Californians in Atlanta (Savannah, Buford, Forsyth: ski resort, living in, restaurants)

[mrpanda]

ATLTJL,
Hey just a curious question. Where do you think is the best value today to purchase a beach front property? Do a lot of Georgians own second homes in the Gulf Coast of Florida. I just heard that the white sand of Pensacola Beach is absoultely beautiful. Isn't the Panama City Airport pretty new?

[ATLTJL]

I wish I had answers to your questions, MrPanda. I'm completely unfamiliar with Pensacola as I have never been there, and I always drive to the Gulf coast, so I haven't seen the new airport.

I do know that there is so much inventory in Panama City right now that it's really difficult to even imagine when it will come back up in value. But, hey, it's beachfront, so there's inherent value there, there is just SO MUCH of it. Not so much in the other coastal towns, but I bet PCB has a chilling effect on the entire area.

If you go on VRBO and start contacting people to rent property, almost all of the owners are either from Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, or local owners who live in the area and rent out investment properties for a living. Most of the Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee owners seem to maybe have a few properties for income on the side, but a lot of them also just have one property that they like to use and they rent it out when they are not using it.

So I don't know what kind of investment it is. It seems like most people just buy it because they want it, and they rent it out to try to help cover the expenses of owning it when they are not there. On paper, it seems like a great idea. You can easily cover a mortgage just renting a place out for 2 or 3 of the busy summer months, even taking a couple of weeks in there for yourself. However, I haven't looked into what the association fees are like and I have heard that insurance costs are murder due to the frequency of hurricanes. A lot of the buildings are also in really rough shape, in various states of foreclosure, so I'm not sure how that affects what individual owners are in for financially.

So even though I don't know about specific values, I would think that anything in Panama City Beach, especially within walking distance to Pier Park would be the best bet down there. Simiarly, anything in Destin, specifically near Sandestin, would be ideal. On VRBO, it seems that proximity to Pier Park and Sandestin are features that are advertised heavily for properties that have them. I also really liked Celadon in Panama City. It's not as fancy as some of the buildings, but at least for now, it's the last high rise on the beach, so you can look off your balcony in at least one direction and not see any other high rises.

If you like houses, I would look at Bid-A-Wee beach, which is a cute little subdivision across the street from the beach, but they have their own private deeded beach access. Also, some of the beach houses on Surf Drive and similar streets seem marketable.

I don't know that much about real estate down there. I did at one time consider going in on a property down there with a friend, but we were scared off by insurance costs and trying to manage a property from afar when neither of us has experience doing anything similar.

[mrpanda]

Thanks ATLTJL,

Here are a 5 places i have listed in my notebook to take a mini vacation: waiting to be checked off. One of the great things of living in Atlanta is that you can drive to these amazing places.

1. Hilton Head, SC
2. Tybee Island, SC
3. Mrytle Beach, SC
4. Pensacola Beach, FL
5. Savannah, GA

When living in chicago, my road trip options consisted of : Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin.... pretty lame huh ?

[rzzz]

To be fair to Chicago, Door County is great in the summer and an order of magnitude less trashy than the gulf coast.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by mrpanda

Thanks ATLTJL,

Here are a 5 places i have listed in my notebook to take a mini vacation: waiting to be checked off. One of the great things of living in Atlanta is that you can drive to these amazing places.

1. Hilton Head, SC
2. Tybee Island, SC
3. Mrytle Beach, SC
4. Pensacola Beach, FL
5. Savannah, GA

When living in chicago, my road trip options consisted of : Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin.... pretty lame huh ?

Tybee Island is in Georgia.



Tybee Island, GA.


Tybee Island, Georgia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[ATLTJL]

The good thing about that list is you can see Savannah, Tybee Island, and Hilton Head all in the same trip. Really, all in the same day.

I've been to Savannah, Hilton Head, and Myrtle Beach. But not since a kid, so I don't know what they are like today.

I remember loving Myrtle Beach because like Panama City, it had all the trashy fun things to do like amusement parks, go karts, mini-golf, etc. I was more bored in Hilton Head, but I liked it because it was pretty and we stayed in a huge secured resort where my sister and I even as kids could walk around everywhere on our own and be safe. It was called Palmetto Dunes, I think it's still there. But we only started going to Hilton Head when my dad became successful, I think it's still really expensive!

I was in Chicago this summer for a wedding. I asked one of the guests at my table what kind of road trips you can take from Chicago and he said, "Well, we go to Milwaukee. And we really want to go to Mall of America, it's only like 7 hours away!"

My thought was, so you are going to visit a city that isn't anywhere near as good as yours, and then you want to drive 7 hours to go to a shopping mall. Hmmm, a better answer would have been there simply aren't any good road trips, we just try to enjoy Chicago!

