In March of 1836, the Battle of the Alamo occurred in San Antonio, Texas.

It was a 13-day siege, during which approximately 250 volunteers, some of them Tennesseans led by David Crockett, were surrounded by several thousand Mexican troops led by General Santa Anna.

For most of their stay in the Alamo, its defenders were optimistic that help was on the way.

There was, after all, correspondence suggesting that hundreds of men were coming to their aid from two different directions.

They soon learned that one group of over 400 hundred men had been slaughtered, but there was hope that the other group, rumored to be 200 or so, would arrive soon.

They arrived, but their ranks were thin with less than 40 in their detail.

At that point, the commanding officer, Colonel William Barrett Travis, assembled his charges. What he said has been corroborated by some and dismissed as fiction by others.

One person who survived suggested it factual.

Travis acknowledged to his men that there was very little, if any, chance of reinforcements coming to their aid, and that death was imminent. I did not mention that Travis had pulled a couple of stunts that really irritated Santa Anna, who was in no mood to be belittled. Also, for all his shortcomings, he was proficient enough in math to realize that his 5,000 could defeat Travis’ 250-plus.

Considering all of this, the arrogant Travis, evidently not confident in his own troops’ mathematical aptitude, informed them that they would all die if they stayed in the Alamo.

Travis told the troops he intended to stay and fight for his newly adopted country of Texas. He then drew a line in the sand and urged all who wanted to stay and fight to cross the line.

Crockett, hoping to curry favor with the country’s new president, Sam Houston, joined Travis. Jim Bowie was dying anyway and joined his compatriots. They almost all crossed the line in the sand.

Santa Anna bombarded the Alamo with cannon fire for 12 days and, on the 12th night, ceased.

The Alamo’s defenders finally got some sleep. Too much sleep, it turns out, as the Mexican army attacked at dawn and killed everyone there.

“What does this have to do with residential real estate?” you may ask.

Elementary. In many transactions, either the buyer or the seller will draw a line in the sand. “I’m not buying for a penny more than $250,000.” Even though the home in question is listed for $275,000.

“If they don’t put in a new HVAC, I’m out,” they cry, even though the system is functioning well.

Line drawing can be counterproductive. Before brandishing the sabre, remember the Alamo.

Sale of the Week

Not all condos are $800 per square foot, even in upscale neighborhoods. Many consider Whitland Avenue one of Nashville’s most desirable streets, and the single-family home prices support that theory with sales reaching $2.2 million.

For $272 per square foot, almost one third of what some high-rises cost, a person can acquire a condominium on Whitland Avenue.

Last week, a condo at the Whitland Place Condominiums sold for $170,000. The development was converted from apartments in 1992, and this unit sold for $36,000.

By 1996, the same unit sold for $61,000 before jumping to $68,500 in a 2003 sale. Then in 2007 with a Recession looming, the owner cashed out for $137,500. That new owner endured the Recession and bailed out in 2016 for $151,250, before a seller who held it for one year sold for $170,000.

This one-bedroom, one-bath, 625-square-foot condo was listed by a Jeremy Jeter, who had an illustrious 14-year real estate career in Florida before migrating to Nashville.

The buyer was represented by Laura Cullum Hood in this smooth transaction.

Laura knows a dumpster fire when she sees one, having been the most successful dumpster leasing agent in the city. She has leased thousands of dumpsters for waste management companies through the years and is a brilliant Realtor.

Having a contractor husband, Keith Hood, has given her another advantage in the real estate wars.

This condo has an updated kitchen and a newly tiled bath along with new laminate floors. The development has its own pool and a $253 maintenance fee. The same unit in the 505 Tower would be more than $400,000.

Richard Courtney is a licensed real estate agent with Christianson, Patterson, Courtney, and Associates and can be reached at [email protected]