House Hunting

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Part of the getting married process for us also involves house hunting. We both want to find a new place that can be "ours". So we decided that we would just start looking at options that would be available to us.

So, today after church we decided to drive up to the Alpharetta area to have lunch (at Steak and Shake) and then meet up with a real estate agent.

The first house we visited was on Karen Drive and was a COMPLETE fixer/upper. After traipsing through the house, we decided that we wanted to choose a place that was move-in ready or would only require minor cosmetic work. Either way we concluded that there was no way we had time to undertake such a huge project no matter the deal we could get.

Our next stop was Briargate which was a swim community in Alpharetta. These were townhouses with 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms. The only downside- the "bedrooms" were TINY and for 150K, we needed more.

We then checked out a neighborhood that turned out to be Alpharetta's ghetto. I was scared to touch anything in the house.

From there we went to Stone Manor and it was one extreme to the other. Stone Manor is an apartment conversion and was my absolute DREAM TOWNHOUSE. Of course for $189,900 it better be spectacular. Then one we looked at was 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, lush carpet, hardwood floors, tile kitchen, chef designed kitchen, etc. The agent then took us to Highgate which is another conversion that is less pretty but for the same price.

After being let down by all the townhouses in the area, Al suggested we up our price a little and hunt for an actual house. The agent took us to Martin's Landing which is a very prestigious neighborhood in Alpharetta. We found an amazing ranch style house that had undergone VERY recent home improvement and made some amazing upgrades. We admired the beautiful granite countertops, tiger hardwood floors, cherry cabinets and new fixtures. There was a beautiful fireplace in the main living room, a sunroom off to the side, and 3 large carpeted bedrooms and 3 decent sized bathrooms. The house also featured a newly poured driveway, a two car garage and a natural landscaped yard that requires little to no maintenance. The back yard is crescent shaped and about 15 feet wide. Beyond that is again that natural landscaping and trees.

Unfortunately, after working a spreadsheet we realized that this house would be out of our means, especially with the cost of the wedding that we are already shouldering.

Regardless, I'm glad that we took an opportunity to check out houses that are out there and see what is in our range of possibility. It was such a productive day and really made me look foward to a future and actually raising a family in such a cute little house.