SOLD

Although the contract was signed, it was still a surprise to arrive home and see the "SOLD" extension on the For Sale sign. I wasn't sure I would be so lucky to sell the house so quickly. But after only one week on the market an offer was made, a price was agreed upon, and the deal went forward.

Great thanks is owed to my real estate agents, Frank and Doug. After the contract ran out with my former agent, I was deluged with calls, mail, and unannounced personal visits from almost every other agent from here to Montauk.

It was Frank, then unknown to me, who arrived unannounced one Sunday afternoon and POUNDED on my front door, not once but twice, to get my attention. He pulled up, parked his SUV across the street, and made known his arrival by banging so fiercely on the door it rattled the upstairs windows. He then walked back to his vehicle, turned it around, and came back to my door, pounding even harder. Not one to reward such rude behavior, I ignored him. I went to the door later to get the literature I knew he would leave.

But I kept thinking during the week, what sort of salesperson do I want to sell my house? A meek, timid guy who waits for the world to come to him? Or a guy who will knock the door off its hinges on a quiet Sunday afternoon to get new business during very tough times?

When Minds Don't Meet

Image by Getty Images via Daylife Last night a meeting of the minds took place among my agent, broker and me. After showing me page after page of houses considered to be a step up from mine, in a "more desirable" part of town, which recently sold for ridiculously low prices, they hit me with the "it's time to lower your asking price" line. I thought my asking price was low. The way I understood it, since my first meeting with the agent, the house was "priced to sell." But I was wrong and now it's going lower.

So I have to get ready anew for the onslaught of buyers who have been waiting for an even better bargain. But somehow my motivation to present the house in its best light seems to have gone the way of the asking price.