Where Can Empty Nesters Find Single-Level Homes Near East Cobb?

Where can empty nesters find single-level homes near East Cobb? In more than one kind of home, and the way to find them is a search built around the floor plan. A ranch is one answer. So is a two-story home with the primary suite on the main level, a townhome with the bedroom downstairs, a condo in an elevator building, or a home in a 55-and-older community. The search that finds them starts with a short list of the rooms you want on one floor, and the words listing agents use to describe them.

A single-level life has less to do with the number of floors than with the distance between the rooms you use every day. Bed to bath. Car to kitchen. Washer to closet. Once you measure a home that way, the search opens up.

This guide is from Andrew and Jassey Nguyen. NRG Nguyen Realty Group is a real estate team with Keller Williams Realty Peachtree Road helping empty nesters in East Cobb, Georgia find a home that lives on one level. If you are still deciding whether to move at all, our guides on downsizing from your East Cobb home once the kids are gone and on staying in your home or moving as you get older begin there. This one picks up once the answer is a home that asks less of you.

What does "single-level" mean for you?

Before you search, decide what has to be on the main floor. For some people, that means every room. For others, it means a primary bedroom, a full bathroom, the kitchen and the laundry, with guest rooms elsewhere.

Write the list down. It becomes the filter for everything else.

Then think about the way in, since a one-floor home can still have steps at every door. Decide whether you want one entrance without steps, or one that could take a ramp later.

Which kinds of homes can work?

A ranch keeps the main living space on one floor. Some sit over a basement. An older ranch can come with its original kitchen and baths, so weigh the price and the updates together.

A two-story home with the primary suite on the main level gives you one-level living and keeps the space. The rooms upstairs become guest rooms or a studio.

One townhome puts the primary bedroom on the main level and another places it upstairs, so read the floor plan before you tour. A townhome may sit inside a homeowners association, which may handle some of the outside work. What it handles is written in the association's documents.

A condo can sit entirely on one floor, and an elevator building removes the stairs between the parking and the front door. Our guide on buying a condo in Atlanta covers the association's documents, budget and insurance.

A 55-and-older community can qualify for the federal exemption described in the next section. Each one has its own set of rules, so read them before you choose a home.

How do 55-and-older communities work?

Federal fair housing rules allow housing intended and operated for persons 55 years of age or older to qualify for an exemption from the familial status provisions, when it complies with the Fair Housing Act and three sections of HUD's regulations.

The first is occupancy. Under 24 CFR 100.305, "at least 80 percent of its occupied units must be occupied by at least one person 55 years of age or older." The second is intent: under 24 CFR 100.306, the community "must publish and adhere to policies and procedures that demonstrate its intent to operate as housing for persons 55 years of age or older." The third is verification: under 24 CFR 100.307, it must develop procedures for routinely determining the occupancy of each unit, with updates that "must take place at least once every two years."

For you, this means a few questions. What are the community's age rules, in writing? Who may live in the home with you? What does the association cover? A Georgia real estate attorney can explain how the documents apply to the home you are considering.

What words should you search for?

Listings describe the same floor plan in different words, so one search term can miss homes that fit. Try each of these in the keyword search of the home search site you use, and save the ones that bring back results:

1. "primary on main" and "main-level primary"
2. "primary suite on main" and "owner's suite on main"
3. "ranch" and "one story"
4. "elevator," for condos
5. "no-step entry" and "step-free"

Older listings may use another term for the primary bedroom. Read the floor plan and the photos, because "main-level bedroom" can describe a small guest room. Confirm which room it is.

Our team can build a search around your list from the first step, by floor plan and by the rooms on the main level, and set it to send you new listings that match.

What should you check on a tour?

Walk the home as if it were an ordinary Tuesday.

Count the steps from the garage or the parking space to the kitchen. Then count them at the front door. Stand in the shower and look for a curb or a step-in tub. Find the washer and dryer. A laundry room down a flight of stairs puts a stair back into every week.

Look at the doorways and the halls, the driveway and the walk to the mailbox. Ask whether the bathroom walls have backing for grab bars.

