The sale
Name: Judie Raiford, owner of the Raiford Gallery in Roswell and wife of Roswell Mayor Jere Wood
The home: A six-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath home built in 1954
Where: Atlanta's Sherwood Forest neighborhood
Why she sold: Raiford grew up in the home, and after her dad died her mom, Bernice Raiford, lived there until she died last year at age 95. Raiford was executor of the estate and one of her tasks included selling the home. "It killed me to sell it because it was my childhood home," she said. "This was what they loved. It was a responsibility to take care of it and do what they would want."
Time on market: four days
Original price: $575,000
Sale price: $583,000
What it took: The home, designed by classical Atlanta architect Clement J. Ford, was in a sought-after intown neighborhood, but had not been updated since 1962. The bathrooms had pink toilets and all the electrical outlets were two-pronged instead of three.
“The house and its contents had gotten shabby,” Raiford said. Health care workers moving her mother’s wheelchair around also had knocked into walls, making noticeable marks and dents. Raiford worked with her niece, Jere Metcalf with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, and spent about $24,000 in updates before putting the home on the market.
They stripped off the wallpaper and painted, as well as changing out the light fixtures. An estate sale was held to get rid of the furniture and other items. The carpet was cleaned, and in one of the bedrooms they pulled it up and refinished the hardwood floors to give the buyers an idea of its potential.
“I knew there were other houses in the neighborhood with granite countertops and kitchens and bathrooms that had been renovated recently,” Raiford said.
Metcalf also suggested replacing all of the plastic switch plates and outlet covers, which were yellowing with age, and replacing the dirty vents over the heating and air conditioning units.
Potential stumbling block: Raiford had to decide if trying to sell the home at a higher price, which could mean it might remain on the market longer, was more important than selling quickly.
“I knew that I didn’t want to sit on it because I was paying hundreds of dollars a month to a ... landscape company. I was paying for the security company. I was paying for the water and the electricity. I had to keep the phone going there because of the security,” she said.
She estimated those and other home-related costs would be about $50,000 a year. “If I kept it for two years, that was $100,000. That would be stupid.” The house went on the market on a Monday and sold on Friday. She estimated she would have gotten $1.2 million for the home four years ago.
Seller's tip: Let go of your emotional investment in the property and listen to your agent.
“They may not be a soothsayer and have a crystal ball, but if they’ve been in the business for a while, they’re going to give you the right ideas. You’ve got to unwad your knickers and listen to what they say and realize that people are only going to pay what it’s worth.”
