Compromise Location, Option 2

This is the last post in my House Hunters segment (well, until we actually get ready to buy a house!). Previous posts include an intro, a look at our “ideal house,” a look at our ideal neighborhood and our first compromise location.

The second compromise area we may look at is an area known as East Cobb. Mike’s commute would increase a little bit; mine would be about the same. East Cobb is not an area we originally considered. It is a very large area and I tend to prefer smaller communities. However, East Cobb is extremely family-friendly and when we realized that it would also mean a reasonable commute – we decided it was well worth a look. We also like the fact that East Cobb is a suburb, but not too far from the city.

This is an example of a home in East Cobb. It’s a two-story traditional built in 1980 with four bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths. It’s located in a swim/tennis community. It has wood floors, a screened-in porch and a basement. (Big plus for Mike’s man cave!) This home needs a few cosmetic updates, but does have a partially-updated kitchen. The list price for this home is $30,000 more than “Our Ideal House.” Much more reasonable than homes in our ideal neighborhood and also in Sandy Springs.

There isn’t much to dislike about East Cobb – it’s very family-oriented, the public schools are excellent and the home prices are reasonable. The compromises we would have to make would be that it’s not a smaller community and we would most likely be looking at an older home built in the 80s. (A home that age may not be as likely to be updated as an older home, which would mean more work for us.) The other thing to take into consideration is that it would put us a little bit further from our families than some other areas.

If we had to buy a home tomorrow, I’d say there’s a good chance we’d end up in East Cobb. It seems to be the best compromise out of everything we have looked at – and may turn out that we don’t consider it a compromise at all!

I have done this little House Hunters segment as a way to demonstrate the myriad factors that go into choosing a home – and we haven’t even spoken to a realtor yet. This is a compilation of research I have done and also knowing the various areas pretty well.

Are we ready to move forward in our house hunt? No. (As much as we dislike that answer!) We have a lot going on in the next six months so it will be a little while yet before we decide our next steps. However, it’s nice to know that we have already done some of the legwork so that we are prepared when we get to that point!