Retiring to Georgia

my wife wants to retire on the beach and I want to retire in the mountains. I guess the beach is in my future

 

We still have a home in Atlanta (Roswell) and both of my kids live in Buckhead, so am extremely familiar with the area.

I think it would be helpful for you to provide a bit more info such as approximate price range, whether you are a golfer, or looking for a more rural setting. The Buckhead area is close to everything (best restaurants, shopping, airport) and numerous housing choices from about $1 million to $10 million all on 1 acre to 5 acre lots. Drawback is city of Atlanta property taxes are more than twice as high as surrounding suburbs.

Further north, Roswell, and Milton are the top areas with lots of large homes and large acreage available. $1 million and up will get you a very nice home, though even around $600K would get you 4,000 s/f brick home on an acre lot with 3-car garage. Plenty of golf course communities in all price ranges. If you're a boater, then consider something on Lake Lanier and you would still be close to good shopping, medical, and restaurants.

F-car dealer is in Roswell / Alpharetta.

Cost of living, mild climate and the ability to travel anywhere in the world with direct flights are a real benefit of Atlanta.

 

Atlanta has a very large footprint and growing, "in close" properties ( minimum commute ) demand a premium above you price point, there are areas that meet your criteria, but not your price point... Atlanta is getting dense with property sizes being reduced to under 1/2 acre due to land costs... in desirable areas it is not unusual to see large homes ( 1 million+ ) on 1/4 acre lots on which formally were single family homes, to better absorb land costs. What does "Atlanta" mean. New construction ( as a generalization ) happens 15-30 miles outside the 285/perimeter hwy...

 

There was a development built on Lower Roswell Road in east Cobb about 8-10 years ago, with large, million-dollar homes that were practically right next to each other! I doubt if they even had 1/4 acre.

 

with the value of dollar going in the toilet and land costs going to the moon, it does not make sense to build a small house on a large lot ( probably anywhere in the world in a large metro area )... Mauro will need to make concessions on his wish list to stay on budget... the upside, there is little reason to go to "Atlanta" except for the occasional special event... while most contain their activities to their general part of town where they live... there is little need to go another part of the metro area... the on going joke is if we were in Europe one would need to go through a couple of countries, would be the same as going from the northern part of Atlanta to the southern part... making a couple of appointments on opposite ends of town on the same day could easily involve travelling 200 or more miles...

 

20 - 30 minutes ?

meaningless here. it has taken me that long to go from paces/northside to peachtree

 

That is an ideal budget, if it weren't for the lot size. As he mentioned, the kids are gone and not too big of a house.

I would check the Smyrna area closer to Vinings. Woodstock sounds ideal for a bigger lot, growing very fast, and slightly further when no traffic around.

 

Sounds like Peachtree City or Newnan is where you should look.

 

When my wife, chidren, and I moved to Grayson almost 20 years to the month, it was mostly horse country. Subdivisions were sparsely sprinkled and large tracts of horse acreage abounded. At night you were treated to a beautiful array of bright stars contrasted with the dark night sky.

Currently we are surrounded by new and relatively new subdivisions with more on the way. More traffic noise is annoying. There are still some horse acreages left. All the main road arteries have more and more businesses springing up. The once scenic highways are gone! More apartments being built with the comensurate problems they bring like transient populations. All but the brightest stars are now only visible on a clear night.

For some of us who used to make the driving trek up to the mountains for spirited driving, [I'm not naming names, you know who you are] know this growth rate scenario as we have watched the transformation of highway 400 and points north.

The rate of growth for Atlanta is rapid depending on your perspective I suppose. When retirement time rolles around, a 2 hour drive to Atlanta proper will be part of my requirement criteria. Lake living is nice!

Just Sayin!

Ciao,
George

 

What about Nashville TN?? Great area! New and upcoming but still a great city to retire in

 

Welcome, if there is anything we can do to help please let us know.

 

Welcome!

there's a car cruise on the 29th in acworth. That's close to you. I'll probably be there with my GTX.

sjd

 

Nice! I'm down in that area for work quite a bit. Congrats.

 

No you want Greenville SC. Come visit and you will know why. Listed as one of the best small cities in America. But if it where me I'd choose Asheville in summer and somewhere warmer in winter although it's not really that cold there.

 

Nice was hoping you would show that.

 

Hi David,

Yes, Greenville is a really nice city with a great size,amenities to boot and a beautiful river park in downtown central. The northern half of South Carolina - Lake Keowee and parts north are beautiful. The Cliffs communities were much to our liking and we almost pulled the trigger on that, but in the final analysis, too far away from family and friends.

Just Sayin!

Ciao,
George

 

I'm just down the road from you in Kennesaw. If I can do anything for you please give me a shout. PM sent with phone number.

 

I'm in Kennesaw as well. Glad we could help with city suggestions! My family owns a restaurant in Woodstock, check it out, Happy China. Let me know if you need anything! I'm at Caffeine and Exotics pretty regularly.

 

Hey Dom!! Welcome my friend!! Glad to hear the great news! Looking forward to getting together neighbor!