Our agent, John Sharp

I'd like to thank our real estate agent John Sharp. We've known each other for a few years through mountain climbing. I remember being amazed to learn a few years ago that he had climbed the Northeast Buttress of Johannesburg Mountain in the North Cascades National Park. I pressed him for details of the trip, and it went in my mind as something to strive to achieve. When my friend Theron and I finally climbed it we were forearmed with knowledge from John and another friend Robert Meshew. Also, John helped us more concretely close to the date, because he discovered an alternate descent from the mountain that he named "Dan's Direct," after a friend. We followed his advice and found our way down much easier that by going the standard way.

And it's like that that John helped us with our house: seeing us safely through a transaction fraught with worries, especially considering that we were leaving the country. I called him in mid-September and said "we want you to sell our house, and by the way, we might be seriously gone before you manage to do it." I then coolly lit a cigarette.

Okay maybe that was a little over-dramatized. John helped us work out a timeline, and helped us find a price that we were happy with and that would also ensure a fairly quick sale. His photographer spent a lot of time getting the best light and angles for the pictures. Here are a few of them:

We put the house on the market quickly, and got a buyer just 2 days later. Unfortunately it fell through because another family member didn't like the house a few days later. It took a few more days to get another buyer, and this person was really motivated (as we were, another thing to be thankful for). John was right on top of everything, and from here it went without a hitch. All in all, it went from "wacky idea" in mid-September to a closed house sale on October 31st.

I knew that if we ended up moving before the house was sold, John would be a good steward for our real estate business in Washington. He is solid and trustworthy. If we move back to Washington one day, we'll keep him busy looking for a place. We also hope he'll come out with his family for some hiking and climbing in the Eastern Alps wonderland.

John's contact information can be found here.