To sell or not to sell? That is the question. Although the verbiage does not meet the qualifications of a question, come to think of it. What is the subject, and what is the verb? Perhaps it is a gerund.

Oh, well, he got away with it. Even Shakespeare did not punctuate it with a question mark.

Since Hamlet had more on his mind than Nashville real estate, we can give him a pass.

There is a conundrum at this juncture in the Nashville real estate market, and there is a question as to whether or not homeowners who are considering selling should wade in now or wait until the spring.

The answer is they should sell now. There is no inventory, and buyers are herding themselves into Nashville at a pace that is unfathomable and growing by the day.

The multiple-offer scenario is standard fare, and only one party is content following the announcement as to which contract was accepted. The others are decimated and angry.

Cash offers for 10% more than asking price with tens of thousands of dollars in earnest money, “as-is” offers and closing dates in line with those dictated by sellers are rejected. Tearful, beautifully written pleas submitted with offers are cast away in favor of higher bids.

Hint to buyers. Do not expect a missive describing your children and their future and how much you love the house to offset a low offer. In short, if the house means the world to you and is the only place in the universe that you can see your children growing into adulthood, pay the list price at least. Money speaks more loudly than words.

And here is another point about this universe thing. For some reason, the creator of the universe wants people to end up in the right house. If at first you don’t succeed, bid, bid again.

The next house will be better than that mountain of rubbish that you missed last week.

Sale of the Week

Greenway Avenue is a little-known street described by Hays Estes as “The best of both worlds – historic Richland meets Sylvan Park.”

325 Greenway Avenue

The reason Hays decided to write about the street in the first place is that she and her real estate partner Graham Meadors listed the house at 325 Greenway Avenue.

Greenway is a real nowhere land, as it is in Historic Richland-West End but does not carry the name Richland or its sister street, Central, and a segment of the street extends through Murphy Road into a part of Sylvan Park that does not feel as if it is in Sylvan Park – a street without a neighborhood.

At times, this can cause confusion in the marketplace and create a dilemma for an agent representing a home in the area.

Such was not the case in this instance, as the listing agents contrived a repetitious plan to promote the listing and clarify beyond a reasonable doubt the locale of the land. More overt than subliminal, the consistency in the writing drove the message home.

The Pilkerton listing agent team of Meador and Hays have dubbed it Historic Richland-West End, and therefore that is where 325 Greenway is. In case anyone missed the reference to the neighborhood in the “subdivision” section of the multiple listing report or in the first sentence of the description, they added a second sentence, and it goes something like this: “Adorable historic Richland bungalow with tall ceilings, hardwood floors and awesome upgrades.” But wait, there is more.

In closing, they write: “Sidewalks right outside the perfect porch to historic Richland neighborhood and Sylvan Park restaurants.” With that prosaic pounding, there can be no doubt that this home is in the Historic Richland-West End neighborhood, replete with jack-o-lanterns galore on Halloween and brilliantly creative decorations this time of year.

The Hays/Meador team of Pilkerton Realtors did the listing well and sold this house in less than 24 hours. Real estate veteran Jane Anderson, a person who knows her way around a historic district, delivered a buyer before others could decide on which side of Murphy Road the house was located.

Why did the Realtor cross Murphy road? To get to Sylvan Park.

The 2,310-square-foot house sold for $764,000, $5,000 more than the list price. With that price, the deal went down for $331 per square foot for the historic – in case you missed it – home with three bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a half bathroom.

The search engines were optimized for anyone looking to reside in an established environment – or a historic district – a term that does have a better ring to it.

Richard Courtney is a licensed real estate broker with Fridrich and Clark realty, LLC and can be reached at [email protected].