The search
It’s been a pivotal year for Trip and Rebecca Doster, who had their first child, Brooks, and purchased a home. With the baby on the way, they looked in Alpharetta, Roswell and Brookhaven before finding an area in Sandy Springs with homes from the $250,000s-$350,000s in a top school district. They were moving from the Mableton area.
“We knew eventually we would end up moving, mostly because of the school system. The main reason we moved now was we wanted to be closer to where Trip’s new job [with Young Life] was going to be in Alpharetta,” said Rebecca, 25.
Curb appeal drew their attention as they searched for a home with enough space to expand their family without moving again. They considered three options in Sandy Springs:
No. 1
Ready to move in
The three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home on Angus Trail in the Mountaire Forest neighborhood had an updated kitchen with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, new cabinets and hardwood floors. It was a cute home that would have required no changes, Rebecca said. But it seemed a little small, and the location was near traffic-clogged Johnson Ferry Road. The home, built in 1979, was listed for $325,000.
No. 2
Enough bedrooms?
The three-bedroom, two-bath brick ranch on Underwood Drive in the Mountaire neighborhood (next to Mountaire Forest) also had extras such as a screened porch and a deck with a hot tub. The kitchen had been renovated, with granite countertops and tile backsplash, and it had a breakfast bar. The home also had a full basement, but the couple wondered if the three bedrooms would be enough space for them in the future. The home, built in 1957, was listed for $325,000.
No. 3
Split-level near school
The four-bedroom, three-bath home on Colewood Court backed up to a school, and the cozy Colewood Manor neighborhood had a setting where the couple saw themselves going for a walk with Brooks. A deck overlooked the fenced backyard. The home offered additional storage space and room in the unfinished basement. Some of the rooms needed wallpaper removed and painting, but not major repairs. The home, built in 1957, was pricier than the others, at $335,000.
The choice
No. 3. The couple first made an offer on No. 1, but the sellers decided to take the house off the market in the midst of negotiations. Working with Chrissy Neumann of Keller Williams First Atlanta Realty they found the home on Colewood, and after a couple of rounds of negotiations, their offer of $304,000 was accepted. “We felt like we were getting a good deal on it,” said Trip, 37. They closed on the home in January and had their baby in February. In addition to painting, they pulled out the carpet in the nursery and guest bedroom and stained the existing hardwood floors. “We felt like it was a good size for us to be in for a while as we grow our family,” Rebecca said.
