Room to play — and grow

By Lori Johnston

For the AJC

After living in Brookhaven for 12 years, Franziska Shepard needed a home with more space for her two boys, Spencer, 7, and Sterling, 10. That meant finding a home with extra room, both indoors and out.

The priority

A basement, because her three-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath Brookhaven home didn’t have one. “They would play in the living room and on the stairs. I was looking for something, still affordable, but with room for them to grow,” Shepard said.

At the same time, they needed a backyard for the boys to climb trees and play with their Nerf guns.

The search

Shepard and her agent, Cynthia Goodman with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokers, hunted for an affordable basement home over a two-month span. Her search began in Brookhaven, where her offer on one home wasn’t accepted.

Other homes had basements but were not in her $300,000-and-under price range. Some of the homes she saw looked “tired,” in need of major repairs and renovations. “In the course of looking, I found this one, which had a basement and a big backyard, and it also was in the Riverwood school district, which was a big plus,” said Shepard, who works for AT&T.

The home

Shepard purchased a three-bedroom, four-bath ranch-style home built in 1961 in Sandy Springs on about three-quarters of an acre. Her previous home was on a quarter of an acre. The house is 2,200 square feet, plus a 1,900-square-foot basement. One room and a bathroom are finished, and the rest is unfinished. “It’s just a wide-open space. It’s got room for a bowling alley if they wanted to bowl,” she said. There also is room to add a guest bedroom in the basement.

“[The boys] thought it was really cool, and there’s lots of hiding places because there’s lots of closets and cubbies,” she said. “It’s got a big backyard that’s fenced with all these trees and a path around the house. There’s lots of places to explore.”

Shepard has made changes, such as knocking down a wall between the living and family rooms to make it one big room, since buying the house in August. She also removed the Mexican-style tile floors in the kitchen and den and extended the hardwood floors. Other kitchen changes included adding granite countertops.

“I was really upset that they didn’t accept my other offer because I thought that was the perfect house. My Realtor said it wasn’t meant to be. She said, ‘When you know it, you’ll know it,’ and she was right,” Shepard said.

The lifestyle

Shepard and the boys often eat outside, watching the butterflies, and enjoying the fire pit and treehouse. But the basement is where they can store all of the toys. “They’ve got their TV down there and the Wii and the sofas, and they’ve had a couple of sleepovers where they sleep down there,” she said. “It keeps the playroom out of the living room.”

Three tips for buying 
with kids in mind

1. Remember the goal.

Stick to your focus, whether it’s more space for the kids or a top school district, and don’t get distracted by other features if they don’t meet your criteria.

2. Decide when you want the kids to be involved.

“They saw pictures of the ones that I made offers on. But it wasn’t until it actually was accepted that I showed it to them. I didn’t want them to get too attached,” Shepard said.

3. Focus on resale.

Although you don’t hope to move again soon, it’s important to think about what your investment now will mean in the future. Shepard decided to buy one of the lower-priced homes in the neighborhood.