Steve Ruff’s lease was running out, so he took on the challenge of finding a new, non-ranch home that was close to his job in Decatur. Ruff, 24, who works for Waveguide Consulting, an audio-visual consulting firm, chatted about his purchase of an award-winning home rebuilt by EPIC Development in Atlanta.
Q: Where were you living?
A: I graduated from Georgia Tech in 2009 and I was living in an apartment in Old Fourth Ward.
Q: How did you proceed with your search?
A: A guy I worked with recommended a Realtor (Shannon Makaila with Harry Norman, Realtors). She took me around and showed me a bunch of different houses after I showed her what features I was looking for. She helped narrow it down to Oakhurst/Decatur.
Q: What features did you want?
A: I was looking for two stories, hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, kind of a modern kitchen. Some sort of a garage was a requirement.
Q: Why did you desire two stories?
A: I have never been a big fan of the ranch-style house. I don’t like everything on one floor, kind of spread out.
Q: What else did you like about the home you bought?
A: I really liked the floor plan. Because I was catching it so early in the construction process, I would get to choose a lot of the finishes and appliances and really have a say with the types of materials.
Q: What type of research did you do on the builder?
A: They had a website with photos of the other jobs they had done. They took me around and showed me some of the other houses they were working on, too. There’s another house down the street that they had finished. I talked to the people who moved in … that gave me some confidence in the builder.
Q: What did you learn about the property?
A: They tore the home (a one-story home originally built in the 1940s) down to the foundation and then they were able to reuse some of the exterior brick. They basically gutted it and built everything new on the inside to turn it into a two-story.
Q: What are some cool features you picked out?
A: All the fixtures are brushed nickel. I think it’s more of a modern look to the home instead of the oil rubbed bronze look that I saw in a lot of the older homes. The other cool feature is the showerhead in the master bathroom that comes out of the ceiling. There’s one above you and one that comes out of the wall.
Q: Did it have a garage?
A: There was enough space for me to have a detached garage built, and I have done that.
Q: What was the overall process like?
A: It was way more stressful than just getting a new lease on an apartment. It’s all worth it in the end, just not having to worry about neighbors making too much noise or myself making too much noise.
At a Glance
Steve Ruff’s home in the Oakhurst/East Lake area has four bedrooms, three baths and about 2,000 square feet. He purchased it for $360,000 in May. The redevelopment project won an OBIE Award last year from the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association.
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