In a condo, the building's age matters. A federal rule covers dwellings for first occupancy after March 13, 1991, in buildings of four or more units with one or more elevators, and ground-floor units in other buildings of four or more units. For covered buildings with a building entrance on an accessible route, the regulation at 24 CFR 100.205 lists features of adaptable design for each unit, including "an accessible route into and through the covered dwelling unit," "light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats, and other environmental controls in accessible locations," "reinforcements in bathroom walls to allow later installation of grab bars around the toilet, tub, shower, stall and shower seat, where such facilities are provided," and "usable kitchens and bathrooms such that an individual in a wheelchair can maneuver about the space." Ask the association or your inspector how a building you are considering was built.

What does it cost to make the move?

Two prices matter: the home, and the work to make it fit. Add them together for each home you compare. Get contractor estimates inside your due diligence period, before you commit.

Then add the monthly picture: the payment if you have one, property taxes, insurance, association dues if any, utilities and upkeep. A smaller home with high dues can cost more each month than a larger home you care for yourself.

Cobb County's exemptions page lists a school tax exemption at age 62, "an exemption from all taxes in the school general and school bond tax categories," for owners who are "62 years of age on or before January 1 of the current tax year." The same page says Georgia law requires owners to notify the Cobb County Tax Commissioner's Office if they no longer qualify, and it lists moving or selling the property among the reasons to notify the office. If your next home is also in Cobb, ask the Tax Commissioner's office about applying on the new home. Our guide on applying for homestead exemption in Cobb County walks through the steps. Other counties set their own rules.

How do you search, step by step?

These are the steps our team walks through.

1. Write down which rooms have to be on the main level, and whether you want a step-free entrance.
2. Talk with a lender, or your financial advisor if you plan to pay cash, about what you will spend on the next home.
3. Decide whether to sell first or buy first. Our guide on selling your Atlanta home before buying your next one covers each path.
4. Search by floor plan with every phrase above, and save the search.
5. Tour with the checklist in hand, and take photos of the bathroom, the laundry and every entrance.
6. Before your due diligence period ends, get the inspection, any contractor estimates and, for a community with an association, its documents and age rules.
7. Compare your two or three favorites side by side, with the monthly costs written out.

What mistakes cost people the right home?

Searching only for "ranch." Homes with the primary suite on the main level, townhomes with the bedroom downstairs, and condos in elevator buildings may never show up.

Trusting the description over the floor plan. "Main-level bedroom" and "primary on main" are different promises.

Buying for the next five years alone. Look at the shower curb, the entry steps and the laundry stairs with the next fifteen in mind.

Reading an association's rules after closing. Age rules, visitor rules and what the dues cover belong in your due diligence.

An example

This is an example, not a real client.

A couple own a two-story home in Cobb County with the primary bedroom upstairs. They want to stay in Cobb. A search for "ranch" brings back a handful of homes, two of which need a new kitchen and bath.

When our team widens the search to "primary on main," "main-level primary" and "owner's suite on main," the list grows: two-story homes with the primary suite downstairs, a few townhomes with a main-level bedroom, and a condo in an elevator building.

They tour four. At the townhome, the washer sits in a closet upstairs. At one two-story home, the garage opens into the kitchen with no steps, and the primary bath has a walk-in shower. They write out the monthly costs for their top two and choose the two-story.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a ranch and a home with the primary on main? A ranch keeps its main living space on one floor, sometimes over a basement. A home with the primary on main has the primary suite on the main level and other rooms upstairs.

Do I have to be 55 to live in a 55-and-older community? The federal rule requires at least 80 percent of occupied units to have at least one person 55 or older, and each community sets its own policies. Ask for the community's age rules in writing.

Should I buy a ranch that needs updating? It can make sense when the inspection and contractor estimates fit your budget. Compare the price plus the work against homes that are already updated.

The rooms you use, on one floor

The home that fits the years ahead is the one where your days stay close together. Search by the rooms you use, read the floor plan, walk it like a normal day, and the right one is easier to recognize.

NRG Nguyen Realty Group is a real estate team with Keller Williams Realty Peachtree Road helping empty nesters in East Cobb, Georgia find a home that lives on one level. Our team can build your search around the rooms you want on the main floor and walk each home with you.

Send us a message: nrgmovesyou.com/contact

Or book a 15-minute discovery call with our team: schedule a call

Andrew and Jassey Nguyen

NRG Nguyen Realty Group

Real Estate Agents in Atlanta, GA

678-743-1586

nrgmovesyou.com

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Talk with a Georgia real estate attorney, your tax advisor and your lender or financial advisor about your situation.