Liz & I at her housewarming partyLiz was a young first-time buyer that was referred to me through my horseback riding trainer. She is a very cool chic with a great, spunky personality. She is also incredibly responsible and mature financially speaking for her age. Often times my younger clients have mounds of credit card debt and a car they cannot really afford that they bought when they got their first real job out of college. As common as that scenario is, it also unfortunately can make it difficult to purchase a home. However, Liz was a very refreshing breath of fresh air and had followed the advice her parents instilled in her to a T....don't buy something you can't afford. Novel, I know!
Liz was looking for a condo or townhome in the Sandy Springs area, close to her social circle but also an easy drive to her job. With the traffic in Atlanta, that second part was key. Also, being the fiscally responsible person that she is, we had a very definite price range to work within. We looked at several condo developments and two townhome developments and quickly narrowed it down to one condo and two townhomes. I walked her through the pros & cons of each, created a spreadsheet showing recent comparables, tallied up the difference in monthly payments due to things like taxes and HOA fees, did some analysis on resale values, and talked through any concerns she had.
At the end she decided to go with a condo in the Laurel Grove complex, a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired development that offers very unique & spacious units that are flooded with natural light. I helped her understand how, in the condo market in Atlanta, it was SO important to have something unique to offer with regards to re-sale values. There are so many apartment conversions on the market now that they are incredibly difficult to sell and the chances of doing much more than breaking even are pretty slim, so her choice of going with something that will stand out from the crowd when she goes to sell it was critical. Liz has been in her new place for about a year now and loves it! We go to lunch together every month and she has continued to enjoy not only her unit, but the amenities like the pool and location as well. I love helping people to find that special home, and Liz is no exception....and it always means a lot to me to make a good friend in the process!
When I decided that I wanted to finally stop renting and buy my first place I knew
absolutely nothing about how to go about it. Alix took me through it step by step and explained everything in ways that made me understand what was going on as well as why. Her commitment was to find the best place for my needs as well as my budget, while still making sure I was investing wisely and thinking about long term as opposed to the right now. Her attention to detail and customer focus was what made it easy to put my full trust in her opinion and guidance throughout the entire process. I trusted her with helping me find my first home, and she delivered 110%, not only did I find a great place I also have a great friend. - Liz B.
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