Young married couple moving to ATL, advice on condos/townhouses and I-20 commute (Atlanta: real estate)

[ethat001]

I am moving to Atlanta in 3 months, and I wanted to see if you guys had any advice on what areas to live. I will be newly married, but we both still enjoy city life & prefer near downtown. We're looking for a 2br condo vs. townhouse & we'll have two cars and would love parking +- garage spaces. We would love to have the conveniences of the gym +- pool. I'll work in the Emory area and she'll commute to Conyers (12 miles east on I-20). I had two questions:

1) AREAS: What areas should we look at? I'm visiting in April, but it seems that Midtown may be the best fit. I've also heard good things about Decatur? VA highlands? Emory? Anything else?

2) COMMUTE: Do you guys know what the commute will be like on I-20 *going away* from the city in the morning?


I've also seen the recent thread on Midtown condos which was fantastic. (//www.city-data.com/forum/atlan...e-needed.html). Thanks for all that info!!

[marvettecritney]

Your wife won't have any difficulty in getting out to conyers or returning home... As for the Condos, it really depends on what price range you want to be in... There are a ton of new condos being built in (downtown decatur) which will put you close to emory! Just keep in mind, that the emory area is going to be pricey!

[sweettea1]

Don't know what your price range is, but you may also want to check out Inman Park. I'm a real estate junkie (not by trade) and just saw the most beautiful townhome listed for $379,000 in an historic home near the Inman Park pool and rec area. I have no connection to this house whatsoever! But here's the MLS:
<EDIT> in case you want to check it out on realtor.com. I'm tempted to move here myself!

[xxman777]

Conyers is an easy reverse commute as long as you don't have to go through downtown or midtown. I'd stay away from places like Atlantic Station or Midtown. Virginia Highlands, Inman Park and Decatur are all good options. You could also look in places like East Atlanta or Kirkwood. You might run into a problem if you're looking for townhomes though. There aren't a lot of them (Atl is built on single family homes) and the ones that exist are expensive. I am not saying you won't find one, just that it is going to be harder to find one intown then a lot of large cities and they aren't really any cheaper then some the single family housing stock.

Also Atlanta is not a very urban city so if you are interesting in the city life the closer in you are the better off you will be.

[ethat001]

Thanks for the replies! Our price range is somewhat flexible - our budget is pretty flexible, but roughly $250-350.. We'd prefer to stay in the 200's, especially since it would seem that we should be able to find reasonable places in this buyers market. Once I start seeing places in these areas I'll get a better idea of what quality places that price range will give me..

So I think I'll start looking at Decatur, Emory, Midtown, VA Highlands and Innman Park.. Btw, xxman77 -- why should I stay away from Midtown/Atlantic Station -- is the commute much worse from there?

[atlantagreg30127]

Atlantic Station is brand new and very "Gucci-ish", but it's right there off the "connector" area - the most highly congested traffic area in the city. Moving over slightly into the Midtown/Va. Highland or Emory areas take you away from that if you're commuting to Conyers further East.

Also keep in mind that there's a lot of condo conversions going on in the area, too - apartments that are being converted into condos. AVOID conversions. Most new to semi-new apartments in Atlanta are quite frankly, built like crap. Thin walls, substandard firewalls (if any at all), etc. They just get them, slap on some new paint and countertops and try to pass them off as condos.

Make sure whatever you get was actually built as a condo unit, have an inspector check out the firewalls, look for sprinkler systems, etc. Georgia has some of the most lax building codes and lack of required permits in the country, so while there are good places, there's an equal number of shotty places that some might consider substandard. Look at the details.

[xxman777]

Originally Posted by ethat001

Btw, xxman77 -- why should I stay away from Midtown/Atlantic Station -- is the commute much worse from there?

Atlantagreg is right. Atlantic Station is located in an inconvenient part of town if you are commuting east to Conyers. Traffic on the connector is awful during rush hour and the side streets in that area aren't much better. Getting farther east will significantly reduce your commute. The drive from these places to Emory isn't bad though.

Also I think it will be difficult to find a townhome intown in the 200's. You can find one pretty easy farther out but they are quite a bit more expensive intown.