DEL.ICIO.USThe Search
Something old or something new?
For the AJC
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Our house hunter:
Charlene Fisk is an Emmy Award-winning editor and videographer for Georgia Public Broadcasting, the PBS network serving Atlanta and all of Georgia. She loves looking for investment properties and finding the hidden charm beneath the neglected ruins. Her last project — in Kirkwood — took three years and included putting in a French drain. “If there’s a project, I research it and see if I need to contract it out or if I can accomplish it on my own,” she said. She also enjoys hanging out with her two dogs — Phoenix, a Lab mix, and Tamale, a Chihuahua mix — and cat Cici, entertaining friends, cycling and working with stained glass.
The process:
Last spring, Fisk decided it was time to sell her Kirkwood house and turned to former next-door-neighbor Lance Deen, Realtor and associate broker with Sanctuary Real Estate. “I knew the market was starting to change and knew it was the right time to sell,” she said. Deen had sold his own house in record time, and Fisk’s was snapped up in three weeks. The search for her next project — in southeast Atlanta, a turn-of-the-century Victorian or bungalow, and preferably a three-bedroom, two-bath foreclosure — would last until November. “Some of the houses I wanted to see, Lance would say, ‘I can’t believe you brought me to this house.’ ” Fisk adds that there was a lot of laughter on their search. But Deen was always there when she needed him, even when what she needed was someone tall enough to climb into attics and other inaccessible nooks and crannies.
Choice #1: Vintage charm
This three-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath traditional looked like the kind of house Fisk was seeking, but it was actually built in 2004. Originally listed at $238,000 and located in Edgewood, it had never been occupied. “I walked in and was surprised by all the space,” Fisk recalled, “It had a very open floor plan. However, it was new construction, not at all what I had been searching for.”
Choice #2: Close to the Beltline
The location of this four-bedroom, two-bath traditional built in 1920 “was amazing,” Fisk said, adding that it was in the Reynoldstown/Cabbagetown area, about a mile from the proposed Beltline. “It had all of the original molding, transom windows and the floors looked terrific,” she said. It needed work, but “the bones were there.” It was priced at $190,000.
Choice #3: Perfect bungalow
Priced the lowest at $110,000, this three-bedroom, two-bath house was the “perfect example of a bungalow,” Fisk said. It was built in 1925 and was located in Kirkwood. It already had some renovations, but needed some HVAC work that Fisk thought “seemed straightforward and the price was incredible.”
Which house did she choose?
No. 1, the one built not in 1904, but 2004. Even Fisk has to laugh. “It wasn’t really what I was looking for, but I’d driven past it a couple of times and thought ‘that’s a cute little house; I wish it was for sale,’ ” she said. The price was daunting, but then she noticed that it was dropping steadily. “I checked, and it was going into foreclosure,” she said. Fisk knew that working to close on a house in foreclosure can be a lengthy and often frustrating experience. “I put in a low-ball offer, and they took it.” After the drama with some of the other properties, she was astonished. All moved in, Fisk couldn’t be happier. “It’s huge!” she said. “I love all the space. I have a big kitchen and dining room; the living room has a coffered ceiling; and I’ve got this immense front porch. I just have so much space, I even have a room just for my stained glass.” So what’s life like without the rehab work? “Well, I needed to make it unique,” she laughed. “I’ve already ripped out one bathroom.”