Caitlin’s Final (And Happy) Childhood Home Update…Offers, Closing Costs, And What’s Next

If last week’s update was a schadenfreude-y dump of bad news, this week’s post is the opposite. Because guys – I DID IT. I sold my childhood home. FOR OVER ASKING. Not just that: I set the price record for my neighborhood! We just closed on Tuesday afternoon – I got the text that the sale had been completed while on a Zoom meeting with Em and one of our partners, which made it even sweeter – and I am still in shock that something good happened. So today, I’m ready to spill the tea: everything I spent to prep the house for sale, the offers I considered, closing costs, and how much we netted at the end. (I’ve always been curious about how that math shakes out, and I’m happy to share with the class.) I also have lots of really exciting news, so settle in – it’s a feel-good post, finally. I promised a happy ending, and boy – I AM GOING TO DELIVER!!!

The Total Prep Spend

Let’s kick it off with all the updates currently tanking my credit score. In all honesty, this is a much smaller scope of work than I’d expected – I planned to fix the dinged walls and scuffed paint – but focusing on only the crucial fixes paid off. My realtor graciously covered the professional deep cleaning service before our open house and after I’d completed the move-out, which my wallet very much appreciated, but all other costs are below…

• Replaced Tile in Entry/Laundry Room: $3,752.20
• Replaced Carpet in Basement, Family Room, and Entire Second Story: $19,236.60
• Replaced Gas Furnace (with 10 Year Warranty): $9,991
• Replaced Sump Pump: $1,089.70
• Outdoor Pipe Repair: $467
• Installed New Toilet and Pedestal Sink in Powder Room: $1,247.03
• Weekly Mowing: $1,500
• Fresh Mulch: $2,000
• Refreshed Outdoor Plants: $500
• U-Haul Rentals (x4, Varying Sizes): $1,288.55
• Junk Removal (x4, Varying Sizes): $1,928

The Grand Total: $43,000.08

Again, this remains the most money I’ve ever spent on anything in my life – over the past few months, my credit utilization ratio has gone through the freakin’ roof. When I add in the monthly mortgage and bills, the number creeps to well over $50,000. It’s been a huge expense to juggle but honestly, now that I’m a little removed from the situation (she writes, hours after bringing the sale proceeds to the bank), I feel really proud of myself for being able to make this work – it was really hard to manage all of these unexpected costs, but I still kept my head above water and got it done. Ironically, it almost made me feel closer to my parents – they both worked in banking, and I’d like to think that I absorbed some of their financial wisdom through osmosis. I feel like I faced a hard situation like a real, competent grown-up!

But there was some good news about all that spending, too: when my realtor looked at the work I’d put in along with the prices of the newly-listed competing houses in my neighborhood, she suggested raising our asking price from $825,000 to $839,000. I was a little nervous about this – the two most recent comps on our street had sold for $839,000 and $849,000 in 2025, and I wasn’t sure how my home compared – but I trusted her expertise and agreed that closing the gap a bit would be wise. (In case you forgot – 3 houses on my street went on the market within 8 days of each other – the first for $989,000, the second for $939,000, and we were third to market with the adjusted price of $839,000.)

The Offer(s)

This is where I left you last week: Dennis and I scrambled to get the house clear enough for photos and staging, handed the keys to my realtor to prep for an open house, and immediately booked it to the airport for a 2-week Ireland excursion with 13 (!!!) members of his family. (Side note: as someone who grew up with like, 3 family members, it is SO FUN to have a partner with both parents and siblings and tons of aunts and uncles and cousins. We stayed in Cavan, the town Den’s great-grandfather immigrated from, and it was a blast to explore the country with such a fun group. I really lucked out here – it was a much-needed break with some really wonderful folks.)

ANYWAY – I highly recommend this hands-off strategy. I personally really struggled with seeing the changes in my childhood home – every junk pickup was emotionally challenging; working with my organizer stirred up difficult feelings; and I know that seeing things move around in preparation for the open house would have made me a little prickly, so the distance was much appreciated. If you’re able to give yourself some physical space from your home at this time, I think it really can help protect your heart a little bit. (And I’m sure my realtor was glad that I wasn’t like, sitting on the couch weeping while she further decluttered. Everyone wins!)

So while I gallivanted around Ireland (did I mention that Dennis was one of our drivers? He did great!), my realtor held two weekend open houses…and the offers began to roll in. We listed on Friday, June 5th, and by the evening of the 6th, I was sitting on two offers with verbal promises of several more coming first thing Monday morning. Den and I were sitting in the living room of our Airbnb when I got a text from my realtor, who told me to check my email for the specifics, and when I did…you guys, I WAS FLOORED.

