About a year after moving from Birmingham, Ala., Vijay Thondakulam and Roopa Gopalakrishnan finally found time in their busy work schedules to buy a home. The couple, who enjoys eating out, navigated options in intown neighborhoods near restaurants with Greg Kodesh of Keller Williams Intown Atlanta.
Why Atlanta?
Thondakulam, 35, took on a new project as a program manager for his company, an automotive supplier, and he needed to work out of its facility in the west Georgia town of Carrollton. Atlanta, about an hour from Carrollton, was closer than Birmingham. “With the workload, we decided to move to Atlanta,” said Gopalakrishnan, 32.
She also looked forward to living in a bigger city that could provide more opportunities for her advertising career. They rented an apartment near downtown Atlanta for a year.
“We were like, OK, at some point you have to settle down,” said Gopalakrishnan. “When you rent something … you’re basically not making any equity out of it.”
Putting down roots
The couple began searching in neighborhoods like Inman Park, but discovered prices were too high for their $250,000-$300,000 budget, Gopalakrishnan said. They started their search in February 2015, then took a break when they got too busy with work. When they picked up their search in the spring, they discovered East Lake, located about 5 miles from downtown Atlanta and with historic homes and newer construction, was in their price range.
The couple found a three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath townhome built in 2004 in the Olmsted at East Lake community, next to the famous East Lake Golf Club, the city’s oldest course and host of the annual TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola every September. The 91-home community has Craftsman-style townhomes from $285,000-$310,000 and single-family homes from the $395,000-$435,000.
“The curb appeal was really good. A set of staircases lead you up to the front door,” Gopalakrishnan said. “The door has cute little clear glass frames so you can let some sunlight come in.”
The townhome also had tons of cabinet space, a basement, two patios and a deck. When they moved in during May, they followed Indian tradition and asked a priest from their temple to bless the home.
“We walked into the house with the gods. That’s just bringing in that positivity and getting anything that’s negative out of the windows,” she said. “We invited some close friends and did a small little ceremony.”
Since moving in, they have enjoyed being close to Decatur restaurants, such as Brick Store Pub and Chai Pani, an Indian street food eatery.
Relocation tip
Look for proximity to mass transit. Buying in East Lake gave Gopalakrishnan access to MARTA for her commute to Buckhead. “It will get me there in 30, 40 minutes, which is better than sitting in traffic,” she said.
