Georgia football coach Kirby Smart sold Athens home below asking price
ATHENS — Kirby Smart led University of Georgia football to another SEC Championship this season, but the Bulldogs didn’t advance beyond the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff.
During the season, the UGA coach and his wife Mary Beth also sold their Athens home in the prestigious Five Points neighborhood, but the final price fell short of expectations.
County records show they purchased the 1928-built home they extensively remodeled in 2017 for $910,000 in 2016. The nearly 10,000-square-foot house with seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms hit the market in spring 2024 listed at $4.2 million, at the time the most expensive residential listing in Athens-Clarke County.
After multiple price reductions, public records show the Smarts sold the house on West Lake Drive for $3 million this past September.
The Smarts had already relocated nearby, to another Five Points home close to where legendary former Bulldogs coach Vince Dooley lived before his 2022 death.
Among the Smarts’ neighbors: Longtime UGA broadcaster Loran Smith, who says he lives on the same street but isn’t expecting to see the coach much beyond the annual Christmas party.
“He’s not insensitive, he really does enjoy people. But the demands of the job coupled with his ambition don’t leave much time to do anything else,” Smith said.
The buyer of the Smarts’ previous house is from nearby Monroe. He requested anonymity but said the previous owner played no role in the purchase, instead citing the location and a price below the original asking.
In another high-profile sale, former Georgia co-defensive coordinator Will Muschamp listed his nearly 10,000-square-foot estate in neighboring Oconee County at $3.5 million in 2024, at the time the priciest home on the market in that county. It sold for $3.1 million later that year. Muschamp now serves as defensive coordinator at Texas.
Despite these below-asking sales, the local luxury market remains active. Christine Tucker, a licensed realtor specializing in Athens-Clarke and Oconee Counties, noted that multi-million-dollar properties continue to move. In 2025, more than 15 homes in Athens sold for $2 million or higher, per Georgia MLS data, with the top sale reaching $5.8 million.
About the Author
Fletcher Page is Athens bureau chief covering northeast Georgia for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