The first offer was for $900,000. Your eyes do not deceive you: NINE. HUNDRED. THOUSAND. DOLLARS. That’s $61,000 over asking (I told you those updates paid off!), $75,000 more than our original asking price, and SO MUCH MORE than I’d ever imagined when we kicked off this process. They’d waived all but the finance contingency, wrote a beautiful letter, and offered to cover a $45,000 appraisal gap. The best part? They were a young family, with ties to one of the hospitals that had treated Brenda in 2025. They were exactly the buyer I’d dreamed of when I decided to eschew that $776,000 OpenDoor offer – I am so glad I was able to sell directly to people who loved my home as much as I did and that I didn’t just line a business’s pockets.

The second offer started at $850,000, but was raised to $875,000, and included all contingencies. And while I knew that more offers were inbound on Monday, I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time – I knew I’d already found the right buyers and was confident to move forward knowing we still had an ultra-solid backup offer. Sitting in Cavan, Ireland, I entered escrow on my childhood home on a Sunday evening. My realtor says she thinks my mom sent those buyers, and honestly, I do too – I am so, so, so grateful that their two little peanuts will get to grow up in the same house that I did. I love knowing that my childhood home – once filled with a never-ending barrage of teens screaming about everything at all hours of the day and night – will again be filled with love and fun and joy. (Let this be a lesson that sometimes, taking a chance on the hard route really does pay off.)

But Wait, There’s More

This is where I really feel like Brenda worked some magic from somewhere in the universe: our house appraised for $945,000. That’s $106,000 over asking (!!!), and $45,000 over what our buyers paid. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! The buyers also asked to keep a bunch of furniture, which took even more off my plate – it felt like a miracle. I’m so excited and truly feel like everyone won in this situation – the buyers are walking in with bonus equity and a partially furnished home, and I’m clearly overjoyed by how it worked out on my behalf. Happy endings all around!!!

…with a few exceptions, I think. Remember my neighbors? The home listed at $989,000 ended up selling for $874,600 – they discovered some issues during inspection – and the house that listed for $939,000 had to drop their price to $899,900. They’re currently still under contract, but my realtor suggested the purchase price was going to still be a bit lower. So despite the massive gaps in asking price and the differences in our finished square footage…we somehow came out on top. I genuinely wish my mom could have seen how it all shook out – I’d do anything to just be able to talk to her about it, even if it was only for a few minutes. I don’t think she’d believe it!

The Take Home $$$

I’m going to be honest: I had no idea what to expect here. I knew that I was forking out 5% for my realtor fees; I knew that $172,000 remained on our mortgage; I knew that there’d be some type of transfer tax…but I wasn’t sure how the proceeds would shake out, and I feel like most people don’t discuss this part, so I’m taking one for the team and sharing all of my fees, closing costs, and the like. We’re all friends here at this point, right? (I mean – we’ve been through everything together. You’ve seen me fail at buying a house several times; you’ve seen me successfully sell a house – we’re basically family at this point, no?)

In total, the buyer had to pay $901,046.08. The additional grand came from a prorated reimbursement for the sewer fees, HOA fees, a water fee, and property taxes that I’d paid in 2026. But now, let’s break down my closing costs (because they were not cheap!)…

• Settlement Fee: $150
• Wire Payoff Fee: $35
• County Transfer Tax: $6,750
• State Transfer Tax: $11,250
• Realtor Admin Fee: $395
• My Realtor Commission: $22,500
• Buyer Realtor Commission: $22,500
• HOA Dues: $300
• Final Water Hold: $100
• Water Transfer Bill: $293,28

Closing Costs Total: $64,273.28

We had $172,876.02 left on the mortgage (at an incredible interest rate – oh man, it was hard to see that go!), which brings my total seller costs to $237,659.41. So yesterday morning, the day after closing, I picked up a check for $663,386.67, which was promptly deposited into the trust’s bank account. I’m waiting on the official green light from my estate attorneys before I reimburse myself for any of my costs (no splurges here – the funds aren’t mine yet! I’m a responsible successor trustee!), but PHEW. I am so relieved to be one step closer to paying off this credit card debt!!!

