36 Hours on Market… and the Deal That Almost Didn’t Happen
The First 36 Hours
Thirty-six hours.
That’s all it took for 1453 Oldaker View Lane to go under contract.
But if you had asked me how things were going just a few hours earlier, I would’ve told you a completely different story.
It was Easter weekend. The kind of weekend where people are traveling, sitting in church pews, or gathered around tables with family. Not exactly prime time for open houses. We had one person come through.
One.
I remember texting, already shifting gears mentally: “We’ll gear up for next week.”
And then… everything changed.
Showings started stacking—four, five, one after another. An offer came in. Another buyer circled with interest… until a practical detail (a boat and a steep driveway) took him out of the running. And just like that, we were holding a strong offer.
Full asking price.
No concessions.
Clean terms.
On paper, it looked like an easy decision. But real estate isn’t played on paper.
What Most People Don’t See
Buried inside that strong offer was one detail that changed everything:
A home sale contingency.
And that’s where things get real.
Because now you’re not just selling your home—you’re tying your entire timeline to whether someone else can sell theirs. It sounds reasonable. It’s common. But if you’re not careful, you can end up locked into a contract you can’t get out of… waiting on something completely outside of your control.
That’s not strategy. That’s exposure.
And 36 hours into being on the market—with momentum building—that’s a risk you have to think carefully about.
When the Deal Started Slipping
We tried the standard approach: A First Right of Refusal.
It’s something I’ve used before, especially when I’m fighting for buyers who need flexibility. I understand it. I’ve advocated for it. But this time, I was sitting on the other side of the table. And it didn’t land. The deal started to fall apart.
At that point, most people would’ve done what’s easy:
“Not a fit. Let’s move on.”
But here’s what stuck with me—Both sides wanted this house. They weren’t disagreeing on the outcome. They were stuck on the path to get there.
Rewriting the Path
That’s where things shifted. Instead of forcing the deal to work… or letting it die…We stepped back and asked a better question:
“What would make this work for everyone?”
I went to bed thinking about it. Woke up with an idea. Wrote it down on a yellow legal pad and called it simply:
“The Solution.”
It wasn’t complicated. It was intentional.
We built structure into uncertainty:
Give the buyer 10 days to get their home on the market
Give them 21 days to get it under contract
Take our home off the market during that window
And then—most importantly—we built in protection:
If they didn’t meet those deadlines, there were clear next steps: Either we relist the home…Or they move forward with stronger commitment.
We also simplified the inspection process: No cosmetic requests. No nitpicking. Only major systems and safety.
In other words—if the house is solid, it’s yours.
It created urgency.
It created clarity.
It created balance.
The Final Stretch
They came back with one request:
More time.
Not a completely new deal. Not a rejection. Just a shift. And that’s when you know you’re close.
We adjusted.
We aligned expectations.
We stayed focused on the goal.
And then…We were back under contract.
What This Really Means
This wasn’t luck. It was staying in the conversation when it would’ve been easier to walk away.
It was choosing curiosity over frustration. Creativity over rigidity. Strategy over speed.
Because the truth is—Deals don’t fall apart because they can’t work. They fall apart because no one takes the time to figure out how they can.
The Real Win
Yes, we went under contract in 36 hours. But that’s not the part I’m most proud of. The real win?
We didn’t just accept the first offer. We built a better one.
