By Carolyn Crist
For the AJC
As the housing market picked up in 2013, Mike and Jennie Moshure knew they wanted to invest while interest rates remained low and before prices climbed higher. The couple lived in Sandy Springs, but desired to move inside the perimeter and near a good school system since they planned to start a family.
The Moshures heard about Reserve at Brookleigh, a new Ashton Woods neighborhood in Brookhaven, and put their names on the waiting list before seeing the floor plans or pricing. Mike, 35, a marketing director for Star 94, and Jennie, 28, a real estate agent for Keller Williams, chatted about their four-bedroom home.
Q: How was the new construction process?
Jennie: After we put the money down, we started working with a great team to design the house. It was frightening to pick out what we wanted our whole house to look like months away from moving into it. We picked granite, tile, paint colors and the brick before it even broke ground in January 2014. The winter was rough with the cold days, and we thought it would push back the closing date, but our house was done on time in the spring.
Mike: It felt like a long process, but it's hard to imagine doing it in a shorter time frame. We'd go every couple of days to see the new progress, and I'd take a photo across the street so we'd have a photo timeline of the house being built.
Q: What do you love about the house?
Mike: It's starting to feel like home now. For the first couple of weeks, the shower felt huge and like we were at a vacation rental.
Jennie: We have an open kitchen with double ovens and a five-burner stove, which is great to have people over and have enough room for everyone.
Q: What have you added so far?
Jennie: We built a nursery for our baby girl. We got engaged in Paris, so it's a Paris-themed nursery with stenciling on the wall behind the crib.
Q: What was the first night in the home like?
Jennie: The first night we stayed in the house was surreal as we had waited for months for the home to be built. We didn't have a bed yet, so we slept on our new mattress on the floor using boxes as nightstands. Of course, we were exhausted from moving and wanted to sleep late, which is when we realized that the sun rises directly into our bedroom windows. The next purchase was blackout curtains.
Q: What’s a tip for first-time buyers?
Mike: Realize that builders are humans as well, and not every single cut will be perfect. The flaws will make it your home. One piece of wood will always be crooked, and you can't be picky about every single paint blemish. You can't live in a show home for the rest of your life.
At a Glance
Mike and Jennie Moshure’s new home has four bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms and 3,000 square feet. Single-family homes in Reserve at Brookleigh range from the low $600,000s to high $700,000s, and townhomes range from the mid $400,000s to mid $500,000s.
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