Sellers make Midtown home spotless for deal

Where: Midtown

Time on market: About five months; sold in July 2010

Original price: $1.07 million. After about three months and no offers, they dropped the price by more than $100,000.

Sale price: $915,035. The buyer's originally offer was in the $800,000s, but the sellers sweetened the deal by offering some of their antique furniture. They agreed on $920,000; the final price was lowered when they split the estimated cost for repairs discovered during the inspection.

What it took: Michaels purchased the home in 2000 and made improvements, from professional landscaping to a new deck and driveway to renovating the kitchen. They created a master suite, knowing today's buyers wanted a large master, and added details such as a frameless shower and teak floors in the master bath. When they decided to put the home on the market, they spent an estimated $20,000 on updates, including a new roof and sealing the basement. They also hired a structural engineer to supply evidence about the shape of the 100-year-old home and the changes, which they said helped justify the asking price.

They made the house inviting and spotless, including polishing countertops, hiding kitchen appliances and personal items and often cleaning the street, sidewalks and yard. “At our price range, we had a limited amount of people who were going to be coming to see the house,” Koutsantonis said. “I was running around the yard cleaning up cobwebs. I didn’t want that to be reflective of the house.”

Potential stumbling block: Their efforts to have a clean and inviting home backfired a couple of times. When they turned off the air conditioning and opened the windows, a buyer returning for the second time complained of a musty odor. After mopping, they poured the remaining Pine-Sol down the drain, but a potential buyer smelled the strong scent and asked the agent what the sellers were trying to hide.

Why they sold: To buy property in this buyer's market and build their dream house. The contemporary home, being built by Atlanta-based design/build firm SawHorse, will showcase trends in modern design and green building when it is completed in Midtown this spring.

Sellers' hint: Real estate agents who live in the neighborhood – Patti Ellis and son Adam Ellis with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby's International Realty – provided potential buyers with knowledge about the home, area prices and what it's like to live in Midtown. "This is the first time ever in my history of owning a house that you had to think very hard about who you chose for a real estate agent," Michaels said. "Before, you just put a sign [up] and the house would sell itself."