Turning babyland into ‘party pad' works for Buckhead condo
The Sale
Name: Eric and Robin Nathan. Eric, 32, is head boys basketball coach at Collins Hill High School in Suwanee; Robin, 30, owns Robin Nathan Photography.
The home: A three-bedroom, two-bath condo built in 1960.
Where: Buckhead
Why they sold: For more room. "When we moved in, it was just the two of us," Robin said. Then she started her photography business from the home, and they got a dog and had their daughter, Abby, who was born in August 2010. "We didn't have space," she said.
Time on market: 256 days
Original price: $159,000
Sale price: $144,650
What it took: The couple bought the condo in Atlanta's Brookwood Forest complex, off Peachtree Street, in summer 2007. Then the bottom fell out of the market. They tried to sell in spring 2010, when Robin was pregnant, but after six months, they took it off the market right before Abby was born. They decided to put it on the market again in fall 2011.
Their agent, Debbie Sonenshine with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, brought in stager Karen Ozer of Sold by Staging to make the condo appeal to buyers in their young to mid-20s with no children. Tables from Ikea replaced some of their larger furniture. They even put a margarita pitcher and glasses on the balcony, which overlooks the pool. They tried to contain the baby toys to one area of the living room so they could be picked up quickly if a potential buyer was stopping by. Abby started walking when the condo was on the market, which added another challenge. “We had to get to an entirely new level of baby-proofing while maintaining the condo to appeal to young people wanting a party pad,” Robin said. “It was tricky selling it as something different than we were using it. But that’s what worked.”
Potential stumbling block: There were no comparable sales, since units in the building had not recently sold. In the surrounding area, smaller condos had sold or were listed, such as a one-bedroom for $40,000 or a two-bedroom in a new building priced at $215,000, Eric said. The price negotiations went back and forth a few times. The appraisal came in at the negotiated price, and they closed in January. "The negotiations are incredibly stressful because you're scared of scaring the person away," Robin said. "I felt like Debbie had complete control over the situation. She wasn't going to let us mess it up, which made me feel so much better."
Seller's hint: Identify who your potential buyer may be, in terms of age and life situation (such as empty-nesters, a family or single professionals). "Everything we did was very targeted at who we had been five years ago," Robin said.
