Emily Love’s experience living in Manhattan factored into her first home search in Atlanta. She wanted a walkable setting, but Emily and her husband, Jonathan, faced multiple challenges when they found a home in Atlanta’s pedestrian-friendly Virginia-Highland neighborhood with cockroaches and in bankruptcy. Jonathan, 29, a management consultant for Bain & Co., and Emily, 28, who works for the Atlanta mayor’s office, chatted about their purchase.
Q: Why was the location so important?
A: Emily: I lived in Atlanta previously, about five years ago. I very much lived the traditional Atlanta lifestyle where you drove everywhere. I felt very disconnected from the community. After living in New York, it was important to be living in a community where we could walk.
Q: What choices did you find in your price range?
A: Jonathan: At first, not so much. We were looking for three bedrooms, two bathrooms at least so family can come visit, and future bedrooms for kids. There were a bunch of places we saw that were $400,000, $500,000 and smaller. We found some for $900,000 and far too large. Then we saw three or four in $600,000-$750,000 [the top of their price range].
Emily: The biggest thing in the Highlands was looking at the upkeep that would be required. They were really great houses, but they were 80 to 100 years old.
Q: What was the condition of the house you bought?
A: Jonathan: We walked in and there were no appliances. There were cockroaches everywhere.
Emily: They had taken out all the light fixtures, mirrors, bathroom fixtures. Everything was gone. It was built really well. We didn’t have to change any walls or do major repairs.
Jonathan: It kind of worked out as the perfect sweet spot as it’s not move-in ready, but all the stuff that has to be done is the stuff that you want to do to make it your house.
Q: Despite the problems, what features sold you on the home?
A: Emily: The house has gorgeous molding. The way the previous owners had painted it, it had walls and molding the exact same color, so they blended together. When we used different colors, we really brought that out.
Q: What was it like to purchase a home in the bankruptcy process?
A: Jonathan: Through your agent, you put in a bid. It goes to a bankruptcy trustee agent, who manages the previous owners’ estate. Rather than hearing back from an owner, you’re hearing back from someone who is acting on behalf of the owner. The only bit of a surprise for us was in order for the final sale to go through, it had to be approved by the court.
Emily: It was sort of a hurry-up-and-wait. Once they accepted our bid, we had seven days to get approved and get an inspection. Then a two-month wait until the court date.
Q: What was the most stressful part of the process?
A: Jonathan: When the first mortgage holder [of two] objected to the price on the day before we thought we were going to close and get the keys to our home, it was definitely very stressful. It was probably somewhat inevitable that it was going to go through, but when you’re waiting to hear if there’s a court session [to resolve the mortgage issue], it got a little stressful.
Q: Since moving in, what major changes have you made?
A: Emily: We added some built-ins. We redid the kitchen (working with Blake Shaw Homes). That’s where we invested the most money and most time (about $30,000 total). We got to pick our own appliances. We added a farm sink, which I’m really excited about.
At a Glance
Jonathan and Emily Love’s home, built in 2006 in Virginia-Highland, has four bedrooms, 31/2 baths and about 3,250 square feet. They purchased it in December, assisted by Laurie Nixon, a real estate agent with Redfin. Homes in the area range from $650,000 to $1.2 million.
