Some existing homeowners don’t face an urgent need to sell. Instead, parents may keep an eye on listings in communities they think would be a good fit for their family. That’s what happened when Bill and Mary Ann Mackey saw a listing pop up in an Atlanta neighborhood they had been keeping their eye on.
The priority
With three teenage children – Ally, 17; Jen, 16; and Kevin, 14 – the Mackeys wanted to be able to spread out in their home. “The other house was perfect for us when the kids were small,” said Mary Ann, 47, a systems analyst with Coca-Cola.
They had owned their Brookhaven ranch, built in 1969, for seven years. As their kids got older, even watching TV could interfere with each other.
“During exam week last year it was difficult because the girls needed quiet. It was hard to find a quiet spot in the house,” Mary Ann said.
The search
When the Mackeys saw the home listed in an email from their friend, Collette McDonald, an agent with Re/Max Around Atlanta, the property piqued their interest. The traditional brick home was in the Byrnwyck neighborhood, also in DeKalb County and about a mile from their home.
“It really happened in a whirlwind,” Mary Ann said. “We put a contract on the Byrnwyck house before we put the house on the market. We were very nervous but Collette was amazing at ushering us through the whole process.”
Within 10 days they emptied items out of the home and had the property, which had minor repairs, professionally staged. They received four offers (two for the mid $400,000s asking price) the first day ton the market.
The home
The two-story brick home they purchased had a full finished basement and features such as vaulted ceilings and hardwood floors that had been redone. The five-bedroom, four-bath home, built in 1981, was priced in the high $400,000s. They were excited to get in at a lower price point than they had seen previously for homes in Byrnwyck, even though they would need to invest in updating the kitchen and bathrooms.
“We bought this house for $7,000 more than we sold for. We feel like we got a lot more house,” said Bill, 51, a technical support representative with Compuware. “The difference is the house we sold is already renovated and one we bought is not.”
Bill adds that the location was great because they didn’t want to move far from their existing home and kids’ schools. “Byrnwyck one of the few neighborhoods that were close that had the size of the home we liked,” Bill said.
The lifestyle
Having a basement is a huge benefit with three teenagers, as it provides a place where they can hang out and be noisy with friends, and the basement leads to a pool. Byrnwyck also is a swim-tennis community. Since moving in the family has added new cabinets and appliances in the kitchen and new tile in the bathrooms, and they’ve repainted.
“The key thing is just having more space,” Mary Ann said. “This house has larger rooms, larger closets; room for our physically growing family.”
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