Note: Newcomer Living is a new feature that will appear regularly in Homefinder. If you moved to Atlanta in 2012 or 2013, bought a residence and are willing to share your story, contact Lori Johnston at lori@fastcopy.biz.
Buying from out of state can be a challenge, when it comes to scheduling trips to Georgia to search for a home. Ron and Lisa Sinicki put a contract on a Decatur condo sight unseen when they decided to move from an island 3 miles off Maine’s coast.
The couple said they missed civilization, after living on the island for 12 years, and wanted to embrace their sense of adventure by moving to a new city and focusing more on traveling internationally.
Why Atlanta?
The empty nesters describe it like this: They woke up one morning and decided to downsize from their four-bedroom, two-bath home, which had about 2,000 square feet and was built 200 years ago. They had visited Atlanta, where Lisa’s cousin lives, but had never been to Decatur. “We were ready for a change,” said Lisa, 49, who works in public relations.
The couple, who have a daughter in college, were drawn by access to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, since they enjoy traveling. “I can’t tell you how many times we flew to Atlanta and then over Boston or Portland (Maine) to get to our destinations if we were going to Europe,” Ron said.
They also had heard other families who visited Maine’s Peaks Island on vacation talk about living in the Atlanta area and communities such as Decatur.
Putting down new roots
The couple realized they were living in only about four of the nine rooms in their Maine home, said Ron, 63, who owned an ice cream, candy and souvenir shop on the island. They determined they needed only two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, a kitchen and space for Lisa’s office. Choosing a condo would remove any worry about maintaining the lawn when they traveled.
Downtown Decatur appealed to them with the ability to walk, not drive, to restaurants (such as Farm Burger), shops and a MARTA station, with access to the airport.
On a previous visit to Atlanta, the couple had toured another unit in the 333 West Ponce complex, which was built in 2006, but it didn’t fit their needs. Four days after they returned home to Maine, a corner unit in the building came on the market. A family member toured the condo with their agent, Robin Elliott with Prudential Georgia Realty, with the Sinickis there virtually — via Skype. The style of the loft, with exposed concrete floors and ceilings, was unlike other homes where they had lived. The couple made an offer that day on the loft, which has about 1,300 square feet, and saw it once before closing. They moved in during November.
Relo tip
Instead of moving their possessions off the island and in an effort to downsize, they gave away furniture and other items. They used a community email list to share with full-time and part-time island residents which items they were seeking to unload. Friends took furniture, such as a dining room table, off their hands.
“It’s nice to know who got your stuff and how it fit into their life,” Lisa said.
On weekends, they put out a tarp filled with items for island residents and visitors to take for free. They asked for people to donate money to an organization on the island that helps people pay their utilities.
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