We put our house up for sale on March 16th. Eight Days later we got an offer. Two days after that we got a second offer. Yesterday we signed. It was a whirlwind of emotions. From the stress of keeping the house clean, to the anxiety of how to counter the first offer, to the thrill of getting a second full price offer, to the hope of a price escalation in a multiple to the reality of a signing. 

We feel so incredibly blessed that everything happened so quickly. I still can’t quite believe it happened. (Of course, things can still fall through. But our buyer is putting 10k down for a down payment so we feel pretty confident their financing will go through. And we’ll be shocked if the inspector finds anything large enough to thwart the sale- given we had a thorough inspection when we purchased the home five years ago, and we’ve attended to everything he found.) 

I’ll admit to wondering if we priced the home too low, (I had felt we should have priced it at 165k, but Tom and Jackie convinced me we shouldn’t go any higher than our listing price: $159,900.) Though when we think through how it all unraveled they’re probably right. Our first offer was essentially 15k under asking price. We countered with 5k under, and then they only came up 3k- offering 12k under. We continued to have a lot of interest from people seeing the house so I felt confident that we could get a better offer, so we waited out. Sure enough at our broker’s open on Tuesday a realtor said he had to show the house to a client he had. Our realtor said he’d better do it sooner than later, (insinuated that we already had an offer.) The next day, Wednesday, we were home for 15 minutes, after our 10 hour drive, before we got a text requesting a showing a half hour later. We quickly packed up some dinner, and headed to the library to eat it. The next morning we had a full price offer. 

Our realtor informed the first party that they were in a multiple, and they backed out. So we signed with the second.

It happened so quickly I still feel a little stunned. I keep rehashing everything wondering if we should have done things differently. But then I realize, why, things worked out perfectly. We got precisely what we asked for. When the realtor told us what fees we’d have to pay (around 16k) my stomach dropped as it does any time I make a large purchase- did we make the right choice? Should we have used a realtor or gone the FSBO route? Then I would feel frustrated at myself for even thinking that, and not just being grateful for our quick success. 

When I put on my optimistic lens I feel giddy. All my hard work has literally paid off. The buyers called our home perfect and gushed about how excited they were. (They’re a young couple who are getting married this summer, this will be their first home, just like us.) It warms my heart to think we have “given” them this beautiful home. I love the thought that we have left Cleveland a little better- through our efforts to leave a beautiful space. 

When we run through our finances our feelings of gratitude are overwhelming. We bought this house with a few thousand dollars to our name. Since buying the home we traveled to Mexico, France and Italy, we visited family often, we purchased a car, we had a baby, we paid off my undergrad and grad school tuition, we lived in a gorgeous home and despite our 30k yearly income, we’re leaving Cleveland in the green! For this we turn our hearts to God in extreme thanksgiving. 

Little Lomond house, we love you, and will forever miss you when we’re gone.