We sold the house

Anyone following me on Twitter saw my update yesterday that Robin and I have signed paperwork on an offer we received Tuesday night. We’re elated. But there’s some backstory that’s interesting to share.

Apparently the editor of the Naperville Sun still reads my blog, and when he saw my post about the house still being on the market (and the requisite price drop), he had a reporter give m a call. Paige and I chatted for a while on my drive back from San Diego, and she had a photographer head over to the house. The result? A front page treatment in the Business section (and an abridged version of the article which ran in the next day’s Chicago Sun-Times). The print version had a big picture of our house, and included our address.

Coincidence? I don’t think so. Two offers came in that night, both from locals who were familiar with the neighborhood. Eight months on the market, and the two offers came in the same day we got a ton of attention in the local paper. John Harper, a Realtor out here in California, wondered whether newspapers sell houses and remarked that the trend is for Realtors to shift much of their marketing budget to online sources away from offline sources. One example doesn’t make a trend, but I think the results in my case speak for themselves: Craigslist, Zillow, Trulia, realtor.com – none of them produced our buyer. Interesting.

(Separate lesson learned: when a journalist asks for your wife’s age, politely decline to answer. I have it on good authority that that would have been a wise move. Ah well. Next time.)

So… Naperville Sun: you’ve been very good to me. You endorsed me when I ran for local office in Naperville. After I moved, you helped sell my house. To Tim and Paige, I raise a glass from a few thousand miles away. Let me know how I can return the favors.