and turn their new home into a center for holiday dinners.

"That dining room is fantastic for that whole purpose," he said.

They were putting 45 percent down but "could pay cash if they wanted to," Lenihan said. "If we're not the highest offer, I hope we're one of the better offers out there, because it's not always about price."

While the agents presented, Nye wrote down the key points on individual sheets of paper, allowing him to quickly review and sort bids later.

Meanwhile, three more offers arrived via email, including one from a neighbor who reported desiring the house for 30 years. Another agent was promising to submit one more cash bid, also for himself. Broveleit called him to say time was almost up, and mention that the bids wereagent, who interrupted a haircut to take the call and then check with her clients. A few minutes later, she called back. It was a go at $800,000.

When Corneil finally looked at the winning bidders' full names, she realized the wife was the woman a neighbor had brought by.

"I really liked her a lot," she said.

Corneil called her dad to give him the news.

Broveleit wrote up a new contract at $800,000. Nye had Corneil sign a note on the other offers saying they were "respectfully declined."

Later that day the agents marked the listing as pending in the Multiple Listing Service system. Now, it's on to closing.

Read more real estate news. Visit seattlepi.com's home page for more Seattle news. Reach Aubrey Cohen at aubreycohen@seattlepi.com or (206) 448-8362.