Sally English Atlanta Real Estate: SOLD the investment Home at 3071 Randolph Road

It is done.  My husband and I sold one of our investment properties near Northlake Mall.  Had to be done because we needed some of the equity to pay this years tuition for our daughter who will be a senior at Vanderbilt University.  Even with a great reason to sell, it was difficult for us to accept the valuation placed on this home by the market place.

We had purchased the house about 8 years ago from an estate.  The owner had died somewhat suddenly and the executors had come to me to market and sell the property.  They priced the home competitively but it needed a ton of work.  Most of it cosmetic but some of it was more challenging.

The basement leaked.  There was an active termite infestation in an exterior wall and a lot of work to do updating  electrical and plumbing.

When the home did not sell after 6 months on the market, the estate asked me if my husband would be interested in purchasing the home.  They knew we sometimes renovated and rented / sold homes in the neighborhood.  We made an offer and it was accepted.  Tim started work on the house and had it ready to rent in about 4 months.  We rented to some great and some not so great tenants over the past 8 years.

The time came when we needed the equity to pay college tuition bills.  The cost of attending Vanderbilt University has jumped up to the the $55,000 range per year.  After three years of paying tuition, we needed to tap some investment money.  We kept hoping the real estate market would make an upswing before we put Randolph on the market.  No such luck,  We put the house in top showing condition and had it on the market in January this year.

Tim wanted to start it at $317,000.....which was too high.  I gave in and let him try it out for a few weeks.  We dropped the price steadily over the spring months to a price of $299,000.  An offer came in at the low 270s.  I thought Tim would have a stroke.  We worked the price up closer to $280,000 and then it became decision time.  Do we take the bird in hand or wait for something better to come along.

The August tuition deadline was looming and Tim finally bit the bullett and took the offer in hand.  We closed yesterday and the proceeds from the sale have been wired into our checking account.

Was this the best decision to make?  I don't know.  We probably would have attracted a higher offer but it could have taken several months to get an offer and close the deal.  Meanwhile we would be paying expenses of $1,600 per month and have to figure out another way to pay the college tuition for our daughter.

I think many home sellers are finding themselves in similar situations.  They hope for the best when they initially price their home and put it on the market.  It takes some sellers longer than others to realize that price level was not very realistic.  Many have spent a lot of money fixing up the home and making improvements.  It is disappointing to find the market is not placing the same value on your home as the one you had in mind.

Eventually, the smarter sellers figure out they have to make some price adjustments and then just move on both emotionally and financially.  Letting go is not easy when you are dealing with something as close to our hearts as "home".

Buyers are looking at the home with a totally different set of glasses and all they see are multiple properties competing for their attention.  It is understandable that they are going to make a lowball offer.  Sellers need to find a way to make offers work.  Give in on some things and then stand firm on some other parts of the sale.

Letting go is not a bad feeling once the sale is closed!