Metro Pulse/Urban Renewal

>1445 N. Fourth Ave.
2 bdrm, 1 bath
1100 sq. ft.
$74,900
Contact Chris or Dana
Owners: 983-6089

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by Matt Edens

Typically there are two approaches to buying a first home: A.) go out and buy the biggest house you can afford, figuring you'll grow into it later. Or B.) get what the industry refers to as a "starter home"-a relatively small, inexpensive house that allows you to build up some equity, which you can then blow on that bigger house down the road, when you need it.

Both have their advantages and disadvantages. There's less hassle under the "buy big" scenario: one less round of realtors and mortgage lenders to deal with and only one closing. Of course, you may also wind up one of the "house poor"-you know, the folks who have the huge house out in Farragut or Halls but can't afford to buy any furniture for it because all their available cash goes toward that monster mortgage.

Which is one of the chief attractions of the starter scenario, particularly to a 20-something couple who'd rather spend their extra cash on, say, concert tickets, than on paying the note on a house as big as a concert hall. And, if you're lucky, that starter-sized mortgage payment will be comparable to what you'd pay in rent or even less. Oh, and there's the equity too. I know it hurts, but face it, you been out of college for how many years now? Time you started thinking about things like equity.

Which brings me to the other disadvantage of most starter homes, the new ones at least. Designed with folks who are "just passing through" in mind, they often have about as much charm as your typical college dorm. Maybe even less. You know what I'm talking about: the town-home monotony of garage door after garage door; nothing but a sheetrock firewall between you and the neighbors and that pitiful little concrete patio out back (careful where you put that grill-vinyl siding melts, you know...). Sure you've got money for furniture and decorating, but the Trading Spaces treatment can only get you so far. (Interesting, isn't it, that one of the hottest TV shows in America is all about injecting a little style and character into the bland, blank boxes most of us wind up living in?)

It doesn't have to be that way. It's entirely possible to buy a starter with the kind of fit and finish that you'll find only in the highest end of suburbia. But only if you don't buy off the rack. This house on North Fourth, for example. Two blocks off Broadway in the Brownlow section of Old North Knoxville, not only is it affordable and amazingly convenient to downtown, UT and the Old City, it's damned cute, too, with its front porch and swing tucked behind an immaculate hedge. Inside it's no ticky-tacky townhome either. There are hardwood floors throughout, two fireplaces with oak mantels and a Kohler tub in the bath (a genuine 1928 Kohler clawfoot, that is). Oh, and out back instead of a postage stamp apron of concrete there's a 14'x21' brick patio with terraced flower beds and a cedar privacy fence.

Which begs the question: how can it be a starter home if you never want to leave?