Joe and Mollie Herzberger, physician assistants in the ER, have raised their three kids in Forsyth County for 11 years. When they decided to purchase a larger home, they didn’t want their kids, Gaige, 11, Avery, 9, and Ryan, 4, to change school districts.
A bold move helped them find a home with more space to play, just 2 miles from their previous home.
The priority
The Herzbergers put a basement on the top of their list so they could have a separate space for the kids and their friends to play.
“We wanted to be able to have our kids’ friends over more easily,” Mollie said. “We really wanted a basement because we didn’t have one before.”
In their previous home, the kids usually played with their friends in the living area, which made the house seem crowded. The couple wanted to make their new home a place where the kids felt comfortable and would bring their friends, but still have the play area separate from the main living space.
“As they got older, we wanted to keep our kids around as much as possible,” Mollie said.
The family had four bedrooms, but wanted at least one more in this move. They hoped to find another spacious yard with woods in the back.
“We had woods behind our old house and the kids loved it,” Mollie said.
The search
The couple heard through a friend that a man in a nearby neighborhood was thinking about listing his home. The five-bedroom home was not on the market yet, but Joe went to the home and asked if he was planning to sell and at what price. He was willing to sell and negotiate a price.
“I’m usually pretty shy, but I knocked on the door and introduced myself,” Joe said. “The house had everything we wanted and more.”
The couple closed on the Cumming home in June, assisted by their real estate agent, Stephanie Cole Patterson of the Cole Team.
The home
The basement was finished in 2008 with a ceiling-to-floor stacked stone fireplace, trey ceiling, bamboo floors, full bath and guest bedroom. There also was a storage room and a room off the fireplace area that they use as a playroom, Mollie said. French doors in the basement open onto a big deck, which was recently stained.
The previous owner had installed granite countertops and stainless steel appliances in the kitchen. The couple repainted and replaced the floors.
All of the houses in the Forsyth County neighborhood sit on large lots, including their property, which is over an acre of land.
Now, their kids frequently bring friends over to play in the basement and the woods. The couple even used a projector in the backyard to create an outdoor movie theater for the kids.
The tip
Take time to pack in advance of your move-out date, instead of procrastinating. The Herzbergers began packing their things months in advance and placed some items in a storage unit. “I think you just have to realize that it’s a process and it takes a long time,” Mollie said.
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