Names: Trish Floyd and Carey Beavers, owners of a contract office furniture dealership
The home: A three-bedroom, three-bath Craftsman-style bungalow built in 1930
Where: Atlanta's Kirkwood neighborhood
Why they sold: After living in the home for nine years, they wanted more space, especially for the furniture that Floyd inherited from her mother. "I had big, chunky furniture that I loved that didn't quite fit in the house," she said. They work and have friends who live in Avondale Estates, and they found a home to buy in that community. They contacted another friend, Margie Yondorf with Atlanta Intown Real Estate Services, to help them sell their home. "We loved Kirkwood and we knew it was a good market," Floyd said.
Time on market: 8 days
Original price: $379,900
Sale price: $365,000
What it took
Yondorf visited their house and told them, “Get rid of this, get rid of that. Clean this, clean that,” Floyd said. Their work included rearranging furniture and placing some items in storage.
The writeup about the home in the listing emphasized its location on a corner lot in Kirkwood. A granite rock wall around the property gave it definition, along with a front porch, Floyd said. A previous remodel had increased the master bedroom and closet, along with the kitchen, which had granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Floyd and Beavers had added a carport and fence to the backyard. Yondorf arranged an open house quickly, and they accepted the first offer. “We were obviously ecstatic,” Floyd said.
Potential stumbling block
The inspection identified repairs and additions, so they spent over $200 on a roof vent and also repaired some of the wiring and caulking. When the inspector and buyers asked for gutters, they didn’t want to add them, but renegotiated the price. Floyd recommends that sellers be open and not obstinate with potential buyers, even if you disagree with the changes they want. “You have to realize they’re coming from a different perspective and to be open to compromise,” she said.
The buyers made the offer in mid-April but didn’t want to close until mid-June. The timing could have been a problem if Floyd and Beavers needed to close on both properties in a quicker time frame. They didn’t need back-to-back closings, though, and lived in their Kirkwood home while remodeling the Avondale Estates house. “To be able to have some time worked perfectly for us,” Floyd said.
Seller’s hint
Follow the “less is more” adage. If your real estate agent has experience, trust what they’re telling you related to removing furniture and excess items. “To be able to come into a house and to see all of it, as opposed to crammed with stuff, is important,” Floyd said.
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