Intown DeKalb and its older housing

The neighborhoods just east of Atlanta — Kirkwood-adjacent East Lake, Avondale Estates, Scottdale, Belvedere Park, and the areas around Decatur — hold 1920s through 1950s bungalows and small brick houses. Many have been renovated; many have not, and those come to us with knob-and-tube remnants, galvanized plumbing, settled piers, and roofs with layered repairs.

Decatur itself and the newer cities of Brookhaven, Dunwoody, and Tucker have their own housing mixes and their own code and permitting regimes, which matters when there is unpermitted work to disclose.

South DeKalb and the foreclosure legacy

South and east DeKalb — Lithonia, Stonecrest, and the Stone Mountain area — filled in with subdivisions during the 1990s and 2000s and then absorbed a very heavy share of metro Atlanta's foreclosures after 2008. A great deal of that housing moved into investor hands and has been rented since.

Those houses are now 20 to 30 years old with a decade or more of rental use behind them: roofs due, HVAC due, deferred turnover work, and in some cases code cases. Landlords exiting that stock are a large part of what we buy here.

Heirs' property and vacant houses

As in Fulton, DeKalb has substantial heirs' property, particularly in historically Black neighborhoods where houses passed down without any estate being administered. Record title sits with someone who died decades ago, and no closing attorney can insure a sale until the chain is cleared.

Vacant houses accumulate DeKalb code enforcement charges, and the county's code compliance division pursues nuisance and unsafe-structure cases. Notices go to the address on file, so absentee and heir owners often learn late. None of it stops a sale; recorded liens are paid at closing.

DeKalb County property we buy

  • 1920s to 1950s bungalows and brick houses in intown DeKalb
  • 1990s and 2000s subdivision houses in Lithonia, Stonecrest, and Stone Mountain
  • Long-term rentals with deferred turnover work, occupied or vacant
  • Heirs' property where no estate was ever opened
  • Houses with basement seepage, crawlspace rot, or drainage problems
  • Unpermitted basement and attic conversions
  • Vacant houses with open code cases
  • Homes with unpaid HOA assessments

Records and closing in DeKalb

Decatur is the county seat. Deeds, security deeds, and liens are recorded with the DeKalb County Clerk of Superior Court and searchable statewide; estates run through the DeKalb County Probate Court. The property appraisal department sets fair market value and the tax commissioner bills at 40 percent of it.

A licensed Georgia attorney closes the sale. Where the chain runs through heirs' property, expect that to be the longest item — start it before looking for a buyer.

Frequently asked questions

Do you buy older bungalows in intown DeKalb?

Yes. Unrenovated 1920s to 1950s housing with original systems is a large part of what we buy here.

Will you buy a former rental in Lithonia or Stonecrest?

Yes, occupied or vacant, including houses with deferred turnover work.

Nobody probated my family's DeKalb house. Can you buy it?

Often yes, once the chain of title is cleared. That is the first step and usually the longest.

Can you buy a house with an open DeKalb code case?

Yes. Send the case number so any recorded lien is handled at closing.

Do you buy houses with unpermitted basement finishing?

Yes. It does not have to be legalised before closing.

DeKalb County property and court resources