[rasmom]

We moved here from Ct. 10 years ago. We love it, wouldn't live anywhere else. Houses here have a wide variety of prices. You can buy a new house 3-4 bedrooms for 170,000.- and up to ! million plus. The closer you are to a major city raises the price and you get less for your money. I don't know if you are looking to be in a city or more rural... We live in a rural area. The schools are great. We have a nice neighborhood, everyone takes care of their property. You can get into different types of subdivisions, some have pools and tennis courts, you pay a homeowners fee for those. You can check on line about the schools by going to the county webpage. Start with www.Georgia.gov. I hope this helps you. Good luck!

[luv2fish]

You need some good advice from good people.
Homes here are FAR more affordable than Calif and the Job market is strong.
Its all about location....where will you work? Atl traffic is not good so plan accordingly for your commute.

Lob a call into a couple of realtors....they can help

[atlantagreg30127]

Well, you're going to get a very wide range of opinions of Atlanta - there is no one answer.

Rasmom above says she loves it - then she does say she lives in a "rual area" which could be anywhere further outside of the city and nice. Every single friend I used to have who lived INSIDE Atlanta however, has in the last 6 years, moved away (as in got so frustrated with Atlanta they all actually moved out of state!). I live 22 miles West of the city, which until a couple of years ago was just fine, but unfortunately, the city is like (if you're a sci fi trek fan) "the Borg" - it "assimilates" all communities close to it eventually, due to rapid growth. My area which was once rural is now strip malls, low income housing, and traffic as well as increased crime.

That being said, there ARE some nice areas. If you are willing to go further out to places like Dallas GA (35 miles west) or Cartersville (about 40 miles NW), or Acworth (about 28 miles NW). You can still find homes in the $190,000 to $250,000 range for 3BR/2BA. Prices increase as you get closer to the city - once you are INSIDE the city, prices can get as high as $485,000 for a tiny 2BR/1BA bungalo.

Traffic is pretty much insane everywhere in metro Atlanta. Stay away from I-285 (the beltway) during rush hour.. not that rush "hour" here lasts from 6:30am to about 9:00am and then from 4:00pm to 6:00pm (hourS). Crime varies. The actual city of Atlanta has in some studies been ranked the 4th most dangerous city per capita in the U.S. If you turn on the local news you will hear about numerous shootings, killings, home invasions, and carjackings, some of which do extend to certain suburbs... randomly, in some cases. There is no way to avoid it completely. Just have a secure home, have a security alarm system, and don't do stupid things like leave your windows and doors unlocked.

The safer areas will be 20 miles or more outside the city, going West, NW, and North. NE (Gwinnett County) has had a growth in crime, as has the Eastern areas. The southern parts of the city have always been bad. City public schools are not good - every friend I had when here pulled their kids out of them and used private schools. Suburban schools rank much better. Schools in Cobb and Douglas rank pretty well, as well as those in the Northern Counties. Gwinnett county schools are overall good, but they're suffering from a huge influx of foreign students which strains the system (LOTS of trailers being used at schools there, and in some schools, as many as 30 languages spoken by kids).

It's a mixed bag here. Atlanta is overall, a MUCH cheaper place to live than San Diego. I have been to SD before and used to know someone who lived there. By comparison, the SD area is much and I mean MUCH prettier, nicer, and safer than Atlanta - to be somewhat slurry, Atlanta is very ghetto compared to San Diego (not a racial comparison so much as I mean very grubby, dirty, crime, etc).

There are some things to do in the metro area such as Stone Mountain Park, Six Flags, and various small towns in the North Georgia area which are nice to visit. The city center does have an excellent new Aquarium (though the surrounding area not far from there is full of bums). If I personally didn't have family and work ties here however, I would myself scrape up the money and move to San Diego - I fell in love with it when I was there and thought it offered many more nicer recreational opportunities, than here (and less crime). Have you just considered moving further away from the actual city there? Any cheaper?

