For her first home, Amber Cook envisioned two stories with a bay window while her husband Ben wanted an office and a community with no restrictive homeowner’s association.
The Cooks were renting an apartment in Lawrenceville but saw the opportunity to stay in Gwinnett County and buy a home in the low to mid $100,000s.
“I’ve been watching the home market for two years and realizing we really should start looking for a house. We finally got enough money saved up to start looking,” said Ben, 32, a systems engineer. “Within two months of looking, we found a house.”
Searching with Sharon Kunz of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties, the Cooks considered these three Gwinnett County homes.
No. 1
Traditional two-story
A three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home on Stream Walk Drive in Loganville was on nearly three-quarters of an acre, with a level backyard and landscaped front yard. A partially finished basement offered space for an office, which made up for fact that there were only three bedrooms. The home was missing the bay window that Amber wanted. The home, built in 2001 in the Victoria Place neighborhood, was listed for $129,900.
No. 2
Office space and more
A four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home on Summit Springs Court in Loganville stood out with granite countertops and new appliances in the kitchen and garden tub in the master bathroom. One bedroom already was being used as an office. A sunroom and deck overlooked the fenced backyard, which had a fire pit. There was a new roof and hardwood floors throughout most of the downstairs. The home, built in 1994, was listed for $146,000.
No. 3
Short sale situation
A four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home on Meadowfield Court in Lawrenceville also was a two-story house, and it had formal living and dining rooms. The home had a fenced backyard and interior details such as a fireplace in the family room and plenty of cabinets in the kitchen, which was important to Amber. But the front yard was sparse. The home, built in 1988 in Greenfield Estates, was listed for $130,000.
The Choice
No. 2. The Cooks originally put a full-price offer on the Victoria Place home (No. 1), but the seller chose a cash offer for less than the asking price, Kunz said. They were starting to get frustrated, so when Amber viewed the home they bought, they put in an offer before Ben could tour the property. Amber, 30, who works in customer support, said she told him he was going to love the home. “It had everything that we wanted. He trusted me,” she said. They closed on the home in November and didn’t even have to change the paint colors.
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