The Sale
Name: Robert and Renee Clark
The home: A four-bedroom, three-bathroom cottage-style house built in 1950.
Where: Atlanta's Wildwood neighborhood
Why they sold: The couple became empty-nesters when their youngest child headed off to college. They desired to enter this new phase of their life in a new home and neighborhood, but wanted to stay in the same area — northeast Atlanta, inside the Perimeter. Encouraged by seeing homes in their price range selling more quickly than they expected, they decided to test the waters and put their house on the market. "We priced a little bit higher than what we felt the house would go for, but we sold for what we thought it would be," Renee said.
Time on market: 45 days
Original price: $680,000
Sale price: $640,000
What it took: Working with an agent — Jere Metcalf of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby's International Realty — who markets in unexpected ways. She created a two-minute video that advertised the property and was posted on YouTube (www.youllneverevenknow.com). In addition to embracing technology to market the home, Metcalf also had connections with agents in the area that helped the home sell.
Their decision after they bought the home three years ago to expand the home paid off. They doubled the square footage during that time, from 2,000 to nearly 4,000. They converted the carport into a garage, and added a teen or mother-in-law suite on top. They also created a second den, with a fireplace, and put in a patio and pond feature.
Potential stumbling block: Some repairs were requested during the negotiations, and they agreed to do maintenance on the sump pump and service the hot water heater. But they were also asked to make changes to the spray foam insulation and decided it didn't warrant them spending additional money. The decision could have affected the sale, but it didn't. They closed on the home in August.
Seller's hint: Maintain the house along the way so that you will be prepared once you're ready to put it on the market. "When you settle on a price, then it comes down to the inspection. Because it turned out to be in such fantastic shape, there really wasn't anything for the deal to fall through on because we had maintained the house," Renee said.
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