Sticker shock hit Mike Standifer and Marc Hammer in Atlanta, after they sold their nearly 2,400-square-foot home in Los Angeles for $1.2 million. They discovered they would need to pay a premium to live in what they described as an old-school, intown Atlanta home with a big lawn on a quiet street.
“We were expecting to get much bigger deals in Atlanta. But we had to put it in perspective. We were more than doubling the size of the home for the same price, or a bit less,” said Marc Hammer, 40, head of global talent acquisition for Duff & Phelps, an investment bank. “We had to stop looking at the price, but start looking at the price per square foot. Then we realized, yeah, we really are getting a deal.”
Real estate agent Bradford Smith with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage helped them narrow their choices to Atlanta’s Druid Hills and Sherwood Forest neighborhoods.
No. 1
Views and very spacious
The six-bedroom, four-full and three-half bath home is on Little John Trail in Atlanta’s Sherwood Forest neighborhood, which has the feeling of a subdivision in Midtown Atlanta, said Mike, 43, who also works for Duff & Phelps. The home has a prime view of Ansley Golf Club and extras such as a pool. It’s spacious enough for a breakfast room, family room, recreation room, fitness room and sunroom, plus all the bedrooms. But the pool takes up most of the backyard, which lacked flat, usable outdoor space. They would also need to update the bathrooms and other rooms. The home, built in 1997, was listed for $1.44 million.
No. 2
Brimming with character
A five-bedroom, four-bath home on Friar Tuck Road, also in Sherwood Forest, had been transformed from a ranch with 8-foot ceilings to a two-story residence with 10-foot ceilings. The arched doorways, paneling and thick molding were added when the home was renovated in 2007, but gives the home a sense of age. “We didn’t want a cookie-cutter house,” Marc said. “We wanted something that had some character.” But like the other home in Sherwood Forest, Mike was unable to view the home because of work commitments, so he had to rely on Marc’s impressions. The home, built in 1950, was listed for $1.29 million.
No. 3
Lovely lot
A four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath home on Springdale Road in Atlanta’s Druid Hills neighborhood had instant curb appeal. The well-landscaped lot was over an acre and seemed as large as a football field, Mike said. Marc adds: “It’s an absolutely stunning house when you pull up to it.” The floor plan was compartmentalized, so the home would need to be renovated to achieve an open floor plan. After spending three years renovating their home in Los Angeles’ Hollywood Hills neighborhood, they were concerned about taking on another renovation project right away. The home, built in 1923, was listed for $1.29 million.
The Choice
No. 2. Marc said he was in the home for 2 minutes and told their agent, “This is it, we’re done. This is the house.” They closed on the home in October, but Mike still hadn’t seen the home in person. He did, after driving four days across country with their dogs. “Much to Marc’s delight, I loved it,” Mike said. “When we pulled up, it looked like a house built a long, long time ago. I immediately fell in love with it.” The only update they’re doing is taking out a small wall in between the kitchen and dining room and adding in an island. Within a couple of hours of moving in, they said neighbors visited to introduce themselves and invited them over for drinks.
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