Potential move from Jacksonville, Fl to Atlanta (Marietta, Smyrna: real estate, lease)

[JAXMAN52]

My wife and I are thinking about moving to the Atlanta area for a new job opportunity. I am 52, she's a little younger and we will be new empty nesters. The office is located in Smyrna, would love a short commute but it is not my top priority. Our top priority is a safe friendly neighborhood since I will be traveling at least once a week per month, and my wife will often be home alone. We are looking for a house somewhere around $500-600K or renting $2500-3000K per month. Would love to see new developments with new homes but I'm not sure how realistic that is.

We are visiting the area this weekend. Appreciate any recommendations of areas to look at.

Thank you!!!

[SEAandATL]

I recommend Marietta or Kennesaw as those are nice areas and not far from Smyrna being in the same county (Cobb). I hear Smyrna itself is nice too but I'm just not as familiar. Best of luck! I used to live in JAX.

[Citykid3785]

Originally Posted by SEAandATL

I recommend Marietta or Kennesaw as those are nice areas and not far from Smyrna being in the same county (Cobb). I hear Smyrna itself is nice too but I'm just not as familiar. Best of luck! I used to live in JAX.

These are good suggestions.

Kennesaw is still a relative bargain with good schools, highway access, and more retail than one could ever hope for. It also puts you on the side of town of both your job, and the airport. I have still seen new construction in this price range.

Acworth is also an option. I don’t personally love some of their zoning, as you have both trailer parks and million dollar golf course homes all mixed together.

Cartersville and canton are good exurban options. Highway access, closer to the mountains, with tons of new construction.


East Cobb is nice, but so focused on kids/families that I wouldn’t recommend it to an new empty nester.

Other places to research:

Holly springs
Woodstock/towne lake
Hickory flats

Potentially even Rome, GA. Which is affordable with a nice downtown and 2 colleges adding some culture. This would be a long commute with little traffic, but other added benefits to consider.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by JAXMAN52

My wife and I are thinking about moving to the Atlanta area for a new job opportunity. I am 52, she's a little younger and we will be new empty nesters. The office is located in Smyrna, would love a short commute but it is not my top priority. Our top priority is a safe friendly neighborhood since I will be traveling at least once a week per month, and my wife will often be home alone. We are looking for a house somewhere around $500-600K or renting $2500-3000K per month. Would love to see new developments with new homes but I'm not sure how realistic that is.

We are visiting the area this weekend. Appreciate any recommendations of areas to look at.

Thank you!!!

I recommend Smyrna itself.

[primaltech]

Yeah, if the office is in Smyrna, then that's a golden opportunity to live in Smyrna, which is a nice community.

If you can have a commute within your own suburb, that's really the best way to live in Atlanta. Best of all worlds.

[evannole]

I would suggest either Smyrna or the City of Marietta, depending on what kind of community you're looking for. Smyrna, despite being closer to Atlanta, is more of a typical suburb, while Marietta has more of a small city/urban feel due to its historic downtown Square, with restaurants, shops and such in a walkable area, though once you're 2+ miles beyond the Square in any direction, it takes on a more suburban feel as well.

Note that there are huge areas that have Marietta and Smyrna street addresses that are not actually in the city limits of either city. With Smyrna, that doesn't really matter too much, though you might find yourself with a longer commute than you'd otherwise like. With Marietta street addresses, however, the area is really vast, and to the east, in the area typically called East Cobb (but still with a Marietta street address), the schools are quite renowned, but you pay extra for them in real estate prices, and you can end up quite a distance from both true Marietta and Smyrna. If you are empty nesters and therefore don't need the schools of East Cobb, there's little reason to pay for them. (Marietta City schools are good but don't have the reputation of East Cobb's.)

I know Jacksonville fairly well - if you would like to throw out some areas that resemble what you're looking for, I could probably give you some analogous areas here.

[Tarzanman]

Originally Posted by JAXMAN52

My wife and I are thinking about moving to the Atlanta area for a new job opportunity. I am 52, she's a little younger and we will be new empty nesters. The office is located in Smyrna, would love a short commute but it is not my top priority. Our top priority is a safe friendly neighborhood since I will be traveling at least once a week per month, and my wife will often be home alone. We are looking for a house somewhere around $500-600K or renting $2500-3000K per month. Would love to see new developments with new homes but I'm not sure how realistic that is.

We are visiting the area this weekend. Appreciate any recommendations of areas to look at.

Thank you!!!

Unless you hate your life, do not move to Kennessaw if you have to travel once per week to the airport. 2500-3000 per month will rent you a house pretty easily. The best location will depend on what you're looking for. Smyrna is nice. Vinings is nice too, but some parts are pretty close to the 'action' (malls, baseball stadiums, large highway interchanges). Mableton is a bit too far out for renting, IMO but a lot depends on where in Smyrna you will be working.

I have no info on home prices as I am broke with bad credit . I have better odds of getting struck by a comet or being spat upon by a runaway alpaca than signing a lease in the next decade.

[lorilove]

By traveling you mean the airport then Smyrna is an excellent choice. I travel weekly during regular commute times and rarely have issues.

In your price range you will find both new homes and renovated homes in some of my favorite neighborhoods. The style of homes can be quite different so I encourage you to look at both.

New home will be smaller lots and lots of stairs (2-3 floors) - renovated homes will be larger lots and more options for ranch or master on main if that is important to you.

The only thing with the renovated properties these days is many of them have eliminated the garage - which drives me crazy because in that price range, I want my garage.