How I Sold My House
In Just Six Days

When my agent listed my house on June 8, she included what I feared was too bold a directive: "Seller will review all offers on June 14." All offers? What if there were no offers?

Such a technique was common during the real-estate boom. But more recently, I've mostly seen the tactic used when a home is in excellent shape -- a message that a lot of time (and possibly, money) was spent making the house move-in ready and that a buyer should act quickly. I wondered whether my place was really in such good shape and worried buyers might be scared away.

Samantha Macintosh, my agent, assured me that the stipulation was only for real-estate agents to see and would encourage them to bring serious buyers. If we didn't receive offers by our June 14 noon deadline, she would remove it from the listing, she said.

I wasn't optimistic about finding a buyer so quickly. The open house was short (from noon to 2 p.m.). It took place on a sunny day that followed one of heavy rain (I do live in Seattle), which made me wonder whether buyers opted to spend the day outdoors instead of home shopping. Less than 10 people attended, and while feedback was often positive -- many said my place was "cute" -- it wasn't in any way apparent that an offer would come quickly. Feedback wasn't completely positive: One agent said it was too "tilted," perhaps referring to settling on the sun porch/mud room. Twenty-four hours later, my home had been saved on Yahoo in 138 buyers' home-search lists, according to Steve Lamb, my agent's business partner and a former techie.

"This is the activity that's taken place only on Yahoo's real-estate site, so it's just a small sampling, but interesting nonetheless," he wrote in an e-mail.

By June 11, I had received 10 to 15 calls from interested buyers agents. (My agent had asked if I wanted a call before showings. I thought it'd be nice to know when visits were taking place so I'd know not to stop by for mail or in case the cleaners I hired for weekly touchups were inside.)

Sitting in my car outside one day and waiting for two friends to meet me for a view of my remodeling efforts, I saw an agent pull up. I thought about chasing her and her clients, a couple, inside for an "accidental" meet-the-seller moment.

"Don't mind my car, or my outfit," I'd tell them. "I spent every penny I have on this house!"

As June 13 dawned, no buyers had indicated they would make an offer. Ms. Macintosh and Mr. Lamb had forwarded me feedback from buyers agents throughout the week. Several said they thought the home was tip-top or "charming," but one house hunter wanted a garage, while another thought the front steps were too steep for her aging parents.

That afternoon, I started getting calls from agents -- asking if they could take buyers in, possibly as late as 9 p.m. No problem -- my agent and I decided to wait until Thursday for any offers.

An agent called Wednesday afternoon and said she had a young married couple who were interested. The two were familiar with West Seattle and had lost a home to another bid.

I didn't hear anything until about 11 a.m. on Thursday, when the couple's agent called, nervous they weren't going to get an offer in by the noon cutoff. The pair had spent the morning double-checking their financing in advance of making an offer. We extended the deadline since my agent and I couldn't meet until the evening. By 6 p.m., I had a full-price offer with a request that I pay $7,000 in closing costs and a closing date of July 19. The offer included a note from the buyers saying how much they loved the home. I took the offer, with some modifications.

I will pay the $7,000, but the buyers will put $4,000 more into their mortgage. I will end up getting $3,000 under my asking price ($374,950) and will settle my home's sale before I close on my new home. Because of the July 19 closing date, I won't pay double mortgage payments. The commission I pay will be calculated on a $374,950 house price, rather than the mortgaged price of $378,950 (a savings of less than $100).

We have to get through the inspection first and see if more discounts are requested by the buyers, but I think the deal will work out. I'm pleased that that eight weeks of preparation helped us to sell the house in just six days.

-- Ms. Hodges is a a free-lance writer in Seattle.

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