Since May we've been in the house-buying market. (in the market for the american dream- home ownership) Everyday we look online to see if something new has come onto the market, and there isn't anything. Really, not exaggerating, There. Is. Nothing. Out. There…
This is how it goes: a cute place in our price range appears on the MLS site we look at (recolorado.com) and then we contact our agent (or he contacts us if he sees it 1st) and then we set-up a time- usually later that same day to go look at it- and then we get a call from our agent that the house is already under contract. Yes! the same day it came to market! Or, the place will have received many offers all at the asking price or above it!
It's completely balls-out, wild wild West, fire-breathing cat crazy here.
This is what makes me nervous about how quickly the houses are going:
- The possibility of over-paying for a place Then once the market normalizes you have a house that is already under-water because you over-paid for it. It's clearly a seller's market out there so buyer's aren't having the opportunity to negotiate like they normally would, and are most-likely paying more for the house than it is really worth. (I guess it's not just a Denver thing because on Tuesday the Huffington Post reported that house prices are on the rise all over the United States.) House prices are generally higher in the summer anyway for a couple of reasons: people want to move when it's nice out, people that have children want the kids to be situated and settled before schools starts up, houses look better in the spring and summer- flowers blooming, green grass, etc. We are thinking that it might work out just fine since we're going to be looking for houses into fall and winter which means less competition too which brings me to the next thing that makes me nervous on the list.
- It is super competitive If you like a place, you better put in an offer ASAP. No messing around. No time to think about it. No “sitting on it” and considering all the pros and cons of the place. None of that. You've better already have that all sorted out homey.
At this point it's kind of like, well, since we've waited THIS long is this THE PLACE? We don't want to buy just to buy since we've been looking for so long and we don't want to settle on something just because there aren't many options out there.
We're crossing our fingers that a whole bunch of people will have been fixing up their cute places this last month just waiting to put their awesome houses on the market this very weekend and they will all be selling at reasonable prices. 😉
If you're in the market for a house is it competitive like this where you live too? How do you not get discouraged throughout the home buying process?