"Open" House On Gresham Avenue to Get Some TLC

Gresham Avenue in East Atlanta Village is a tree-lined street with some beautiful homes.

And then there's this house at 750 Gresham.

"It's a major eyesore," said Robert Williams, whose Decatur-based company, ParcLife Homes, purchased the property just under two weeks ago.

His company purchases old and dilapidated houses to restore them and then sell.

According the DeKalb County Property Appraisal Department, the one-story wood-frame house, built in 1940, was appraised last year at $140,000.

Appraisal department records list the 1,444-square-foot, two-bedroom, one-bathroom house as being in "fair" condition.

Really? (One wonders when the last time an appraiser actually saw the house.)

Williams, who redid a nearby eyesore at 1368 Ormewood Ave., promises to bring the Gresham Avenue property back to snuff and in keeping with the the character of the neighborhood.

"That's a perfect location in a great neighborhood," Williams told East Atlanta Patch, adding he paid less than $100,000 for the property.

This week, the company will be working on the property to prep it for restoration, he said.

As bad as it looks, someone called it home.

"People were living in that house up to the point we bought it," Williams said.

It took three 30-yard dumpsters to rid the home of the trash food and clothes that was there, he said.

"We found crack paraphernalia, Sudafed — there was a bed in the back bedroom that was made the day wer were there, unmade the next day and made the day after that," Williams said.

While the Gresham Avenue house is on its way to being restored, the Georgia legislature is currently discussing enacting a law that would create a registry for vacant houses that remain in disrepair.

House Bill 110, sponsored by Rep. Mike Jacobs, (R-Atlanta) and four other House Republicans, would require property owners to secure their vacant homes or face penalties.

If enacted, it would take effect Jan. 1, 2012.