At a Glance
Brad and Rebekah Daniell’s home, built in 1986 in Dunwoody’s Briers North neighborhood, has five bedrooms, three and a half baths and about 2,467 square feet. They purchased it in May, assisted by Gretchen Keyser, president and managing broker of Key Realty. Homes in Briers North have recently sold in the mid $200,000s to low $300,000s.
Brad and Rebekah Daniell desired to find a home with traditional architecture north of the Perimeter. It sounded simple, but over five months they put offers on homes and withdrew contracts after inspections or negotiations.
The couple overcame multiple bidders to purchase a foreclosure in a DeKalb County community filled with Victorian architecture. Brad, 25, an eighth-grade science teacher, and Rebekah, 25, a school media specialist, chatted about moving out of their rental house into an unexpected find in Dunwoody’s Briers North neighborhood, just 1 mile from Brad’s job and near their family.
Q: What were your priorities?
Brad: We wanted a home we could grow into. We wanted one central to our jobs.
Q: How did you define a home you could "grow into"?
Brad: Four bedrooms and at least 1,900 square feet. The rental property was about 1,300-1,400 square feet. In a matter of three months, we had outgrown all of that and used two bedrooms for wedding presents and storage. We wanted some place for storage, whether it was a basement or walk-in attic.
Q: How many contracts did you put on homes?
Rebekah: This was our fourth contract. A house in Marietta was a great house, but it needed a ton of work. And it backed up to power lines. A measurement reading was off the charts. I couldn't live there knowing it might be a hazard. Then one up in Crabapple was a short sale. The bank came back with a much higher number. It wasn't enough house for what we were paying.
Q: How did you find this one?
Rebekah: I saw the front of the house in the listing, and I didn't like it. It wasn't traditional. But when I did click on it, I loved the inside. The house has character — crown molding, built-in bookshelves, floor-to-ceiling windows.
Q: How quickly did you move on it?
Rebekah: We went to see it on a Thursday afternoon. We went to put an offer in Friday morning, but it was already under contract. I felt such a strong connection to this house. I said, let's just wait and see if the contract falls through. Ten days later, the contract fell through. Then it went to multiple offers. We put in our highest bid. Then we waited. We were about to withdraw our offer to bid on another house. The bank said, "Why are you withdrawing your offer? You got it." They just hadn't told us.
Q: Did any surprise greet you when you moved in?
Rebekah: The week after we moved in, our roof started leaking. Insurance covered it. That was a wake-up call that things break and you have to fix them.
Q: What's a tip for other buyers?
Brad: Check with your mortgage broker daily. (Ours) called us two days before the closing and told us we would not be able to close until the following Monday. We had everything set to move on the weekend. But they didn't get the paperwork filed quickly enough.
Rebekah: It was very frustrating. We got our landlord to extend our lease a few days.
Q: Do you see Atlanta's housing market changing?
Rebekah: We didn't really feel like it was a buyer's market. All of the good homes were literally off the market in two or three days. If it was a good price in a good location and didn't need a ton of work or have dead bodies in the basement, it was gone.
About the Author
