Brandon Booker grew up in suburban Atlanta, specifically Marietta. Virginia Lee’s family lived inside the Perimeter and she now works in Midtown.
The couple, who plan to get married in October, looked for a “happy medium” between OTP, or Outside the Perimeter, and ITP, or Inside the Perimeter. A Chamblee bungalow for less than $250,000 provided that spot.
Booker, 27, who works for Bridge Terminal Transport, and Virginia, 26, who works for Echo Global Logistics, chatted about their two-bedroom home in Ashford Park, a neighborhood that borders Chamblee and Brookhaven in DeKalb County.
Q: What were you looking for in a home?
Lee: We wanted something unique. We found a lot of cookie-cutter townhouses. We were looking for some old Atlanta charm. Melanie knows so much about the quintessential Atlanta neighborhoods. She also knew we wanted more family oriented rather than smack dab in the city.
Booker: A yard for our dog (a shepherd mix named Bruiser). We wanted to let him be able to run around and have a yard.
Q: Describe what your search was like.
Booker: They were going really fast. You have to make a decision quickly, but it's such a big decision you don't want to make it too quickly.
Q: What did you realize about searching for a home?
Booker: We noticed that it feels right immediately. For me, it was the front yard. It was a perfect front yard for an Easter egg hunt for kids. It dips down to the hill and to a creek. It was a quintessential Atlanta home in a great neighborhood.
Q: What’s something you learned about buying a home?
Booker: The importance of inspections. I went around with the inspector and he taught me some tips and tricks with the water heater and things to look out for. As a first-time homebuyer, that was great.
Q: What changes are you making?
Lee: We're redoing the bathroom with a slate-type floor and subway tile. We have plans to redo the kitchen. We are doing things to maximize the space. Right now, we're receding the fridge into the entry coat closet. We decided we could make it shallower and use it as a linen closet.
Booker: It doubles the space. It makes such as huge difference.
Q: How did you celebrate buying the home?
Lee: We called it our barbecue and bubbly party. We didn't have tables. We had some boxes that we threw tarps over. We had barbecue from Old Brick Pit Barbecue. We had some champagne.
Q: What’s something being a homeowner has taught you?
Booker: I appreciate the yard work my dad made me do when I was younger. I take pride in it. I'm making my family's home look the best it can.
At a Glance
Virginia Lee and Brandon Booker’s home, built in 1948, has two bedrooms, one bath and 1,014 square feet. They purchased it in April, assisted by Melanie Birchfield of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty. Homes in the Ashford Park neighborhood are listed from $285,000 to more than $1 million.
