Four kinds of buyers in today’s market:
Move-ups
Chris and Suzanne Puckett
Moved from Johns Creek to a seven-bedroom, five-bath home on Glen Trail in Woodstock.
How long it took: the Pucketts began looking in January and made an offer in mid-February.
$286,100 -- What they bought it for
$403,000 -- Prior sale price, 2004
Bottom line: “Prices were probably a little higher than we expected, because we’ve been hearing about how horrible the market is — fire sale prices —and it’s not,” Suzanne said.
Bargain-hunters
Brandon and Audrey Morrison
Left a rental home to buy a three bedroom, 1,254 square foot bungalow on Cherokee Avenue in Grant Park last December.
How long it took: The Morrisons looked for nearly a year.
$74,000 -- What they bought it for, after winning a bidding war that started at the asking price of $47,000
$161,000 -- Prior sale price, 2004
Bottom line: “These types of houses, the banks put them on the market pretty low. But there are bidding wars, and they don’t stay on the market long,” said Audrey. “A lot on the market now is lower than it was a couple of years ago. There are a ton of foreclosures, but they were not what we were interested in.”
Transplants
Mike and Misty McCasserty
Moved from Tennessee to a 5,000-square foot, five-bedroom home on Buddy West Road in Newnan.
How long it took: They moved here after Mike took a job at Arlington Christian School and they found a home their first weekend looking.
$275,000 -- What they bought it for
$365,737 -- Prior sale price, 2005 — with $20,500 in improvements made a year later.
Bottom line: “I felt like we took a beating on [their Tennessee home],” Mike said. “We sold it for $1,000 more than we owed on it. But in this market I felt like we did pretty good. ... If the market ever comes back we will be sitting on a $450,000 house.”
Downsizers
Bruce and Debbi Gurley
Stayed in east Cobb but downsized to a 1,600-square foot home on Old Farm Walk in Marietta.
How long it took: They began looking in January and signed a contract the last day of the month.
$139,000 -- What they bought it for
$150,000 -- Prior sale price, 2004.
Bottom line: The Gurleys found that houses in desirable areas sold quickly. When they found the home they purchased, their agent encouraged them to move fast. “By 12 o’clock we were in the office with a contract,” Debbi said.
