By Carolyn Crist
For the AJC
A layoff and boyfriend’s move to Atlanta prompted Amanda Babcock to head south. The Midwest resident had visited Georgia only a few times, but once she found a marketing coordinator job for a commercial auto insurer, she decided to buy a one-bedroom condo in a historic downtown Atlanta building.
Why Atlanta?
Babcock’s boyfriend moved to Atlanta in 2014, and for the next few months, she visited every other weekend. In talking to Atlanta residents, she discovered that the job market was strong and could provide new opportunities for her, after working for a Michigan company for seven years.
Putting down roots
Babcock, 33, began searching for apartments in Buckhead, but rent appeared to be higher than what she had paid in Detroit, where she previously lived.
In September, she decided to buy a home. After searching for three weekends, she found a one-bedroom, one-bathroom loft with 700 square feet in the historic Healey Building, where units range from the low $100,000s to low $200,000s.
She liked the brass accents, wood floors, crown molding and 10-foot ceilings. The building, built in 1913-1914 and on the National Register of Historic Places, has neo-Gothic exterior elements such as pointed arches.
“The 100-year-old architecture was beautiful, and the loft needed minimal bathroom renovation,” she said. “It felt like the old buildings I liked in Chicago.”
After she closed in December, Babcock taught herself how to put up a backsplash in the kitchen and painted the loft in shades of periwinkle and slate gray. She enjoys buying flowers from Krog Street Market, an Inman Park mixed-use development that opened in late 2014.
She’s adjusting to her new home in a Southern city, but is pleased to often meet other transplants.
“The other day, I met people from New Jersey and Rhode Island, so it doesn’t feel like the culture is that different,” she said. “There’s a Southern flair here, but the population is so diverse in Atlanta that it’s been very pleasant so far.”
Relocation tip
Babcock has become friends with several neighbors in her building, and they explore neighborhoods together, such as Kirkwood and Little Five Points. She suggests exploring the city’s neighborhoods when considering buying intown.
“Every nook has a unique population, and you really don’t know where you fit until you spend some time there,” she said. “I’m still discovering new areas and restaurants all the time.”
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