[hatgirl007]

I have lived in both places and my heart is FOREVER with California...hands down. Better QUALITY of life. What good is it for you to gain the whole world but lose your soul? (Matthew 16:26).
When people compare Ca and Ga they compare material possessions.
Last time I traveled I literally observed the conversation and energy of the LA airport...cool. When I returned to GA airport....silence and staring.

Not every place is for everybody. What you expect or value in life will dictate which state is the best fit for your personal needs and goals.
I will say this......Hollywood stars make a lot of money and can live anywhere. Many of them live in CA because there is no place like it. *You will never go to California, have a random conversation, and someone starts insulting the state where you are from; however the opposite happens all the time here. You will never hear conversations starting with "Yall think"......what the deuce?
"A wise man once told me don't argue with fools.....because people from a distance can´t tell who is who"
Lastly: Real CA men run their house, their women don't run them. In house prostitutes don't get full-time pay or relationship privledges. Game recognizes game.

[WestCobb]

Originally Posted by hatgirl007

Lastly: Real CA men run their house, their women don't run them. In house prostitutes don't get full-time pay or relationship privledges. Game recognizes game.

What a bizarre statement. I wonder what it means. Anyways, I'm a California who has been in Atlanta for the past several years. I prefer Atlanta to L.A., but to each his own.

[chalvey]

Originally Posted by mrpanda

Thanks ATLTJL,

Here are a 5 places i have listed in my notebook to take a mini vacation: waiting to be checked off. One of the great things of living in Atlanta is that you can drive to these amazing places.

1. Hilton Head, SC
2. Tybee Island, SC
3. Mrytle Beach, SC
4. Pensacola Beach, FL
5. Savannah, GA

When living in chicago, my road trip options consisted of : Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin.... pretty lame huh ?

ATLTJL bring up a good point you can do all three in the same vacation; however, this is what I would recommend.

Go to Savannah and Tybee island on the same trip. Stay in Savannah the entire period and venture out to Tybee for a day (its nothing spectacular). Fort Pulaski is also on the way! My dad's company used to have a project with Gulfstream, so I've been to Savannah plenty of times, and I am captivated by it. The Hyatt is really good. There is the Westin, never been there (still remember when nothing was there), but it looks phenomenal.

Hilton Head...Only been there once a couple of years ago. It is great for a weekend out, but doesn't attract me back.

No offense to to anybody, but I have notice we tend to have shorter vacations spread throughout the year, instead of several longer ones throughout the year. A lot of it has to do with the dismal holidays we receive. If it was me, I would save up & go abroad to Spain (amazing along the med, especially Barcelona and Andalusia).

[cope1989]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

But weather is a major factor to some.

I know a married couple who are originally from San Jose, and they both worked in San Francisco. The wife of the couple loved the fact she could do warmer outdoors things on the San Jose side, but then later in the evening could go into the microclimate of San Fran and wear more formal clothing for a night out with the husband. Likewise with him, wearing suits during the day year round in San Fran was comfortable and he would wear sweaters in the evenings when he and she went out there at night, but could wear shorts in San Jose if the chose. The Weather/temps really do change that much in a short distance there, and for some, that's worth gold... for others, less so.

The two biggest climate-related issues I warn people about before they come here are the humidity, and, the pollen. No, you do not "get used to" the humidity - you simply learn to alter your lifestyle to avoid being out in it if it bothers you. And the pollen, well, you either aren't bothered much by it, or you need an arsenal of drugs to counteract it, but it's an issue here.

In terms of varied cities in California, I know people who relocate to these places and in a lot of aspects will say, "I had no idea it wasn't as nice here as I thought...", but when the weather topic comes up they usually say, "Ohhhhh it's A LOT more comfortable here....". So to each their own - but weather is important to many. If you aren't able to be comfortable spending the day outside, over time it will certainly have an impact on your entire quality of life.

One thing I always try to tell people when they move here is that there is a way to avoid the heat. The southeast area where we live has its microclimates too. Climates don't change as rapidly here, obviously, but they do change.

If the heat in Atlanta is getting too much, I always tell people to drive about 2 hours deep into the blue ridge mountains in N Georgia and Western N Carolina. Once you get up into the higher elevations the weather cools considerably. A park ranger at Brasstown Bald once told me that the climate at the summit is comparable to Massachusetts. The vegetation changes too, and you see a lot more spruce and fir trees. It gets even cooler in the higher mountains in North Carolina.

And if you're in Atlanta during a particularly warm winter and really want to see snow, you only have to drive a few hours into the mountains. Some of the higher peaks are open to the public year round and might have snow on them all winter. And North Carolina even has a few good ski resorts (not rocky mountain good, but pretty good).

Or, if Atlanta is particularly cold in the winter, drive four hours to the golden isles and it'll be much more mild.