Neighborhood a surprise to couple

Whitney Wolf and his fiancée, Ashley Barnett, discovered the west Midtown area offered homes in their price range, proximity to restaurants and shops and a skyline view. Wolf, 26, a preparator at Jackson Fine Art in Buckhead, chatted about his first home, a bungalow in Atlanta’s Hills Park neighborhood.

Q: When did you decide to search for a home?

A: It was in the cold, dark winter. When we began, my mom (Bonnie S. Wolf with Harry Norman, Realtors) started showing us neighborhoods like Kirkwood and Oakhurst and East Atlanta Village. We just felt so defeated because every house in our price range in most of those neighborhoods [was] what most people would call a tear-down. All of them were just nasty. So we were like, "Man, we'll never be able to buy a house that's decent in a decent neighborhood." We quit looking. But we knew that the interest rate was going to rise and the tax credit was going to expire. We were thinking, now is a better time than ever, and if we wait a year or two, we're not going to afford it.

Q: How did you find this home?

A: My mom sent me an e-mail and said we should check out this house. I thought it would be some piece of trash we'll never enjoy. I didn't open the e-mail for a week. She went over there and said it's a great buy. I opened the attachment and I said, "Wow, this is actually a really great house and it's within my price range." My fiancée said it's really cute.

Q: What did you think when you saw it in person?

A: I could not believe it was this price and in this neighborhood, which is on the upswing. It had the total package. It had a yard in the front and back. It had a skyline view. It had a separate detached garage. It had tall ceilings. The panes on the windows are ginormous, and they're the original wood windows. It had all the original, solid, sturdy wood doors.

Q: Had you known about the neighborhood?

A: I didn't even know the neighborhood existed. I just assumed that everything west of Howell Mill Road was industrial. It's a cute little neighborhood behind Taqueria del Sol (in the Westside Urban Market).

Q: What was the condition like?

A: It was built in 1920. It was perfectly livable. It was structurally sound. But it was way outdated. In 90 years, it had three owners, and the last owner has been there since the '60s. The whole house was carpeted, including the kitchen. We pulled up the shag carpet and there were beautiful heart-of-pine floors.

Q: What were the negotiations like?

A: That day we made an offer. The seller inherited the home when his father passed away. He was about to put some money into the home to fix it up. We said we would offer him a lower price if he didn't make any changes and let us take care of it. He accepted it the next day.

Q: How difficult was it to obtain financing?

A: It was like a white-knuckle experience. At the end, I felt like I had to give my blood samples and my cat's name and everything was out there on the table, exposed. I just felt so vulnerable. Once it was over, it was a huge relief.

Q: What changes have you made to the home?

A: The first thing we did was rip out the carpet and start sanding the wood floors. We're going to put a door on the garage because the garage didn't have a door.

At a glance

Whitney Wolf’s home has two bedrooms, one bath and about 1,349 square feet of livable space. He purchased the home in April.

Hills Park

Address: 1628 Carroll Drive N.W., Atlanta 30318 (See listing information below)

County: Fulton

Price range: Low $100,000s -- mid $200,000s

Square footage: 1,000-1,500, on average

Lot sizes: Less than one-third acre, on average

Homeowners fees: None

Schools: Bolton Academy Elementary, Sutton Middle, North Atlanta High

More on schools: schools.ajchomefinder.com

Getting there

Take I-75 north to Exit 252B (Howell Mill Road) and turn left. Turn right onto Chattahoochee Avenue. Turn left onto Carroll Drive.

For sale

$224,500: 1628 Carroll Drive N.W., Atlanta 30318. A two-bedroom, two-bath bungalow built in 1930 with shaker-style cabinets, beveled tile and honed granite counter tops in the kitchen, and a full basement.