Best Offer Wins is a tense, debut thriller, with a sharp exploration of class, ambition and the modern housing crisis. After 18 months of house hunting and 11 lost bidding wars, how far is Margo willing to go to get the perfect home?

Good Reading caught up with author MARISA KASHINO to find out more.

ABOUT THE BOOK

There was a time when Margo thought she knew. But that was before a soul-destroying eighteen months of house-hunting hell.

Now she’s not sure. Her life, her marriage, her family, her career are dangerously out of control and all she needs is a new home to get them all back on track.

So when the ideal house comes up, desperate measures are called for. A little online stalking. Some sneaky surveillance of the property in question. Befriending the owner. All reasonable enough, right?

But soon it’s clear that nothing is off limits, because when your best offer might not win, then you just need to do what it takes …

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MEET MARISA KASHINO

You worked as a journalist at Washingtonian magazine, overseeing the real estate and home design coverage. How did that experience inform your approach to writing Best Offer Wins?

I drew extensively on that experience while writing the book! In particular, I thought a lot about the period during and immediately after the pandemic, when the US housing market went even crazier than it had already been. As a reporter during that timeframe, I heard countless stories about properties getting 50 or 60 offers, buyers losing dozens of bidding wars, and winning offers that exceeded the list price by many hundreds of thousands of dollars. Given the high emotional and financial stakes involved in buying a home, particularly in a competitive market, it just seemed like a natural context in which to set a thriller.

Was there a particular story you covered that inspired the character of Margo?

No. Margo is the product of many sources of inspiration! However, the general premise of the book was probably most inspired by a cover story I wrote in the spring of 2021, all about the pandemic real estate boom.

Which moment in Margo’s spiral did you find the most satisfying or difficult to write?

If I shared the specific moments, I would give away major spoilers! But generally, giving Margo license to lean hard into her rage and behave very, very badly was extremely satisfying to me. The fact that she’s Japanese American made this even more cathartic, since she really does take a sledgehammer to the stereotype of Asian women as docile and subservient.

What kind of research did you do to capture the pressures and absurdities of the real estate market?

Given all the years I spent covering real estate, I didn’t have to do any additional research on that topic to write the novel. However, there were other plot points that required research, including Margo’s struggles with infertility and her interest in pursuing IVF. I was lucky to be able to rely on the insight of good friends for that piece. Another thing that required extra research was the plotline about Jack and Curt, the owners of the house that Margo covets, adopting their daughter. I wanted to make sure I got the vocabulary around adoption correct, as well as some of the nuances specific to being gay adoptive parents. Once again, I relied on experiences shared by friends.

What inspired your foray into fiction writing?

Honestly, I was a bit bored in my day job! After spending nearly my whole career as a magazine writer, I’d recently become an editor at The Washington Post – a role in which I did very little of my own writing. I’d drastically underestimated how much I would miss it. To fill that creative void for myself, I signed up for a novel-writing class. Having never before written fiction, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I absolutely loved it. Once I got going on my manuscript, it was like I couldn’t stop writing it. All week long, I couldn’t wait to get to the weekend so I could lock myself away and work on it.

Are there novels or writers whose work you find yourself returning to for inspiration?

I have always loved to write, but I never dared to dream of becoming a novelist. That seemed a bit like saying I wanted to be a mermaid or a movie star! So, at about 10 years old, I decided to become a journalist, and I sincerely believed I would be one forever – this pivot to novel-writing was totally unexpected. Which is a long way of explaining that I have been most heavily influenced by nonfiction writers. Throughout my journalism career, I returned again and again to the work of magazine writers such as Pamela Colloff, David Grann, and Taffy Brodesser-Akner to hone my own storytelling ability. Happily, I now know that plotting a narrative magazine feature – building the tension, holding a reader’s interest – involves a lot of the same skills as plotting a thriller.

What do you hope readers will take away from Best Offer Wins?

If you’re in the market for domestic suspense or a twisty thriller, Best Offer Wins can definitely tick that box. But it’s also a satire and a very (very) dark comedy, packed with commentary on class, and ambition, and gender expectations, and of course, the modern housing crisis. If it makes readers think more deeply about those things, terrific. But mostly, I hope they just have a ton of fun reading it.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marisa Kashino was a journalist for 17 years, most recently at The Washington Post. She spent the bulk of her career at Washingtonian magazine, writing long-form features and overseeing the real estate and home design coverage. She grew up near Seattle, graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in journalism and political science.

She lives in the DC area with her husband, two dogs, and two cats. Best Offer Wins is her first novel.

Visit Marisa’s Instagram HERE.