Knocking Down Walls

This Saturday was our first outing looking at potential future homes. I decided to be open on this excursion, since my partner said that I might be too rigid in what I want. Well, to my surprise…

We looked at five homes  in the Brookhaven/Chamblee area. They 1950/60's ranch style homes, and three of them had additions and major renovations done to prep for sale. Upon walking in, I could see us moving into four of the five houses. Troy however rejected ALL of them. Who's rigid now?

Of the renovated homes, one was much more well done than the others. It felt cozy and I got excited thinking about landscaping and painting. However, that was when I created my first home-seeker rule. 

Rule #1: When you walk into a house, and immediately want to knock down more than two walls, it's probably not for you. 

I found myself wanting to tear down a multitude of walls to create a more open living room or bedroom or basement. That's a lot of wasted drywall. So maybe the goal is not to find "the perfect house", but the house with the least amount of major changes.

The one house Troy could've approved was more along my preferences: two story, big main floor and basement. However, I'd much rather have four nice-sized bedrooms (with full closets), than five tiny ones without. 

After this first field trip, we decided to broaden our search areas, adding in properties in Smyrna and Vinings, in addition to Dunwoody, and Sandy Springs. Although if a nice abode in Chastain Park opens up, call me first! 


Our new additional criteria are: 
Solid four bedrooms, 2,000+ square feet. 
If there has been additional construction, it must be quality construction. 
No crazy basement graffiti, or abandoned dirty cottages on the property.
The house must not be in a gully (water damage).