Lauren Novak was enticed by seeing larger homes with garages and basements in suburban Atlanta, as she and her husband, Jim, considered moving from the Avondale Estates home they had remodeled. They had gutted the house prior to having their son, Davis, who is 6, but realized they needed different spaces as he moved out of the toddler stage and into his school years.
Living in Duluth or Suwanee also would put the family closer to Jim’s job in Duluth, where he worked for a company in the wireless industry. However, after looking online for about a year at suburban homes on the market, their search led them closer to home.
The priority
The Novaks’ son was entering kindergarten, so they waited to see how their experience was with the school in Avondale Estates. “We said, ‘Let’s see how the kindergarten goes. If it isn’t working out, that will be our answer,’” Lauren said. “But we loved the school, he loved the school. We decided to stay in the neighborhood.”
The search
After the Novaks narrowed their search to Avondale Estates, one home they saw listed online was a house they had viewed 10 years ago, when they bought their current home. “Almost immediately I saw this house and that was it,” Lauren said.
At that time, it was at the top of their price range and the Novaks estimated it would require another $100,000 to remodel and update the ’60s-style fixtures and features. She remembered the basement and patio at that home, which also had a pool. They worked with Carol and Susan Fuller with Alma Fuller Realty Co.
“It was back on the market for the same exact price and all of that work had been done,” she said. “The bathrooms were dated. The people who bought the house before us redid all of the bathrooms. They smoothed the ceilings. They put in recessed lighting. They replaced the flooring.”
The home
The traditional five-bedroom, four-and-a-half bath home, built in 1966, boasted a basement with a huge playroom, bar, fireplace and an area for a bedroom or office. The front and back yards, which are level and have room for equipment such as a basketball goal, is a great area for Davis to play and to use a scooter or skateboard. “It’s a completely different layout than our previous house. Our last house had a really narrow deep yard, but the majority of it was on a slant and wooded,” she said.
The layout also offered space for Lauren, who works for a human capital consulting firm, to have a home office. Another draw was the attached two-car garage. The Novaks said most Avondale Estates homes have single garages. “Most houses, if they have a two-car garage, they’re not attached,” Jim said.
The tip
Consider how your child or children will play inside and outside in the future. “Right now, we’ve got a great play space for a 6-year-old and elementary student,” Lauren said. She can envision them staying in the home as he becomes a teenager, with a few changes. “Right now, we’re using the bedrooms upstairs. As he gets older, we may come down to a bedroom on the main level and he can kind of have his space,” she said.
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