Lifestyle Community
Morningside
Susan Berlin and Jeff Rice were moving from Greenville, S.C., back to Atlanta for Susan’s job with Sprint. The couple liked intown living, but with 7-year-old twins, they felt they should consider the suburbs. They knew they wanted good schools, so Debe Greene, a real estate agent with Keller Williams Premier Atlanta, took them on a tour of Cobb County. Berlin said she wasn’t sold on the ’burbs, and since she had heard good things from friends about Morningside schools, they decided to look there. Susan chatted about their search.
Q: What were you looking for in a home?
A: We had just remodeled a kitchen in Greenville. I really didn't want to have to remodel another kitchen. We were looking for a house that didn't need too much work and also had three, preferably four, bedrooms.
Q: Do you find a lot in your price range in good condition?
A: Not really. When I saw this house online, I told Debe it was my favorite one. It had all the things we were looking for. It was in our range. Ideally, if we could have had anything we wanted, I would have bought a newer house. But getting a newer house in an older neighborhood, it's hard to do -- especially in the range that we were looking at. This is not a newer house. It's 1941. ... It was in pretty good shape. The kitchen had been remodeled, so that was a plus. It had four bedrooms, plus an additional bedroom in the basement.
Q: Does it have play space for your twins?
A: It has a play set out back, which is another little bonus. Another plus for them was they used to share a room in our old house. Here, with four plus a guest room, [they don't have to]. I also have my own office.
Q: What is your commute like?
A: It's not that bad (to the Cumberland Mall area, at I-75 and I-285). It's kind of shocking. Every time I've driven to or from work, it's taken me just under 20 minutes each time.
Q: Do you need to make changes to the home?
A: It needs a lot of electrical work. We had mold removed. We did it before we moved in. It's mostly done, but there's still a little mold. [There were] numerous electrical issues. Outlets don't work. When you flip switches, they don't do anything. I have an electrician from when I lived here before. I found him again. ... He'll come back until it's done.
Q: Did the sellers remove the mold?
A: They gave us a break on the price. The inspector found that almost every single window is rotten. Eventually, and probably not too far in the future, we're probably going to have to replace all the windows, which is a big expense.
At a glance
Jeff Rice and Susan Berlin’s home, built in 1941, has four bedrooms, four baths and about 2,900 square feet of livable space. They purchased it in December.
Morningside
County: Fulton
Information: mlpa.org (Morningside-Lenox Park Neighborhood Association)
Homes: 3,383 (Figure provided by Morningside-Lenox Park Neighborhood Association)
Price range: Mid $200,000s to $2.95 million
Amenities: Parks and playgrounds
Homeowners fees: None (Homeowners can join the Morningside-Lenox Park Neighborhood Association)
Schools: Morningside Elementary, Inman Middle, Grady High
More on schools: schools.ajchomefinder.com
Getting there
Take I-75/I-85 to the 14th Street exit and travel east to Piedmont Road. Turn left onto Piedmont Road. Turn right onto East Morningside, which is the first light after Monroe Avenue.
For sale
$699,000: 731 E. Morningside Drive, Atlanta 30324. A four-bedroom, 41/2-bath renovated home built in 1935 with original casement windows and stained millwork.
$790,000: 693 Cumberland Road N.E., Atlanta 30306. A five-bedroom, three-bath home built in 1930 with a carriage house and an outdoor living space.
Recent sales
$585,000: 1628 N. Pelham Road N.E., Atlanta 30306. A three-bedroom, 21/2-bath home built in 1930 with a sunroom and new deck.
$1.95 million: 1725 Merton Road N.E., Atlanta 30306. A five-bedroom, five-bath and two half-bath home built in 2001 with a pool, outdoor kitchen and a finished lower level.
Community information provided by Debe Greene with Keller Williams Premier Atlanta and compiled by Delaney Young.
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