At one point, while photographs were being taken of the kitchen, Dad said:
“I built this place.”
Melissa looked around.
“You built the house?”
“No. I built the family.”
Melissa later told me she almost responded, How’s that going?
Professional restraint saved her commission.
The listing went live at noon.
By three, we had six showing requests.
By evening, eleven.
The property market in that neighborhood had changed dramatically since I bought the place.
Five years earlier, I had paid $438,000.
Melissa listed it at $689,000.
On Thursday, the first buyers came through.
My mother made cookies.
That might sound normal.
It wasn’t.
She made cookies because she believed prospective buyers would meet her, love her, understand that the home “belonged” to the family, and refuse to participate in the sale.
Instead, the first couple complimented the kitchen.
The second asked whether the furniture was included.
The third measured Tessa’s bedroom.
