There was, at the start of the housing downturn, some concern that people would be unable to relocate to new and better jobs because they couldn't sell their houses.

Much of that concern abated when the recession began ripping through the job market, too. Many corporations decided to postpone moving employees around until the economy settled down.

What of those who must be relocated? Some of the more prosperous companies buy their employees' houses, or come up with the difference between asking and sale prices.

Chrystyna Rakoczy had no such safety net - the decision to move was hers.

Rakoczy, a neuro-ophthalmologist, had been offered a job at a hospital in Tampa, Fla. That meant adding her 11-year-old custom home in Rydal, Montgomery County, to the very long list - 43,000 at last count - of existing homes for sale in the area.

"The job hadn't been unexpected, but I didn't find out until mid-January that it was mine," she said. "Given the economy, I'd started calling real estate agents at the end of the summer, saying that I was planning to sell my house in six months."

Remember, this was a custom home, which meant that the 3,000-square-foot, four bedroom, three-bath residence would likely reflect the tastes of the people who had it built. In many cases, that might have meant less-than-universal appeal and, therefore, a hard sell.

Typically, custom homes also are more expensive, and the $600,000-to-$1 million move-up market remains weaker than the lower-price, first-time market these days.

But judging by the response to Rakoczy's house when it hit the market March 9, it was just what the doctor ordered - and what buyers wanted, too.

The asking price was $789,000, yet Rakoczy told Weichert Realtors agent Patti Hoban that "anything above $700,000 would be gravy."

Before the house went on the market, Rakoczy bought a book on home staging. "Not only did I save $3,000 by not having to hire a professional stager, I think what I did - even the simple things like removing all the personal stuff - made a big difference," she said.

Despite her concerns, two or three couples a day saw the house after it was listed. The first Sunday open house drew 45 couples.

Several came to see the house again before one couple, who racked up four visits, bought it for Rakoczy's no-gravy price of $700,000.

"It was a very positive experience," she said.

Certainly more positive than trying to buy a house in the Tampa area, where she and her husband, Jarema, are now renting. (Two children are grown; the third is in college.)

"We're looking at smaller, about 2,000 square feet, and no, we're not building another custom house," Rakoczy said. "We put a bid in on one house we liked, but we were outbid.

"You have to be a lot more careful buying in Tampa," she said. "We saw a house we liked, but then found out that a third of the homes around us were in foreclosure.

"It's not Rydal," she said.

Inquirer real estate writer Alan J. Heavens is the author of "Remodeling on the Money" (Kaplan Publishing). His home-improvement columns appear Fridays in Home & Design.

"On the House" appears Sundays in The Inquirer. Contact Alan J. Heavens at 215-854-2472 or aheavens@phillynews.com.