salary range 42k. (Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Lawrenceville: apartments, rentals, insurance)

[barbie_lowe1120]

I currently live in NJ and in a few weeks bf and I r relocation to Lawrenceville GA. Can I make it there on my salary or should I consider an increase? No kids.

[backfist]

It depends on what you want. Forty-two thousand isn't too bad; at the same time, if you want to buy a home, you'll probably need a second income unless you've sold a home or have a nest egg. Metro Atlanta is getting pretty expensive, and the cost of moving is too.

If you don't have a fat car payment, you'll be pretty flexible. You should be able to rent a luxury apartment or a house in a middle class neighborhood. In fact, I'd do that for a year just to see which part of town you like best.

[barbie_lowe1120]

The plan I have is to rent first and then with an big IF buy something in the next few yrs. I am leaning towards the Bridgewater Luxury apartments. Any thoughts on that and my car payment is in the mid 300/monthly.

[backfist]

Bridgewater looks nice. I'd suggest contacting the local police department and ask them how many calls they had from Bridgewater for all of 2006. May not be that much, but you want to be sure that you're moving into a safe place.

I'd suggest renting a 1BR. Most apartment communities require that you make at least 3x the amount of rent. Your income would qualify, but you also want to have the flexibility to cover your car payment, insurance, utilities, gas, food, etc. Most of all, you want to pay your savings account first. Home prices around here increase faster than salaries, so you want to keep pace if you plan to buy in a few years. But even if you don't buy, keep jamming cash into your savings.

What kind of work do you do?

[jxu66]

There are a lot of affordable houses around North Gwinnett. Dacula, Grayson are very affordable. One coworker of mine bought a 3 bedroom brand new single house at Lawrenceville/Dacula border for 160K. It is new development area that looks kind of rural to me.

On the other hand, more desireable locations costs more. My townhouse at Duluth costs more than that single house at Dacula. It all depends on what you want.

[barbie_lowe1120]

Thanks, I just pulled the phone# for the local police department. my current job is telecommunications w/ verizon wireless.

[backfist]

I'd definitely rent for a while, just to see the direction of telecom here in the ATL area. Both the Bell South and Cingular brands are now doing business as AT&T. Who knows what's in store for the other telecoms.

[barbie_lowe1120]

what are some of the requirments for the apt. communities, I know I have to make 3x the rent? what else do I need to know?

[backfist]

Many will do a criminal background check, as well as a credit check. In the background check, they're looking for is serious stuff like felonies. The credit check is also to see if you've had a recent bankruptcy, a ton of collections, or evictions. They don't care if you've been late here and there, but they do often want to see a couple of active accounts.

Some will also want a pay stub or an offer letter from a new employer. In my case (I live in an apartment in Sandy Springs) they don't collect a deposit, but instead get a bond from what's called a surety company. Basically, they buy a short-term insurance policy for any damage a tenant might do. The cost of that bond is usually under $100, and the tenant pays that amount instead of deposit. The downside is that it's not refundable.

Try to set up utilities as soon as possible. Even if the power is on when you move in, it's not in your name. It's in the apartment's name. They may send you a bill for the time between your move-in and the time you switch it to your name. And that amount could be higher than what Georgia Power might have charged you.

If you have pets, check around. Some of the deposits are hefty.

[barbie_lowe1120]

My background is fine, unless they use parking tickets. LOL
however, my credit is shoot from college. I recently filed bankruptcy, however I did not include my car payment. I never been evicated from a home or had any bad blood with prior or current rentals. What will I need to start an utilities account?