Melanie and Trevor Bartlett knew buying a home would be difficult while Trevor was stationed in Afghanistan, but they were determined to find a home by the time he returned in February. Battling a 10-hour time difference between Afghanistan and Georgia and a sometimes-shoddy phone or Internet connection, they shared photos through emails, talked in detail about their priorities and managed mounds of paperwork.
Trevor, 32, an electrician for the federal government, and Melanie, 35, an administrative worker, chatted about their three-bedroom home in Tyrone.
Q: Why did you decide to buy now?
Melanie: We wanted to buy a "forever" home. We wanted a place to call home and raise kids. We moved just down the road from his mom, and there's a lot of comfort and security knowing that family is just down the road.
Q: What were you looking for in a home?
Melanie: A brick home with a yard and some privacy. When I saw this one, we really liked the layout and cul-de-sac setting but thought we wanted a four-bedroom. We laid out our concerns through email and decided not to count it out. When he came home for a brief time, we had five to six places narrowed down that we could look at together and decided this one was the only contender. It felt like home.
Q: What was the search like?
Melanie: I had started a new job, and my boss at the time wasn't understanding, and thought I was talking to my sister on the phone in the office. Laura Young (with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties) had become such a good friend that it seemed that way. She was significant in keeping me sane about searching. Trevor's mom also looked at the houses with me, which was a great help.
Q: What did you love about the house?
Trevor: The location. I grew up in Tyrone. Things move at a slower pace, there's not a ton of traffic jams and you don't have to worry about rush hour.
Q: What have you added so far?
Melanie: We've done some renovations, like painting, building an open path from the kitchen to the living room and redesigning the fireplace. These were major things that made it feel like home.
Trevor: Next is a deck and decorating it together. We have quite a few souvenirs from traveling in Italy, Greece, Turkey, Costa Rica, Fiji and Australia to display.
Q: What was the closing process like?
Trevor: There was a lot of paperwork going back and forth. For the house to be in my name, she had to get power of attorney paperwork done three separate times. It got crazy at moments and was one of our biggest issues.
Q: What’s a tip for first-time buyers?
Melanie: Try to have your affairs in order when you buy a house, but be prepared to provide more information every time you turn around, including details about your tax returns, credit history or small gaps in your employment history.
At a glance
The Bartletts’ home, built in 1994 in Tyrone, has three bedrooms, two baths and 2,748 square feet. They bought it in March 2013 for $235,000. Homes in the Pendleton subdivision range from the mid-$200,000s to mid-$300,000s.
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