Landing a foreclosed place takes patience

By C.W. Cameron

For the AJC

Donna Self is no stranger to vacation home ownership. She had success investing in condos in Destin, and she and her sister still own property at Florida’s Navarre Beach. But as someone born and raised in Tennessee, she’s always loved the mountains.

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Christopher Oquendo, for the AJC Donna Self poses on the deck of her home in Ellijay, GA.

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Christopher Oquendo, for the AJC Donna Self is doing extensive renovations on her Ellijay vacation home. It was a foreclosure.

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One day she got in her car and drove up to North Georgia hoping to find a log cabin home she could rent out until she was ready to retire. She met real estate agent Rachel Callihan of Harry Norman Realtors and began her search in earnest. A foreclosure with a view almost too good to be true caught her eye, and she now owns mountain property in Coosawattee River Resort.

It’s not a log cabin: Self was looking for a log cabin but instead she bought what she calls a “big, square yellow box.” The squareness of it was actually appealing as she envisioned all kinds of improvements to the exterior. The house was in need of a lot of work inside as well; all the lighting and plumbing fixtures, and even the stairway railing, disappeared when it went into foreclosure.

Buying a foreclosure took patience: The house was held by Fannie Mae, so the purchase process took time. It was about six weeks before offers and counter-offers were settled, and then the closing date still kept moving. Self credits Callihan’s persistence with making the sale work. She closed this summer.

A flexible schedule makes it work: Self is a nurse who works three 12-hour shifts a week. Having large blocks of time available means she can get up to the house at least every two weeks without having to rush back at the end of a weekend. She makes the drive from her home in Conyers in about two hours.

A work in progress: Self is in no hurry to finish her renovations. Her family is helping and it takes a little juggling to fit into everyone’s schedule. Her mom still lives in Cleveland, Tenn., and she drives over to help out. When they get tired of renovating, they head into Ellijay and Blue Ridge to do a little shopping and enjoy the restaurants.

At a glance

Self’s “big, square yellow box” is three levels with two bedrooms and one-and-a-half baths. The wrap-around deck offers lots of space to enjoy the view that Self says “goes on forever.” A big stone fireplace warms the living area. The high-ceiling basement will be perfect for a bedroom suite some day, and already has a screened porch and hot tub. Plans include a balcony off the upstairs master suite for more spots to admire that view.

Community information

Self’s home is part of the 8,500 acre Coosawattee River Resort outside Ellijay and East Ellijay. The resort is divided into more than 7,000 individual privately owned lots. The resort is named for the Coosawattee River, which flows through this acreage leading to Carter’s Lake, a Army Corps of Engineers recreational lake. The resort has more than 300 miles of paved and gravel roads, parks and campsites, a conference center, tennis courts and swimming pools.

For more information, www.
buyinthenorthgeorgiamountains.
com or 706-632-7211.

Getting there

From downtown Atlanta: Take I-75 north to Exit 268 (I-575/Ga. 5 north). It’s approximately 57 miles to Ellijay from this point.

For sale

$225,000: 829 Carters Lake Overlook, Ellijay. Built in 2008, this three-bedroom, two-bath cabin offers one-level living. House sits on there acres, has a full unfinished basement and two-car garage.

$589,000: Lot 19, Stanley Creek, Blue Ridge. Brand new four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath log and stone-sided home on 1.56 acres. Wrap around deck, game room with pool table, flat screen TV, mini-bar, gas-burning fireplace and six-person hot tub.

Recent sale

$289,900: 3089 Pack Creek Road, Blue Ridge. A 2008 three-bedroom, two-bath log-sided home with fenced and cross-fenced pasture and a barn with bunkhouse. Sold in June 2009.