Getting started as a new GRMer in ATL area?

Going against the grain here, but:

Find a house with 2 car garage with decent commute (maybe around 45 min or so?) to midtown Atlanta 

berkeley that.  I'd trade places with you in a heartbeat.  NYC isn't my jam really, but suburban 45 min commute + house + 2 cars?  Nope nope nope.   That's what my parents (boomers) had and taught me I should have.  I went that route (with a much shorter commute) and it kind of made me miserable.

It works for some people, but not for others.  For me, long commutes suck.  Suburbia sucks.  Dealing with a house sucks.  Once I bought a house it ate into my time to do fun things significantly (play with cars).

ProDarwin said:

Going against the grain here, but:

Find a house with 2 car garage with decent commute (maybe around 45 min or so?) to midtown Atlanta 

berkeley that.  I'd trade places with you in a heartbeat.  NYC isn't my jam really, but suburban 45 min commute + house + 2 cars?  Nope nope nope.   That's what my parents (boomers) had and taught me I should have.  I went that route (with a much shorter commute) and it kind of made me miserable.

It works for some people, but not for others.  For me, long commutes suck.  Suburbia sucks.  Dealing with a house sucks.  Once I bought a house it ate into my time to do fun things significantly (play with cars).

 

I wasn't planning on buying, and I'm thinking of moving closer to the city instead of being farther. But how do you play with cars if you don't have a garage on your property? Keep it in an indoor lot and take it to shops for all your work? Not trying to be confrontational just curious on your thoughts on this. 

The perfect scenario (for me) is a decent urban townhouse with a garage (which unfortunately is extremely uncommon here).  A lot less E36 M3 to deal with than a normal house, but still has a place to work on cars.  If you don't need to deal with general homeowner E36 M3, you can accomplish a lot in a single car garage.

For autocrossing and track days, you are doing bolt on parts, oil changes, swapping wheels and tires, none of which require massive amounts of space or equipment.  A 2xxx challenge build is a different story.

A consistent theme in my life has been:  the more garage space I've had, the less time I've had to enjoy it.  Obviously its not the garage's fault, but there are other factors.  In general bigger garages come with bigger houses and more property which = more work.

remfb said:

 But how do you play with cars if you don't have a garage on your property? 

I work on cars in my driveway. If it's raining, I put up an EZ-Up and just resign myself to getting wet. I never complained about my neighbor's band practice, he's never complained about swapping an engine on a weekend.

This may bring up the HOA argument. I don't have an HOA, and I bought my house specifically because it didn't have an HOA.

ProDarwin said:

The perfect scenario (for me) is a decent urban townhouse with a garage (which unfortunately is extremely uncommon here).  A lot less E36 M3 to deal with than a normal house, but still has a place to work on cars.  If you don't need to deal with general homeowner E36 M3, you can accomplish a lot in a single car garage.

For autocrossing and track days, you are doing bolt on parts, oil changes, swapping wheels and tires, none of which require massive amounts of space or equipment.  A 2xxx challenge build is a different story.

 

A consistent theme in my life has been:  the more garage space I've had, the less time I've had to enjoy it.  Obviously its not the garage's fault, but there are other factors.  In general bigger garages come with bigger houses and more property which = more work.

When I think about it that does make sense. All the houses I found with 2 car garages are huge and I'm a single person I can't even imagine using all of that space. I have been used to living minimally in the city but even if I had the room I wouldn't really know what to do with it. I'll look into some smaller places closer to the city and compare. Regardless Atlanta seems like a better choice than NYC because of cost of living and weather, and all the motorsport stuff nearby. There are tracks near NY/NJ/CT but everything is just that much more expensive. But maybe there is the odd urban townhouse in hudson county or something that would fit that bill, where I can just rent out a floor and use the garage as needed. More things to think about. 

Atlanta GRMer chiming in.

Go buy this: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6340-Pisgah-Rd-Austell-GA-30168/171200778_zpid/?

Rent out the spare space to recoup mortgage costs. Be a hero by hosting a race team in the extra garage.

I have family in the area and travel there often. Everyone else has covered the traffic and Motorsports angles, and I agree with them. Most of my knowledge is north side, traffic sucks but nicer area. Way up north (up the 400 hwy) is nice and more affordable, but the commute will be 2 hrs. That sucks. Is your job prospect something that could turn into a work from home position? That would change things alot.

Rent an apartment close to work for a year. Spend your time exploring and learning the whole area before spending money on a house.

Check out mx5atlanta.com for a Miata group in and around Atlanta.  Regular for sale posts and a bot that finds Miata  related ads on CL thats cool too.

I'm 3ish hours southwest of there in Alabama, if you want when you move down maybe we can get area GRM and Miata guys and gals together to drive the north Georgia area i hear so much about