Being picky pays off for buyer

Helen Eisenstein said goodbye to apartment living when she purchased a home in the Lindbergh area recently. Eisenstein, 28, a commercial litigation attorney with Alston and Bird, chatted about her new home.

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Photos by Christopher Oquendo / AJC Special

Homeowner Helen Eisenstein says being picky paid off in her home search. She chose a home in Woodland Hills.

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Now that her search is over, Helen Eisenstein and her friend have time to play in their new home. So far, she’s painted, changed some hardware to replace the brass and hired a pro to organize her small closet.

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The home is about 1,350 square feet, with a renovated kitchen and master bath.

Getting there

Take I-85 north to Exit 86 (Buford Highway/Monroe Drive). Take the Monroe Drive ramp toward Piedmont Road. Turn left onto Monroe, which becomes Piedmont Circle. Take a slight left onto Cheshire Bridge Road. Turn right onto LaVista Road. Turn right onto Woodland Hills Drive.

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Q. How did your search evolve?

A. We started out with a few condos. I didn’t like any of them. So then we started going toward the houses. I was sort of limited here because I work in Midtown. I didn’t want to go anywhere outside [the Perimeter] — no suburbs.

What were your must-haves?

I was looking for an updated kitchen, updated bathroom. Particularly, I wanted a master bathroom, which most older houses don’t really have, at least within my price range.

How were the kitchen and bathroom updated?

My master bathroom has tile. They put in a new tub and a new shower with really pretty tile. My kitchen has granite countertops. The cabinets are updated.

How long did you wait to put in an offer?

Because this was my first house, I needed to look at it again. We came back, I think, a couple of days later. I went home and thought about it. Right before I called my Realtor back to tell her I wanted to put an offer on it, she called me to say the sellers already had an offer. We put in an offer that night. Then I guess the sellers decided to negotiate with me rather than the other person. I think we had three counteroffers.

What did you enjoy about the process?

Just looking at the houses. You get a sense of walking into someone’s house and you kind of get a sense of who those people are.

What did you not enjoy?

For a while there, I was kind of frustrated in thinking I was never going to find a home that I liked because I was pretty picky.

What updates have you made since moving in?

I’ve painted. I changed out a lot of hardware because they had a lot of brass, which I don’t particularly like. I have hired a professional to organize my closet with built-in shelving because the closet is pretty small.

What is your favorite room?

My bedroom. It’s cozy, and you open the windows and I literally have a forest in my backyard. The trees are very tall. It’s just so peaceful.

At a glance

Helen Eisenstein’s home has three bedrooms, two baths, about 1,350 square feet of livable space and features such as hardwood floors and granite countertops, and a tiled bath and jetted tub in the master bathroom. She moved in last August.

Woodland Hills

County: Fulton and DeKalb (depending on the section of the neighborhood)

Price range: High $200,000s-$600,000s

Lot sizes: One-third to one-half acre

Schools: Garden Hills Elementary, Sutton Middle, North Atlanta High

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