First-Time Homebuyer: Sale of Brookhaven family home leads buyer to Lilburn
Diana Krause lived in her family’s Brookhaven home for 42 years, but when her mother passed away and her father needed to go into a nursing home, they had to sell the home. She found a townhome of her own in Lilburn’s Creekside Manor neighborhood with three bedrooms and maintenance handled by the homeowners association fee of $115 a month. Krause, 48, who works for Delta Life Insurance Co., chatted about her purchase.
Q: How long was your search?
A: Two months. To me it seemed like it was forever. I kept panicking, thinking I’m too picky and my Realtor [Nancy Aroneck, broker associate with Keller Williams Realty Peachtree Road] is going to get aggravated with me.
Q: How did you decide to search outside the Perimeter?
A: We looked close in, but everything that was close in, if it was new, it was going to be way over what I could afford. Sometimes we would just pull up and I would not even want to get out and look [because of the poor condition of some homes in her $100,000s price range]. Nancy would wad up the paper [with information about the home] and throw it in the backseat. I told Nancy I wouldn’t mind living further out. She was like, OK, what do you want [in a home]?
Q: What were some must-haves?
A: I wanted three bedrooms. After 42 years [of living in one place], you’ve got a lot of junk. I wanted a two-car garage. I wanted to walk in from the garage to [main level] of the house. We went to Creekside Manor. Before the on-site agent even showed us the condo, I was like, oh, this is what I want.
Q: What type of monthly mortgage did you want to pay?
A: I didn’t want to go too far over $1,000 a month.
Q: Did you consider other suburban neighborhoods?
A: Some were further out. A friend of mine said I should do the drive to work. One was beyond the Mall of Georgia [in Buford]. I was like, there is no way I could do this drive. Where I am now, it’s only 15 miles to work.
Q: What is a tip for buyers?
A: Find out about the plans for amenities. I thought oh, it would be nice to move somewhere that has a pool. When we first looked [at the listing], there was no pool here. When we came to talk to the on-site agent, they were building a pool. One of the big selling points for me was no yard work. Now, I don’t have to worry about mowing the yard. I don’t have to worry about trimming the shrubbery or putting down new pine straw.
At a Glance
Diana Krause’s new townhome in Lilburn has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and about 2,500 square feet. She purchased it in August. Townhomes in Creekside Manor, a gated neighborhood, are in the $100,000s.