A Brief Aside

This is where I spill the beans: that extra $61,000 over asking is going to come in pretty handy, because DENNIS AND I ARE ENGAGED! (That feels crazy to write – it seems like just yesterday I was telling you guys that I fell in love for the first time.) It is a little bittersweet, though – in October 2025, after my mom’s cancer had spread to her brain, we’d agreed that we’d get married in the hospital if things started going south. But then things did start going south, and I found myself juggling a ton of hospice paperwork and final goodbyes, and it was Christmastime, and it didn’t really feel appropriate to drag a bunch of people into a hospital room for my own benefit as my mom faded away. Her last long conversation was actually with Dennis – she gave him a whole-hearted blessing, reaffirmed that he’s a great guy, and said she was thrilled I got to join a big family. She died 3 days later.

GOD, THAT’S SO SAD. Let me cheer you up a bit: in February, Den and I flew back to LA to spend 2 weeks in our apartment (yes, we’re still paying rent for this glorified storage unit). Our EHD Q1 retreat was being held in Palm Springs, we’d been working on clearing out my childhood home for about two months, and we desperately needed an escape from the winter’s punishing (and seemingly non-stop) snow and ice storms. A trip back home to LA was a helpful reminder that we did once have a life outside of caregiving and executrix-ing and trustee-ing.

This is where it gets cute: I drove back from our Palm Springs retreat, parked in our garage, called Dennis and asked him to help schlep all my stuff upstairs, and followed him as he opened the door to our apartment. I first spotted my monthly Bouqs delivery – he gets me a subscription every Christmas, highly recommend! – and was excited that my flowers had arrived. But then I saw another bouquet…and another one…and as I was wondering who’d sent all me these sympathy bouquets, I realized that Den was on one knee and proposing, right in our beautiful little living room. He later told me he wasn’t nervous about me saying “yes,” but he was nervous about making sure it looked nice – and boy, he did a great job. It was private, a total surprise, and absolutely perfect. (I only wish I hadn’t said “IS THIS REAL? THIS IS HAPPENING? IT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW?” over and over and over while he did it. SO EMBARRASSING.)

So that’s the first secret I’ve been keeping from you for the last 5 and a half months – I’M AN ENGAGED LADY! And I couldn’t be happier to spend the rest of my life with Den. We’ve been through a lot of “for worse” over the past few years – the first time I met his extended family, his grandmother passed away in the room; he moved cross-country for me before immediately moving back into my childhood home; he woke up multiple times per night to help me lift and move my mom when she couldn’t do it herself; we’ve now cleaned out 5,000 square feet of stuff and sold a home together – and he’s just made every experience survivable and – dare I say it – even fun. He’s genuinely kind, he gives 100% effort, he steps up to handle things when I can’t manage, and he always knows how to put a smile on my face. (Den even cracked a joke that made me laugh minutes after my mom passed. I think I’ll always remember that one clearly, because that moment made me realize that I still had the capacity for joy somewhere inside, even though I knew I was about to dive headfirst into a horrible grief hole.) He’s the best teammate I’ve ever had; he’s held our world together like Atlas, and if we like hanging out with each other this much through all the hard stuff, I can’t wait to see how good our “for better” will be. The universe has dealt me a fair share of gnarly blows in the past 34 years, but it did me a real solid when it brought Den into my life. HE’S A KEEPER, FOLKS! I think he’s cute too 🙂

Our New Daughters

…they’re not human. (SORRY, I HAD TO.) But surprise: we inherited two cats, which brings our grand feline total up to three. I’m only telling you as context, but also because I wanted an excuse to show you pictures of these cutie patooties.

The black one (“Squeaky,” aka “Eeky,” “Eekers,” “Big Black Cat,” “Fat Cat,” “Beautiful Lady,” “Bean Dip”) showed up at Brenda’s house seven years ago out of nowhere and wormed her way into being a full-time house cat. This was actually my fault – my mom let her into the garage one day when it was raining; I opened the door to the house, she sprinted inside and just…stayed. She didn’t have a chip, and despite her feral beginnings, she’s since turned into an ABSOLUTE LOVE BUG, which is only hampered by her enormous size (20 pounds!). She was always on top of my mom, sitting chest to chest, one paw wrapped atop each shoulder like a hug, and I am so grateful to be the new recipient of those cuddles. It feels like getting a hug from Brenda 🙂

And I’m actually the second inheritor of this gray one (“Boots,” aka “Upstairs Cat,” “Upstairs,” “Janet Yellen”): she belonged to my great aunt, who passed in 2022. Boots was a feral barn cat from Amish country, and while Brenda was able to rehome all of the other cats that belonged to my great aunt, this one was just too skittish – my mom worried she’d be put down in a shelter. 4 years later, the cat is just as skittish, but I can finally pet her after months of work. (Did this cat also need surgery earlier this year? Of course she did! Because what’s a little more credit card debt?)

