House Hunting Day 2

We kept thinking about the Skyland house all day yesterday. How would we arrange our furniture? Could we add on a garage? What kind of puppy would we get for the yard? Well, that last one was just me. Golden retriever would surely fit! =)


Could anything else compare? Grant came over around 1:00 on Sunday and we drove about a mile down the road to continue in Brookhaven. We're branching out, huh?


The first house on N. Thompson is one we've had our eye on for months. I tried to get Eric to look at it back before the wedding. We knew the house would need some repairs and the yard was overgrown.


We liked how the front looked, we could tell there was an addition. The exposed brick from the original outside of the house was in the family room.


The kitchen had new countertops and appliances, an island, and enough cabinents. The built it dining booth was odd, but removable. This was the 3rd home we'd seen with a built in kitchen table. It also had a pantry, which was a bonus.



There were 2 bedrooms and 2 nice, large bathrooms upstairs. The master closet was HUGE. Not what we expected in a 60 year old home. Upstairs there was also a formal dining room, formal living room, and family room.

The best part was the newly finished basement. There's a 3rd bedroom and bathroom, as well as few extra rooms. The stacked washer and dryer are also down there, but there isn't really a laundry room. We love the basement space. We'd only need to paint over the neon lime green bedroom and bathroom.

The backyard is huge, but majorily overgrown. It needs LOTS and LOTS of work and TLC. There is a lot of bamboo and kudzu to deal with, and there isn't any grass. Eric said there were a few dead trees that need to be removed. There's also a lack of grass. But the stone walkways and stream are also cool. The deck also looks very worn, and may need replacing.



We leave liking this house a lot, but contemplating the amount of repair money we could spend. This house is the most expensive of all that we had looked at, and it about $30,000 above our price range. Could we negiotiate it down and make some repairs ourselves? We could probably make a good profit off it in the future.

House two is right around the corner.





We like the curb appeal and white picket fence. The new living room is amazing, but Eric is left wondering where the new 50 inch plasma will go. This, obviously, is a big deal.


The huge dining room was a plus, but the kitchen wasn't up to par. The tile countertops are cracked and the countertops are not granite, like we've seen in other homes in our price range.

This yellow bathroom is also an eye sore.



The master bedroom is tiny, but the bathroom is huge and features a huge closet. I suppose they stole the space from the bedroom for the amazing bathroom.




Overall, we veto this house. The kitchen is outdated, bedrooms too small, weird yellow bathroom, and oddly shaped overgrown yard. It's also at the very top of our price range.

House three of the day is also right around the corner in Ashford Park. Immediately, I think the driveway is very steep. We'll refer to this house as the cat house. Cat crap everywhere...cat doors, cat climbing ladder things, cat magazines, cat pictures, cat toys, cat food, cat bed, cat litterboxes, more cat pictures...This person was also a GT grad. Two things we hate...cats and Georgia Tech.


Anyways, we loved the open living and dining area with built in entertainment unit. The bar was cool as well. The kitchen was tiny and the appliances were a little older.





The biggest draw back was the tiny master bedroom. There wasn't even room for a regular dresser. That's the deal breaker for me.



And then we went to this house on Dresden.


We were a little leary because the house is sort of plain on the front (and green) and it's on a main street. But we decide to look..


WOW and WOW some more. The entire house has been gutted and re-done. No detail has been overlooked. There are Brazilian walnut hardwoods throughout and new tile floors.



The kitchen is to die for. Seriously, professional grade. The microwave is $800 and the fridge is a $7,000 fridge (we looked it up online). Really?? All the cabinents are custom with this cool braid pattern on them. The kitchen is also huge compared to what we've seen. The doors have mini blinds built into them that are controlled by a switch.




The dining area has a very cool decorative accent. The master bedroom was perfect. Very large with an amazing bathroom. The shower was done in stone with a bench in it. It had gorgeous high end vanities and a massive closet.

There were two other bedrooms and another bathroom as well.

Eric was impressed by the new tankless hotwater heater, new HVAC system, and new roof. There's a one room detached basement seperate from the house for storage and a storage shed out back. The yard would have to be soded.

The major drawbacks are: lack of curb appeal, green color, Marta bus stop right in front of house, on a main street, and no street for visitors to park on.

But it looks like a brand new house. And since we can't afford a brand new home in Brookhaven, this is the best we've seen. And it's also comfortably in our price range. It's been on the market for quite awhile, so maybe we could get a deal on it.

We leave thinking that this house and the Skyland house from yesterday are our top choices. We'd also still consider the fixer-uper on North Thompson

We've also decided that we want to live in Brookhaven instead of Dunwoody. We'd always preferred Brookhaven anyways. The area is the most reasonable compromise for us commute wise, we love our neighbors, the park is close, close access to Marta, close to Atlanta and our friends, and it's an "up and coming" neighborhood with lots of people our age.

Stay tuned!