Family home of 41 years gets ‘a rebirth’
Names: Greg Larsen, and his father, Ed Larsen
The home: A four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home with a basement built in 1971.
Where: Dunwoody
Why they sold: Ed Larsen, 85, bought the cul-de-sac home with his late wife Lil and lived there for 41 years. “It was just getting to the point where it was an awful lot for him to take care of,” said Greg. Ed moved into an independent living community about a year before they put the home on the market in March 2013. “We decided we weren’t under any pressure to sell. We wanted him to be completely comfortable in his new apartment,” Greg said. “Plus, we figured the market may come back and actually it did, so it worked out well.”
Time on market: 4 days
Original price: $339,000
Sale price: $339,000
What it took: Putting the right price on the home, which had been well maintained, with a relatively new deck, new roof and recent paint job. A landscape company was hired to trim the yard, which had azaleas blooming in the backyard, and add pine straw. A professional crew cleaned the interiors, which had not been updated.
In addition to having a well-maintained property, the convenient Dunwoody location was a prime reason why the home sold so quickly, Greg said. He put the home on the market when sales were picking up intown as well as in areas such as Dunwoody. His agent, Brad Edmonds of Harry Norman, Realtors, who worked with a professional photographer, held an open house for real estate agents and the home received offers before he could schedule another open house. Edmonds had provided the family research about the market and comparable home sales.
“It moved even quicker than I thought it would,” Greg said.
Potential stumbling block: They received several offers, including interest from investors seeking to flip the property, and needed to choose one that would make it to closing. “We had gotten one really solid offer from a young couple that was obviously serious about it and we felt good about that,” Greg said. “We didn’t linger with it on the market and try to dangle it and have a bunch of people wasting their time.” The buyers had earnest money and he said he had a gut feeling about choosing someone who would care for the home. “I imagine it’s getting a rebirth,” he said. “I did feel good about the fact that a young family was going to move in there and maybe start the cycle again.”
Seller’s hint: Compare your home’s features to others on the market. If the home had the bathrooms redone with granite countertops, marble floors and glass showers, and a kitchen with stainless steel appliances, it would have sold for a higher price, Greg said. “We saw houses listed for more money but they typically had those renovations done,” he said.
