The housing market delivered Ryan and Erika Griffin a baby gift when the price dropped on a home originally beyond their price range. They hurried to put in an offer, even though their second child had just been born.
The priority
The couple had lived in a two-bedroom town home in Duluth for 12 years. The tough part of being in a town home was that it lacked extra spaces, such as a playroom for their first child, Anna, who is 7. Other must-haves were four bedrooms and a basement, said Erika, who works in international trade compliance.
The search
The year-plus house hunt began before Erika learned she was pregnant with their second child, Emma, who was born in January 2013.
“We looked for a long time. We knew the area we wanted to live in. We wanted to stay in the Duluth/Suwanee area,” Erika said. “We would look a lot on our own just driving around and trying to get (to know) the area so that when we were ready to make a decision we could.”
Working with Connie Cunningham of Solid Source Realty, they viewed homes and waited for prices to stabilize and interest rates to reach record lows, said Ryan, an avionics systems engineer. He wanted to stay within the $250,000 or less price range so they would be comfortable with their mortgage payment. Some homes were more downtrodden than they expected and required extensive work.
They had been keeping an eye on the River Plantation neighborhood in Duluth, but the home they bought was originally listed for $319,000. The front yard was on a hill, and the entire yard needed landscaping. But they kept the house on their list, since it met their criteria. The day Erika went into labor, they learned the price had been lowered.
“After Emma was born, I came over here with Connie and took a look at the house,” Ryan said.
They made an offer the next day and closed on the home in March 2013.
The home
The four-bedroom, three-bath home with an unfinished basement was built in 1998 and was located near the Suwanee border. Kid-friendly features included a Jack-and-Jill bathroom with separate vanities for the girls, and while cooking, they can watch the girls playing in the living room. While the kitchen has the counterspace and cabinets they need, they plan to replace the laminated countertops and have started to update the white appliances with a new stainless steel refrigerator.
Erika also enjoys having a dining area to host family and holiday events, which is a space they lacked in their town home. Having an unfinished basement was a bonus, since some of the finished basements they viewed were divided into small rooms. They envision creating an open area for entertaining and an additional bedroom, home theater and storage space.
In the backyard, they removed some trees to open up the space, and Mayer Environmental created a retaining wall with hand-laid stone to divide the backyard into two levels and add visual appeal.
The lifestyle
Ryan’s office is 7 miles away, which allows him to help out with the kids in the afternoon, since Erika has a longer commute. The location near Sugarloaf Mills is convenient for Erika to join up with rideshare partners and to catch the Gwinnett County Transit bus to downtown Atlanta.
“I’m very happy that Ryan had the patience he had. He encouraged me to be patient, and I’m very glad we did because we definitely got the best house for us,” Erika said. “The right house is out there. You might have to look at a lot of less desirable houses before you find the one that’s right for you.”
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