But man, AREN’T THEY CUTE? Naturally, Dennis is terribly allergic to all of them. He’s a trooper.

…And Our New (Vacation?) Home

If you read The Link Up every Sunday, you might have inferred this from my recent request for help…but SURPRISE, I’M (technically) A HOMEOWNER! (I’m actually just the successor trustee of the trust that owns the home, but that’s semantics.) Brenda actually had two properties in her trust – this one is an awesome condo in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware that she purchased in 2012. It had once been summer employee housing for the foreign students working at Funland (that’s an extremely specific detail for my DE readers out there), and she purchased it after it’d been foreclosed when the market crashed.

I still remember how she told me: we were at an ice skating competition somewhere in the Midwest (Michigan? Minnesota? Wisconsin? All I remember is that it was freezing!) and she woke me up from a nap by standing above me, holding a giant mermaid carving she’d picked up at an antique mall. When I asked where she was going to put it, she said it was going in the beach condo she’d purchased and that she’d be remodeling. When I asked for further clarification – What beach condo? Your beach condo? Who is remodeling? YOU are remodeling? – she confirmed that yes, she’d be undertaking this project…and man, she knocked it out of the park. I’m still proud of her!

I’ve been coming here a few times a year since – every July 4th, at the end of summer, and then again around the holidays, with a long stay during Covid – and it’s my favorite place in the world. It’s also made an incredible staging ground for all of the boxes, bins, and art I took out of my childhood home. I’ve slowly been working my way through a second round of decluttering and donations, which is SO MUCH EASIER when the items are in a new context. If you’re ever struggling with sentimental stuff, I highly recommend boxing it up and moving it to a new location – I cannot emphasize enough how the change of location and scenery has made it so much less painful to make ruthless donation decisions.

Dennis and I are planning to stay here for a while – it’s a great place to recollect ourselves while we figure out what’s next. (It also has air conditioning and room for 3 cats, which are two things our LA apartment does not offer.) I still have a ton of boxes to get through, and there are a few projects here I’d love to get done to make it less of a vacation home and more of an everyday home. We want to turn our powder bath into a pantry (there are 3 more full baths, so we’re not losing much), I’d love to upgrade the builder-grade wire closets with more functional storage, and we’re both dreaming of adding built-ins to the office to house the enormous book collection I saved from Brenda’s house (what can I say – I’m the daughter of two avid readers, and I love having the books their hands touched :)).

Naturally, it’s not all roses – the 20-year-old washing machine kicked the bucket in June; I had to get a new garbage disposal and piping installed on Tuesday, during which the plumber discovered that all my toilets are on their last legs; one of the hot water heaters is on the fritz – but it’s exciting, too. It was fun to pick a new washer! I’m enjoying looking at toilets! I’ve only been a renter, so finally having a home that I can modify to fit my needs is a dream come true. (I wish it wasn’t under such shitty circumstances, but that’s life, I guess.) But stay tuned, because I’m hoping to knock out some of those lighter-lift projects, like the closets and pantry, later this year – there’s a California Closets just down the road, and I have a feeling I’m about to become their number one customer.

What’s Next?

AHH. This is where I need to ask you guys: if you were in my shoes, what would you do? The house is finally sold, I’m wrapping up the probate process now, and I’m almost ready to start thinking about where we’ll live next. We both want to return to LA (the weather! The flea markets! The antiquing! My skating team! The job opportunities! Our friends! The diversity!), but we’re also tossing the idea of Philly around – it’d be great to be closer to Rehoboth, now that we have a spot here. We’ve also considered just staying in Rehoboth, but I think I feel most comfortable in a walkable city. In any case, every option for our future involves a bit of sacrifice – I’m curious how you’d play these cards.

AND THAT’S WHERE I’LL LEAVE YOU. I told you it’d be a happy ending, right? We had loss! We had love! We had triumph! We had plot twists! But it all kind of worked out at the end, I guess. Funny how that happens, huh? I feel like I’m closing the book on my childhood and about to kick off the second chapter of my life, and I’m finally starting to feel a little more ready to jump in. HERE’S TO THINGS LOOKING UP, FINALLY. Thank you for being here with me through it all!!! xxxxxxx

Opening Image Credits: Design by Caitlin Higgins (me!) | Styled by Emily Bowser | Photo by Sara Ligorria-Tramp | From: The Reveal We’ve All Been Waiting For! Caitlin’s Mostly Thrifted, Postmodern Regency Deco Living Room