Mindy Eisenhart grew concerned about toxic mold problems in older homes as she looked for a house with play space and located in a strong school system for her young daughter. Eisenhart, 32, who works in education as a director of career services, refocused her search on new homes instead and bought her first home in Marietta.
The priority
Eisenhart sought a floor plan with the master bedroom on the same floor as her daughter, Ava, who turns 5 on Nov. 12. Working with Karen Smyth, an agent with Keller Williams-Top Atlanta Real Estate, Eisenhart also looked for homes with a laundry room on the same floor as the bedrooms.
“With a child, you do a ton of laundry,” Eisenhart said. “I didn’t want to have to lug clothes from the basement upstairs to the bedroom.”
Friends pointed her to GreatSchools.com, where she researched elementary, middle and high school schools for Ava, who starts kindergarten next year. Real estate brokers also are responding to parents’ requests to provide school information with the listings. For example, Redfin.com recently changed its search options to allow potential buyers to search by school name (by entering it in the location box) and to receive alerts when homes in selected districts come on the market. Redfin.com also includes ratings from GreatSchools.com.
The search
Eisenhart, who started her search in last November, first was interested in older houses. But an inspector told her that he was seeing mold in some vacant homes and that it could be expensive (around $4,000) to remove.
“As soon as he told me about the toxic mold, I was completely turned off,” she said. “I’m thinking to myself, why would I ever get into that situation?”
Focusing on new homes also avoided the expense of adding features, such as granite countertops in the kitchen.
“By the time I would actually get into the home and do the things I wanted to do to make it my own, you almost end up spending as much as you would to almost either find a new home or build,” she said. “A lot of the new construction is relatively affordable.”
The home
She found a new four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath home with about 3,400 square feet and a basement in Marietta’s Granite Mill neighborhood. She moved into the home, which has granite countertops and a breakfast bar in the kitchen, in July.
The floor plan had a playroom for Ava and Eisenhart found organization bins at Target for $50 each for toys and trinkets.
“When I was in the apartment, my living room looked like Toys R Us. I was so excited to get my living space back; 99 percent of her toys are in her playroom and in her bedroom,” she said.
The master bedroom has organization, too - she used California Closets to customize the closet - and a sitting area.
“That was really important, that I had a larger master with the sitting room that was separate from where my bed is, so I can sit and have my space as well,” she said.
The tip
Spend time in the neighborhood before making a decision. Eisenhart visited the neighborhood at random times and looked for who was coming and going in the neighborhood as well as the noise level. She asked residents what they liked about the neighborhood. “The people that live there are going to give the real scoop,” she said.
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