How we helped an Atlanta mother take a piece of her home with her

How we helped an Atlanta mother take a piece of her home with her

Sold her home to Opendoor in Atlanta, GA

In July 1998, Robin Race began measuring her children on the pantry door of their Atlanta home. At the time her son, Cameron, was 8. Her daughter, Lauren, was 12.

“Back then, my daughter was taller than her brother,” Robin remembered. “As the years went by he caught up and surpassed her.”

It was one of many memories that made the home so special to them. When the children moved to other states, it became a central place for them to get together. When Robin decided it was time to sell, the family realized letting go wouldn’t be easy.

“My daughter had a real attachment to the home. When my granddaughter, who is six now, found out we were selling the home, she cried.”

Robin, a referral coordinator in a pediatric practice, had been considering selling the home for several years. It was much larger than she needed, especially since her children had grown up and moved out, and the upkeep was beginning to weigh on her.

Remembering the hassle of her two previous home sales, Robin put off selling the home for years. It didn’t help that she’d heard her fair share of stressful stories from friends and family members who listed on the open market.

“Someone reached out to me two days ago, a couple moving to Spokane,” she said. “They were ready to close and the buyer walked. So they ended up with a home in Spokane that they’re supposed to move to, and their sale in Atlanta fell through.”

Robin also mentioned that living alone and having a dog made showings difficult. She wasn’t excited about having people shuffling in and out of her home while she found a place to take the dog. That’s why when a friend at her practice recommended selling her home to Opendoor, she was intrigued.

“ I realized from start to finish, it was the real deal. She had nothing but great things to say, so it’s just something I filed it in the back of my mind. I thought, ‘When I’m ready, I really think I’m going to consider this.”

A short time after that conversation, Robin googled Opendoor and read more on the website. She entered her address, answered a few questions about her home, and received an offer shortly after. It was more than she expected.

“I was pretty surprised at the offer. I didn’t move on it at the time. I soaked it up and thought okay, this is probably what I’m going to do.”

It was an emotional decision, and Robin wanted to be ready before she accepted the offer. She knew that once she started her sale with Opendoor, things would move quickly, so she waited a few months and requested an updated offer.

This time she showed the offer to her kids, her parents, and some friends in the business. While no one in the family was eager to let the house go, they understood that Robin was ready for a fresh start.

While she was considering the offer, she even spoke with a real estate agent, and was open to the idea of listing, but ultimately decided that the traditional process was too uncertain.

“What they wanted to list my home for was not a great deal more than Opendoor had offered. There were a lot of unknowns. I wasn’t able to stay another six or eight months if the house didn’t sell.”

Robin was thrilled by how simple selling to Opendoor was. She was able to choose her closing date and she received support from her Home Advisor, Jordan, every step of the way. She was nervous before the home assessment, but once it began, she was relieved.

“I knew that I was going to have an HVAC person, a termite guy, a roofer, and a photographer. I was completely put at ease with all of them. From the moment I met someone from Opendoor, it was a good thing. ”

About a week before her final walkthrough Robin’s son asked what she was going to do about the pantry door. She didn’t have an answer. A few days after that, her daughter Lauren, 32, called her.

“She was so torn, she was ready to get in the car and come to say goodbye to the house. Her big thing was to get the pantry door.”

Robin told her daugher it wouldn’t be possible because the movers were coming the next day. Lauren wouldn’t take no for an answer, and before long, Robin decided to see what her options were. She got in touch with Julie, her Closing Manager.

“I was so moved that I reached out to Julie. At that point and I got pretty choked up because it was a big day for me. I asked how much it would cost to take the door, and she said to take it.”

Two hours before her final walkthrough Robin and a contractor friend took the door off the hinges and brought it to her storage unit.

“The response I got and the compassion… it was just such a sweet sweet memory for us. It meant the world to my daughter.”

It wasn’t until after closing that she realized just how important the door really was. “I’m so thankful that you let me take the door and that it all worked out. It felt like it was it was meant to be.”

When she moves into her new home, Robin plans to reinstall the door and keep the tradition alive by measuring her grandchildren as they grow. We’re glad that she was able to take an important piece of her home with her.