Name: Katie Duncan, 30, and Jackie Gorham, 33, who both work in the medical device industry
The home: A four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath home with an unfinished basement built in 2007.
Where: Atlanta’s Brookhaven community, in DeKalb County
Why they sold: To move to Austin, Texas, for their jobs.
Time on market: 0 days
Original price: $599,000
Sale price: $590,000
What it took: Duncan and Gorham bought the home as a short sale in 2010, for $515,000. The home had sold for $799,000 when it was built, according to tax records, but its value plummeted as the housing market crashed.
The biggest change was to the backyard. “It had no yard on it. It was a back deck with no stairs leading into the yard. We built a yard onto it and extended the stairs,” Duncan said.
When they learned they needed to move to Texas, they called Laura Dew with Keller Williams Realty Peachtree Road, who sold them the home, and asked Dew to list the house. She put a “coming soon” sign in the yard in July and sent an e-mail to agents and potential buyers to notify them the property would officially be on the market soon. Within hours, there were showings, and the home went under contract two days later (before it was even placed in the multiple listing service).
Using the “coming soon” sign was a smart strategy because of the home’s location near Town Brookhaven, a mixed-use development with shops, restaurants, offices and apartments on Peachtree Road. “I know a lot of people pass through there and that would generate interest,” Duncan said.
Potential stumbling block: The sheer speed of the sale was a positive, but since they were not moving to Texas immediately, they could have waited for a buyer willing to pay full asking price (or more) or not request that pay they closing costs. “We knew what we had. At the end of the day, looking back, we probably could have got more. But it’s OK. It freed us up to move,” Duncan said. They closed in September, paying $8,000 in closing costs.
Seller’s hint: Market your home the way you would like to see a home as a buyer. “The one thing they told us that we did and they loved is that it smelled really good. We have two dogs, but you never know it,” Duncan said. Their secret: Bath & Body Works Wallflower plug-ins, with the Fireside fragrance bulb, masked any odors.
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