I was preparing a marketing piece today that included a list of some of the upcoming festivals going on around the city in the next month or so, and I paused to appreciate the amount of culture and entertainment that I’ve enjoyed over the years by virtue of living and working in the city of Atlanta. Here is a list of upcoming events/festivals if you are looking for some unique activities to put on your calendar for late summer/fall of 2017:
Decatur BBQ, Blues, and Bluegrass Festival August 12th
Atlanta Underground Film Festival 8/18-8/20
Piedmont Park Arts Festival 8/19-8/20
Grant Park Summer Shade Festival 8/26-8/27
Candler Park Fall Fest 9/30-10/1
We moved over to Morningside in 2010 and I love the neighborhood, but my wife and I lived within a couple of blocks of Piedmont Park in Midtown for several years before we came here. It was phenomenal being that close to the park year-round, but it was really special when the festival season was in full swing and something was going on in the neighborhood nearly every weekend. Our life and family has since expanded outside the space of the little bungalow we were living in there, but I do get nostalgic for the ability to walk out of my house and essentially arrive at Piedmont Park for The Dogwood Festival or any other number of events that the Conservancy hosts.
It’s interesting to note that now, some seven years after we moved a few miles up the road to Morningside, I couldn’t tell you what kind of kitchen upgrades were installed in that little 1920s house in Midtown or if the appliances were stainless. I can’t really remember what color the walls were, or if the bathroom was updated. Our friends always talked about how it was a cute place, but what I recall about the house centers on the people around us and what we spent our time doing while we were there.
I remember grilling in our backyard. I remember sitting around the old aqua(ish) blue, refurbished glass-top picnic table of questionable quality on the back porch that we bought from a guy over in Cabbage Town during a Sunday afternoon adventure like it was yesterday. I remember walking over to Midtown Arts Cinema to catch a movie on a whim. I remember finishing the Peachtree Road Race with friends and all of us strolling back to our house to hang out and grab a shower before we walked over to Fontaine’s in Virginia Highland to reward ourselves with some food and drinks. I remember a block party during a Paul McCartney concert and the entire neighborhood hanging out on our front porches listening to the show. I remember evening runs and bike rides through the neighborhood while (sometimes unsuccessfully) dodging low-hanging limbs of trees along the sidewalks. I remember the frequent walks over to Trader Joe’s to replenish our stock of “Two Buck Chuck”.
I vividly remember how we lived and what we did when we were there, but the cosmetics of the house we lived in are secondary in my mind to the lifestyle that house enabled for us.
I talk about it with clients all of the time, but its worth saying here as well: Your house is more than the number of bedrooms and bathrooms within the walls. It is more than a list of upgrades and finishes that sounds exactly like the listing for every other property for sale out there. The lifestyle your home enables for its future owner drives the value and marketability of your property.
I’m not saying it isn’t important for your house to be in the best condition possible before putting it on the market, or that your renovations and chef’s kitchen aren’t major selling points. Those things matter. However, securing the absolute best price for your house is a function of illustrating, to the right buyer, how your home will help them enable, improve, or enhance their lifestyle. The way a potential new home fits or amplifies how you live, work, and play should be a top consideration for you in your home search as well.
