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I'm Dreaming of an Urban Christmas

Friday, September 2, 2011   /   by Ira Miskin

I'm Dreaming of an Urban Christmas

For years they dreamed of leaving the suburbs and finding the perfect cottage in one of the Atlanta In-Town neighborhoods. Where walking was not just a form of exercise but an opportunity to stroll over to a great bistro, an iconic neighborhood art gallery or just shop a supermarket without having to get in their car, drive several miles and then hunt up a parking spot somewhere vaguely in proximity to the stores entrance. This year, as their last child was leaving for college, the chance to embrace that dream became real.

Now, facing the reality that the time to move into town was at hand, they needed a plan. Step 1, find a Realtor who could help them organize a search for their dream home, and help them prepare and then sell their current home in the burbs. Step 2, working with their Realtor: develop a plan for narrowing their searches  which neighborhoods in-town best fit both their wish-list and needs. Step 3, begin working with a Lender to determine just how much they could afford to spend on their dream. Step 4, get their current home on the market and hit the bricks start driving through in-town neighborhoods, start looking at homes, start focusing their vision of what really is the perfect cottage in the perfect neighborhood.

Pouring through the daily hot-list of the newest properties to hit the market provided to them by their Realtor through their unique computerized HomeHunter ® Service, they quickly began to learn which neighborhoods provided good value for the asking price, and which neighborhoods did not. By both driving neighborhoods and also previewing homes with their Realtor, they began to narrow their focus, and determine what features and benefits the home, the street and the neighborhood would best suit their wants and needs.

In the meantime, using a plan provided by their Realtor, they prepared their home so that is was show quality, meaning it looked good from the street and lived up to expectations on the inside too. These days, unless a Buyer is shopping for a distress sale property like a foreclosure or pre-foreclosure short sale where the Buyer expects to purchase at a discount and expects to fix and clean the property, a non-distressed property has to not only be priced competitively but has to be in move-in-condition. Along with a massive marketing plan they developed a pricing plan in order to find the price point where the market positively equated the homes price with the homes value and benefits. Once there, despite the so-called awful market, their home showed consistently and shortly received two offers. With a bound agreement in hand, they and their Realtor shifted into high gear.

We looked at nearly one hundred houses, but with our Realtors guidance, we didnt panic. And then, as if it had been waiting for them all along, the perfect in-town cottage appeared on their daily HomeHunter ® feed. And indeed it was perfect. Recently beautifully renovated, located on a street where walking everywhere was a joy and not a burden, plenty of space for living and for working at home and priced within their budget. Visit it onceoh joy! Visit it again to be sure it felt just a good on a second look. Lets come back again tomorrow, taking time to stand in each room, get a feeling for the space, the light, the lot. Room enough for visitors to stay the weekend? Enough space for the dogs? Yes, yesYes!

Ok Realtor - make the initial offernegotiate terms and price inspections, appraisal, organize a myriad of details coordinate both closings.

Dreams do come true  if you have a plan, and have a Real Estate team to help you work for them.

Having that Urban Christmas is a dream no more!