Angela Burroughs drove by about 100 homes on the market, letting curb appeal determine if it was worth walking into the home.
"I'm a big HGTV fan, so I knew that it was going to take a lot of research on our part. We thought if we drove by, we could get a pretty good picture without even having to go inside," said Burroughs, who works for a sales and marketing firm and turns 33 on Aug. 19.
Working with Connie Wolff, an agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Burroughs and her fiance, Randy Walker, narrowed the location to Alpharetta, where they work, or Cumming.
"The market is saturated perhaps, but not with quality homes. That's what we were really running into," she said. "You were having to put some work in."
The contenders included these three homes.
No. 1: Fabulous foreclosure
A four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath home on Morning Pine Court in Alpharetta had been updated with new carpet and paint. Vaulted ceilings in the family room added to the openness. The home also sat on a cul-de-sac in the Highland Park swim-tennis community. It was a foreclosure, being sold under Fannie Mae's HomePath financing program, and they knew they would need to move quickly if putting in an offer. The home, built in 1993, was priced for $234,900.
No. 2: Popular neighborhood
A five-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath brick home on Willow Tree Way in Alpharetta's Windward subdivision stood out with new granite countertops, backsplash and appliances in the kitchen. It also had new hardwood floors and interior paint, plus a huge wraparound porch. "We really liked the Windward subdivision. I like a lot of trees, and there was space between the houses," Burroughs said. But she said the seller had done a partial renovation, and more work was needed to the home. The home, built in 1988, was listed for $239,900.
No. 3: Former model
The five-bedroom, four-bath home on Sandalwood Way in Cumming had a multitude of upgrades (from the hardware to appliances), since it had been the model home in the James Creek neighborhood. A mixture of stone, brick and siding in hunter green created curb appeal. "All the houses in the subdivision have their own twist on it, so it's not cookie cutter," Burroughs said. It lacked a basement, which they wanted, but offered a bonus room. It had a fenced yard for her Labrador retriever, Angel, but the house backed up to the road. The home, built in 2007, was listed for $278,900.
The Choice: No. 3
She joined multiple bidders for No. 1, but was outbid. On No. 2, she made an offer and planned on getting a renovation loan. But the repairs were greater than they expected, and they unsuccessfully tried to negotiate to reduce the price of the home by $5,000, Wolff said. The price of No. 3 already had been dropped by more than $50,000. "We felt like we got a good deal. There was only one counter, and we agreed upon the price. It was actually a lot smoother," Burroughs said. She closed on the home in May. "It's amazing. When it feels right, you just know it."
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