Name: Beth Koplan, a senior paralegal for Drew Eckl & Farnham LLP
The home: A four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home built in 2001
Where: Smyrna
Why she sold: Koplan wanted to downsize after her divorce, but waited a couple of years for the housing market to recover. "I needed to wait basically until the housing market came back on the up and up so I could get a decent price for my house," she said. Working with Nichole Beroset of Keller Williams Realty Atlanta Midtown, Koplan found a new three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath townhome in Smyrna located just a mile from her previous home. She decided to put her home on the market in winter 2015.
Time on market: 22 days
Original price: $329,900
Sale price: $315,000
What it took
Before she listed the three-sided brick home, she purged her belongings to get the home ready to show to potential buyers. She made minor repairs to some spots, such as the baseboards, and had the backyard professionally landscaped. Koplan also credits her agent, Katie Schanck of Keller Williams Realty Atlanta Midtown, for savvy marketing, such as using a photographer to take high-quality shots of the house for the flier and online listing.
The home also was put on the market when only a couple of other houses in the Woodland Brooke neighborhood were for sale. Hers was the smallest, at 2,783 square feet, but also the lowest price, which attracted buyers.
Potential stumbling block
She put a contract on a new townhome under construction by Rocklyn Homes in the White Oak community. The townhome was scheduled to be complete in late April 2015. Her agent believed her house would sell quickly, and Koplan didn’t want to have to move twice. At the same time, she didn’t want the home to sit on the market and be stuck with two mortgages. “I needed to sell my house before I could close on that one. We had to time that correctly,” she said.
The home went on the market in mid-February. “This is the first house I had ever sold. I trusted them. But I’m sort of a person who likes to plan for the worst-case scenario. I kind of panicked and said, ‘We’ve got to list it,’” Koplan said.
She had two showings, an open house and a contract in the first week. The buyers agreed to a 60-day contract, which allowed her to stay in the home until her townhome was finished at the end of April. The inspection identified a few repairs that the buyers wanted made, and Koplan hired contractors to do tasks such as grounding an electrical outlet and repainting a portion of the ceiling.
Seller’s hint
If the home is older, consider offering a home warranty. She purchased one (for about $300) for the buyers, which provided coverage if repairs were needed to home systems and appliances.
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