Lilburn held memories for Rick and Robyn Bold, who grew up in the Gwinnett County city, so they returned home to purchase their first place. They found a deal on a new home that they thought was too good to pass up in The Legends at Parkview.
Rick, 32, an attorney with Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore, and Robyn, 33, a stay-at-home mom, chatted about their five-bedroom home by D.R. Horton in Gwinnett County’s sought-after Parkview High School district.
Q: How long did you search?
Rick: We had been talking about it for about a year. The actual search, it was probably about 10 days from when we decided let's go look for a house and put in an offer. There's so much information on the Internet, you can be sitting in your den and narrow it down to a handful of options before heading out the door.
Q: What is an online tool that you used?
Rick: Clickscape.com. It has more detail about houses than you typically find on real estate websites. It lets you look at the full content (about the homes) before signing up for anything. It's simple to use. (They connected with their agent, Ginger Lightburn of Solid Source Realty, through Clickscape.)
Q: As you looked online, what main qualities were you seeking in a home?
Rick: We wanted something a little newer and more spacious. We wanted four bedrooms, if we could get it. We have two little girls (Abby, 4, and Caroline, 2). The floor plan is what drove us to the newer house. It's different from what we grew up in. Both of us grew up in a two-story traditional home, but it was more boxy and smaller rooms.
Q: As you looked at the floor plan, how did you buy with the kids in mind?
Robyn: I was longing for an area that we could use as a playroom. The fact that this house had five bedrooms allowed us to designate a playroom right now while they're young.
Q: How did the negotiations go?
Rick: They had just recently dropped the price. We really didn't have any leverage as far as the purchase price. We offered what they were asking. As an incentive, they paid the closing costs and gave us some extra money ($10,000) for upgrades (such as appliances, shutters and built-in bookcases).
Q: How do you think using an agent can assist buyers?
Rick: The main thing was you do a lot of strategy talking ahead of time on what you are going to offer, what are you going to counter with. You find a house that you want and you're so scared that someone is going to swoop in ahead of you the day before you make an offer and gobble it up.
Q: Since you grew up in Lilburn, what amenities does the area offer buyers?
Rick: There are a number of really, really good parks around here. Mountain Park has a huge playground and sports facilities and teams for kids. That's a real strength of the area.
Robyn: Stone Mountain Park is about 10 minutes from here.
Rick: I also see Lilburn as one of the closer suburbs to the city. On the weekend or early in the morning, it's only 20-25 minutes to Midtown or Georgia Tech games or the zoo.
At a Glance
Rick and Robyn Bold’s new home in Lilburn’s The Legends at Parkview has five bedrooms, four baths and about 4,200 square feet. They purchased it in February and, with their lender's approval, they received a $6,000 rebate for using an agent that is partnering with Clickscape.com. Rebate amounts, which come from the agent's commission, are based on the home price and how much work the buyer does on his own searching for a home, Lightburn said. New homes in The Legends at Parkview are listed in the low- to mid-$300,000s.
