Name: Steve Karp, 43, an executive for a payment processing company
The home: A three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath home built in 1910 and expanded/renovated in 2005
Where: Atlanta's Poncey-Highland neighborhood
Why he sold: Karp owned the home for eight years and loved its character, but as his kids got older, he desired to purchase a newer home in the same neighborhood with a different layout, such as a basement or lower level. "One hundred-year-old houses are not built for the kind of spaces that modern families need," he said. He also wanted less maintenance, inside and out. "Even though I had renovated it pretty extensively, the guts were 100 years old. I wanted something newer. I didn't want as much as yard." He found a townhome nearby and scheduled the closing for about two months later in order to sell his home.
Time on market: 3 days
Original price: $699,000
Sale price: $716,000
What it took
Before putting the home on the market, Karp repainted some of the exteriors and interiors and spruced up the landscaping. The wraparound porch attracted people walking or driving by, plus the home boasted a location some buyers desire near the Beltline, Ponce City Market, a park and shops. Original details included the doors, hardwoods and trim, but the home had new windows and insulation.
The key was determining the correct size of the home, which happened in setting the asking price. When Karp and his agent, Jim McMahel with RE/MAX Metro Atlanta | Cityside, looked through the appraisal from Karp’s refinancing, the home measured 250 feet larger than the Fulton County tax records. Karp hired a surveyor, who determined the home was larger than originally thought, at 2,649 square feet. Having the correct square footage appealed to buyers seeking a larger home in the neighborhood.
Potential stumbling block
Two offers arrived the first day, for over asking price. One offer was much higher, and there was some concern that the home wouldn’t appraise for that amount. If they had to renegotiate the price, it could delay or halt the closing. He was already under contract on a four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath townhome built in 2006, also in Poncey-Highland, and didn’t want anything to impact that purchase. “Ultimately I focused more on which one I thought had the greater certainty of closing,” Karp said. It also helped that the buyers, who already lived intown, wrote him a personal note, sharing why they liked the neighborhood. He closed on both homes in May.
Seller’s hint
Give people a hint with a “Coming Soon” sign before officially listing the property. The sign was installed on a Friday and the home was listed in the FMLS on Monday (rules say the sign can be posted for no more than three days). Karp adds: “As soon as the ‘Coming Soon’ sign went up, people were walking up to my front yard, asking, ‘How much is it?’”
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