Lindsay and Scott McClelland needed a home between her job at King & Spalding in Midtown and his job at Siemens off Ga. 400. After renting an apartment in Buckhead, their first home search led them to the Ashford-Dunwoody Road area. The couple, both 28, chatted about their home in DeKalb County’s Nancy Creek Heights neighborhood.
Q: How did you start your search?
A: Scott: We really relied on Todd (Banister with Harry Norman, Realtors) to show us different neighborhoods and to give us a little history. We were even looking at recently built townhomes versus older townhouses and homes, and spent a while trying to determine exactly what was available in our price range.
Q: How did you narrow it down?
A: Scott: If we went too far south into the Brookhaven or Buckhead area, what we were looking for in terms of the houses was getting out of our price range. We looked kind of into Dunwoody and Sandy Springs. It seemed more like a suburb-type neighborhood as opposed to an older city-type neighborhood. So then we kind of narrowed our search into the area we're in now, which is interesting because it's in DeKalb County, but it's an unincorporated area. It's technically within Atlanta city limits. Tax-wise it works pretty well and location is perfect because we're within a minute of 285 and just east of 400.
Q: What did you want in terms of the space and style of the home?
A: Lindsay: Definitely three bedrooms, two baths.
Scott: We knew that based on our price range we were going to be looking at an older house that probably wouldn’t be fully updated. Knowing we were probably going to have to do some updating, we didn’t want to move into a house that was a huge fixer-upper. So we wanted something that was at least clean and well-maintained.
Q: When did you find the home you bought?
A: Lindsay: We found this house in late June. It had been on the market, but out of our price range. The previous owner had dropped the price and it came on our radar.
Q: Why did you like this house?
A: Scott: A big selling point was an enclosed garage.
Lindsay: The hardwood floors were just gorgeous. It was a beautiful lot.
Q: What were the negotiations like?
A: Scott: We went back and forth probably three times. Then we did a little more negotiating after the inspection and after the appraisal (they negotiated about 8 percent off the asking price).
At a glance
Scott and Lindsey McClelland’s home has three bedrooms, two baths and about 1,320 square feet of livable space, according to tax records. They purchased the ranch home, which was built in 1956, in August.
Nancy Creek Heights
Address: 4152 Shawnee Lane N.E., Atlanta 30319 (Listing on the market)
County: DeKalb
Price range: $250,000s-$975,000s
Homeowners fees: None
Schools: Montgomery Elementary, Chamblee Middle, Chamblee High
More on schools: schools.ajchomefinder.com
Getting there
Take I-85 north to Ga. 400 to I-285 east to Exit 29 (Ashford-Dunwoody Road) and turn right, traveling inside the perimeter. Turn left onto Oconee Pass. Turn left onto Chippewa Place. Turn right onto Iroquois Path.
For sale
$274,000: 4152 Shawnee Lane N.E., Atlanta 30319. A three-bedroom, 1 1/2-bath contemporary bungalow built in 1955 on a corner lot.
$329,900: 4242 Long Branch Court, Atlanta 30319. A four-bedroom, three-bath home built in 1972 with an updated kitchen and bathrooms.
Recent sales
$252,500: 1387 Oconee Pass, Atlanta 30319. A two-bedroom, two-bath home built in 1955 with hardwood floors and an updated kitchen.
$335,000: 1480 Oconee Pass N.E., Atlanta 30319. A four-bedroom, two-bath home built in 1955 with a screened porch and fenced backyard with a patio and fire pit.