Anyway, regardless of your decision, good luck in whatever move you make.

[AshlynB]

I live in South Georgia and I love it... I think that South Georgia is a great place to bring your kids. The going rate for a three bedroom, two bath house here is anywhere from 50,000-90,000 just according to the location. The small town life has its ups and downs. If you live in a small town everyone knows your business but on the other hand your neighbor will always be there for you. Southern people will give you the shirt off there back. I have friends who moved here from L.A. and they love it. They think that I talk funny, I think they talk funny also but I still love them. The biggest thing is the way people talk and the funny little sayings that we have here. I think your family would love it here. Look into Fitzgerald or Tifton Georgia. I hope ya'll find somewhere nice to live.

[ptcgirl]

Georgia is absolutely doable financially. The American Dream is still very alive here. I moved from California myself and have no interest in returning. Our life is so much more manageable here. There are price ranges from the low 100s in rural areas to multi-million $ homes. You can tell a lot about a place by the schools. Check out the dept of ed's website. If you click under school report cards, you will find a ton of info about how the schools are doing: http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/

Good Luck!

[inyo55]

Your home is where your family is. That is more relevant than the physical location. Of course you have to be able to make a living, too, wherever you are! I grew up in Mableton, GA in the 1960's and I remember it as a color world from a **** and Jane reader. Lots of big yards to play baseball in after school and lots of friends. We had no air conditioning and no color tv....it was no big deal. Anyway, my father got transferred to Palmdale, CA in 1973 and so now I live and work in southern Calif. According to the Zillow prices, our old home on Austin Drive in Mableton is 1/5 the price of an average southern Calif home...and their yards are bigger, and you had an unimproved pine forest on your lot as well.
I have not visited Mableton since moving, so I cannot tell you how it is now. I would be hesitant to move anywhere cold, unless there was a compelling reason. It is a big deal to move 3000 miles from what you were used to, especially for teen-age kids!
We did attend my 25-yr high school reunion in Marietta....Marietta did not look that different from the 1970's, except for more single familiy residences. The neighborhoods I knew were maintained well.
Things to consider:
1. A big earthquake in CA would do more damage than any tornado in GA.
2. Ice storms in Cobb Co. are cool....and the kids would get several days off school.
3. Mosquitoes and humidity reside in GA...but you don't notice it after a while.
4. You don't need a lot of money to enjoy life in GA, I think.
5. You will not know anybody there, and it will be a while until you fit in. Longer than if you were moving from GA to CA.
Hope this helps!

[~peaches~]

I live in Covington Ga, I bought a 2700 sq foot home for $108,000.00. Granted it was a forclosed home, with minimal work to be done to updat ethe house which was built in 1999.
Atlanta is much more expensive, hench the reason I live 30 miles east of Atlanta. The job market is strong in Atlanta, but in other rural areas it isn't, but that really depends on what type of work you do.

Here are some links to help you get started, and feel free to ask me any questions.

www.ajc.com - Atlanta newspaper

www.rockdalecitizen.com - My local paper

www.bidselect.com - A list of forclosed homes in Ga and other states

Also you can look up newspapers through newspapers.com

[danmck77]

I have been in GA for the past 35 years and love it - I highly recommend it to anyone. The real estate around here (Atlanta) is still a great value, but you get more the further out you go. We just helped a woman from NY get into a house in a semi-rural house on the north side of town - she got three times as much house and is paying 1/3rd the taxes for the same money. The schools vary but there are some excellent ones, it should not be a concern if you get in a good system. Hope that helps!

[strat1969]

Greetings,

My family and I are planning to move to Covington, GA.
You seem to be in the know regarding the covington area. I have a few questions if you don't mind.

There seem to be tons of subdivision in the area.
We're leaning towards River Walk Farm (the pool looks great).


The homes are all well within our budjet (moving from Seattle).


Any thoughts/recommendations?
How are the schools?
How is the crimerate?
Is there a sense of community there?

We have 2 kids 7 & 3.