James and Jessica Wise’s move from an apartment in the Perimeter Mall area to their first home placed them near family members who live in the same north Fulton neighborhood and surrounding area. James, 26, who works for PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Jessica, 25, a cardiac ICU nurse at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, chatted about their home in the Wynbrook neighborhood.
Q: How long did you search?
James: Four months.
Q: What were you looking for in a home?
Jessica: We saw a wide variety of houses (assisted by Maryanne Winchester with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby's International Realty). We both have large families, and we noticed that everybody kind of ended up hanging out in the kitchen. We wanted an open floor plan with a kitchen area that would be suitable for family gatherings.
James: We wanted privacy. We didn't want to be on top of our neighbors. We wanted it to be relatively move-in ready.
Q: How early in the process did you see this home?
Jessica: It was one of the first houses. Every time we went to another house that was in the running, we ended up comparing it to this house. Before we put the contract on this house, we were going to put a contract on a different house. The other house had a much smaller kitchen, but it had an incredible backyard. At the last minute, we decided to walk through with our families and did a 180. We went with the floor plan for this house. We had to look beyond a couple of things.
Q: Such as what?
James: Jessica wanted hardwood floors throughout the main floor. This house had some hardwoods but carpet in the family room area. At first that was probably the reason we didn't put an offer on it right away. We realized that it probably wasn't that difficult to fix. We hired a company to put hardwoods on the main floor.
Q: How much off the asking price did you get the home?
James: It was 8 percent below asking price (plus the seller paid for closing costs). This house had been on the market before at a significantly higher price. They took it off for a little while and dropped the price $36,000.
Q: What did you learn during the process?
James: The laws of supply and demand hold true even in an economy like this. Some people were saying, "Take 20 percent off their asking price." Well, if they were going to accept it, they would have sold it (before we saw it). There is definitely room to negotiate, but you're going to pay what something is worth, and you might as well learn that lesson up front.
At a Glance
James and Jessica Wise’s home, which was built in 1990, has four bedrooms, 41/2 baths, a basement and about 3,200 square feet of livable space. They purchased it in August.
Wynbrook
Address: Norwick Way, Alpharetta 30022
County: Fulton
Price range: $350,000s-$450,000s
Homes: 92
Square feet: 2,500-4,000
Lot sizes: One-third to one-half acre
Standard features: 9-foot ceilings, terrace levels, two-car garages
Amenities: Park, option for swim/tennis membership in an adjacent neighborhood, near Newtown Park
Homeowners fees: $500 annual fee (no initiation fee)
Schools: Hillside Elementary, Haynes Bridge Middle, Centennial High
More on schools: schools.ajchomefinder.com
Getting there
Take Ga. 400 north to Exit 7A east (Holcomb Bridge). Turn left on Scott Road. Turn right on Nesbit Ferry Road. Turn left onto Brumbelow Road and turn left into Wynbrook.
Recent sales
$375,000: 9240 Tuckerbrook Lane, Alpharetta 30022. A five-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath home built in 1993 on a cul-de-sac with a finished terrace level.
$450,000: 180 Norwick Way, Alpharetta 30022. A four-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath home built in 2005 on a cul-de-sac with a three-car garage.
Source: Community information provided by Maryanne Winchester with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty.
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