Multiple rounds, a close second, and we never broke $2.5M

They found us at an open house, then interviewed about 25 agents before deciding who to hire. That kind of diligence sets the tone: every recommendation had to hold up on its own.

It went multiple rounds, and the buyer behind us stayed close the whole way — exactly the situation where people start bidding against themselves. We treated it as a game theory problem instead: read what the other side needed each round, then move in increments that answered them without chasing them.

They got it at $2,460,000 — $462,000 over list, and still under the $2.5M ceiling we'd set going in.

It appraised above what they paid.