Crystal is between work calls, standing at the kitchen counter. The kids are at school. Anthony is at work. The condo is finally quiet. She considers the steam radiating from her coffee mug. She takes a deep breath, exhales slowly. And opens the email from her real estate attorney, Mike Wasserman.  

The stillness of the moment vaporizes. 

Mike’s message says, “Don’t worry, but text me when you can talk.” Then, a forward from the buyer’s lawyer. It’s long. And she only has 5 minutes until her next call. She skims to the list at the end. There are 12 itemized repairs that the buyer is asking (demanding?) she and Anthony make.  

“TWELVE repairs? We’re selling the condo as-is!” she yells angrily to no one.  

The ache in her jaw asserts itself. She realizes that she’s clenching her teeth again. She breathes, forces herself to relax, and thinks, “Mike says don’t worry. So I won’t.” 

It’s not easy to plan a real estate sale and purchase—all while planning to move across the country. It reminds her of traveling for work. All the mental calisthenics she has to do to arrive on time for meetings, connecting flights, return flights—and still getting home for dinner. 

Crystal’s meticulous spreadsheet tells the story of their journey. It has rows for financing, tasks, deadlines, and checklists of completed and pending items. She and Anthony laugh at its complexity. But it explains why they like working with Wasserman. He brings a level of detail that keeps them sane—especially after getting a gut-punching email like the one today. 

Not only do Crystal and Anthony need this sale to work—they need to close by a specific date to buy the house they fell for in Downers Grove. Once again, Crystal second-guesses making such an aggressive bid on the house. Pummeling herself with questions, like, “Why did we give up our home sale contingency? How can our buyers do this? They were the ones who offered to buy the place as-is. How much is this going to cost? When will we find time to get this done? What happens if this deal falls through?!” 

She takes yet another deep breath and sends Mike a text with a time she can talk. Together, they will review and discuss the buyer’s letter and formulate a response.

She reminds herself that Mike said don’t worry. She knows he knows their goals. She trusts he'll know how to best deal with this. He’ll do the mental calisthenics to keep the sale moving forward.  

And then, he did.