From Ca. to Georgia...where to go???

[Chad Dwyer2]

The wife and I are interested in taking a trip to the South and while we have never been, we are thinking about packing our bags and getting out of Cali.



I am looking for help. I need to narrow my search for a community that might be similar to our current neighborhood.



Just about everything around us is new. Just about all the housing tracts are behind private gates and the average price is about $800K. Shopping is close and activities are abundant. I don't want to be in the city any more but I don't want to be too far from the creature comforts big city life affords either.



Is there such a place in Ga. that might give you a country atmosphere but near (10-15 minutes away) bigger city ammenities. Something on a few acres?



Any help is appreciated.



Thanks,



Chad

 

[Texas Transplant]

Chad,



If you are talking about moving to Georgia, you are probably wanting to go to the Atlanta area. Several here (Dan J, Trep, Rich Stern + others) will fill you in.



Be aware, that the roads/traffic around Atlanta is REALLY BAD. I moved from Texas to the Charlotte area. We like it here, but Charlotte is the smallest city that I have ever lived in. It's nice, but the job market is just not as large/diverse as I have been used to.



Tex

 

[TrepMan]

Chad, I know Dan and Rich will chime in too.



Canton, GA - my hometown right now. First you HAVE to realize with the exception of NY city/NJ, and maybe Chicago NO WHERE ELSE is it that EXPENSIVE for housing.



For instance, around here for $800k you can get one of 2 types of house: 1) 30-100 Acres with a nice 3000-4000k square foot house with stables, and the HORSES too!! or 2) a 1-4 acre lot in a gated private community with a 4-5k sq ft house.



For $200-300 you get an acre +, a new or relatively new 3000 sqft or more house. Swim/tennis community, sidewalks, and such... We're about 30 minutes w/out traffic from the heart of downtown. I'm 5 mins from the boat ramp on Lake Allatoona. Their building a super walmart w/in 5 mins of us, 3 grocery stores w/in a mile along with resturants, gas, drug stores and the like.



If you wanted to live closer into say Marrietta or Kennesaw prices go up a bit, but nothing like CA.



Cumming, Lawerncevill, and other communities up around Lake Lanier. Obviously the closer to the lake the higher the prices go. But you can get a 2000+ sqft house on either lake for under $800k!!!!



Happy to answer any questions. We've been in this area of 9 years. Before i've lived in NJ, Indy, Chicago and Houston, nothing like GA!!! Love it!



Trep



It all dep

 

[TrepMan]

Tex - Yes Atlanta has some of the WORSE trip times in rush hour! BUT we've also got the LONGEST commute distance because folks want to live 30-60 miles OUT of the city and work downtown! Its a choice, not a requirement!



Heck even the nice in-town/city neighboorhoods are NO WHERE near as expensive as CA!!!



Trep

 

[Dewey Storie]

Chad , don't close the gate when you leave ... I am not far behind you!

 

[TrepMan]

I'm not picking on you CA folks, especialy with GA now JUMPING into 49th in SAT scores!!! LOL But I could NOT believe a friend who a few years ago moved from Paloatlo CA to San Jose CA, downsised his house from 2000 sqft to 1600sqft, and from a $650k house to a $900k house to be in a "good" public school!!! Only in CA!!!



Trep

 

[Chad Dwyer2]

The prices are brutal out here. What's worse is being self employed and the BS taxes and Workers Comp that goes along with it. As an example, I own an Insurance Agency. It's a small family run business and just our phone bill is $900.00 a month. That doesn't even count cell phones!



I'm glad to hear that the prices are not so out of line back there. I didn't pay that(800k) for my house but, I sure don't mind the appreciation. We paid $445,000 for this home 11 months ago. While I have basically re-built the entire home I have only invested about 150,000 and made almost double that in a real short amount of time.



It would be nice to go back there and pay cash for a simple but nice home on a little chunk of peace and quiet.



I have been spending many hours on www.realtor.com looking at 1,000's of homes but, if you don't know the right communities to look in, it's just ends up being a huge waste of time. Our neighborhood is real "California Snooty". There was a recent article in the Sacramento Bee that shows the income in our town ahead of Beverly Hills on a per capita basis. I've had enough of tract home stuff and really want to be able to spread out a little. As it is now, I can't even store my boat at home because of the community laws, it costs me about a hundred bucks a month for a storage space.



I like it here and the weather is great all year. It's really hot in the Summer but it's dry heat. Today is about 100. Winter is real mild too. Short pants all year is not too far out of the question as we rarely have freezing temps. We only get about 25 inches of rain per YEAR and most of the South gets that in a single month. That would take some getting use'ta.



I don't like the cold much, do you guys get snow often?

 

[TrepMan]

Chad - First, to give you an idea of housing, and we did get a good deal on ours. We've got a $250k house, 4000 sq ft, 4 car garage (WHY I bought it!!!), 1 acre, backs up to 100's of acres of Corp Property on a cul-de-sac, sidewalks, swimming pool in the neighboorhood and tennis courts. Ours is a VERY unique house, it was a 2500 sq ft home 6 years ago and the original owners worked on classic cars, so they build the attached garage and added a 1000 sqft play/TV/Bar room above the 2 car wide by 2 car deep garage.



Houses range from right about 200 up to 400, lots 1-2 acres. Home Owners association rules but compared to the subdivision we moved from last year, this is VERY loose. For instance, in the old place ANY exterior change/improvement (including removal of trees, roof replace/repair, deck..) had to have approval before hand. Fences only certain kinds approve, same with color of the house, and so on. And in Georgia the subdivision covenants are 100% inforceable exactly like any state law here. New place any fence you want as long as chain link is NOT visable from the street.



Lots of real SNOOTY subdivisions around here, lots of nice regular ones too!! Or you just get yourself a few acres on a street and NO covenants and do as you wish. Of course then the guy next to you could turn his front yard into a used car lot, but it's your choice when you move in and decide where you want to live.



Yes in a typical year we get a LOT more rain then you do. Cold, typicaly we get a week or so of cold, where it might get below freezing, or a 2-3 day cold snap with highs in the 30's but then the next day or so it's back into the 50-60s for highs. Snow, maybe a half dozen or so days on average, it melts the next day.



Trep

 

[Rich Stern]

Be aware that the north Atlanta suburbs are booming. Growth has been very strong for a decade or more, and traffic has built up. We are now becomming victims of our own success. A good and bad thing. The generally polite southern attitude seems to be surviving. You don't get honked at very often, most people look you in the eye and treat you with respect.



Weather: Some years we have heavy rain. Other years, it seems like we can go 30 or 40 days without any. Long spring, very hot in the summer, pretty humid. Fall is a bit gray and windy. Winters are mild, but you still know that it's winter.



You can live 40 miles outside Atlanta in the countryside, in a nice home with lots of space and amenities, yet still be 10-15 minutes from major shopping, movies, parks, suburban concert venues, and great water. 45 minutes north gets you to mountains, woods, farmland, quiet lakes and ponds. Very rural.

 

[David Heine]

Wait for me too !!!!!

 

[TrepMan]

all y'all come on down now, y'hear!!!



All the suburbs are booming around here, the south has some GREAT deals too, and near West Point Lake!!



Trep

 

[Chad Dwyer2]

Thanks again for all the help folks! I still get a little nervous about those "twisty" things. I mean I like to fish in the wind but...



Thanks again,



Chad L. Dwyer

 

[TrepMan]

Let's see Chad, a rare tornado in north Georgia or MANY Earthquakes in CA?? Easy pick for me!!!! LOL