Okay, so I thought I was going to buy a house during the pandemic… things didn’t go quite as planned. With everything stemming from the current pandemic, especially in the early phases when it was still new and presented a larger, more widespread fear of the unknown (which I still struggle with by the way), and the unfortunate effect of it putting many people out of work, I just knew it wouldn’t be such a challenging thing to accomplish… I actually probably didn’t even make it to any of the challenging parts lol. I just knew I would be the only crazy person trying to buy a house during a pandemic. Boy, was I wrong.
With the exception of me thinking it would be easy, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. I came into the process knowing a few things however. I knew that it is expensive up north or what I call north since I’m from Georgia. Technically the DMV (DC, Maryland, and Virginia) is south of the Mason Dixon Line, so they are considered the south. That price difference is no joke though. For what my budget was set at, I could get the type of home with all of my requirements almost two times in Georgia. I did a little research. In the zip code I grew up in in Stone Mountain, Georgia. I could purchase a 4 bed, 3 bath between $200,000 and $300,000. I saw one that was fully renovated with new hardwood flooring throughout and a basement for $169,000. I also knew that It would be more expensive closer to the city, Washington, DC. But that wasn’t a problem because I was trying to get a little closer to my job, which is further out from the city.
What is my dream home you ask? I don’t really have a dream home. But apparently, it’s not what’s on trend the way these builders are throwing these townhomes up everywhere in Maryland from my experience. I just want a 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom home with a basement. I had one other special requirement that I’ll tell you if you ask. I’m not really into the large, mansion style homes because they don’t give me “homey” vibes. Of course, I wouldn’t really know what vibe a mansion style home really gives because I’ve never stayed in one, but anything with more than six bedrooms might be a bit much for me. A fifth bedroom is only okay because that would be a possible bedroom in the basement with the remainder being on the second level of the home. I also don’t want to feel like I have to yell or go so far just to find the people living in my home.
The Process
Any who, back to the process. During the preprocess, the part where you’re just on a few home buying aps and websites browsing, I noticed a few things on my own. The first being there weren’t many homes on the market in the price range I was searching. I was hopeful that the MLS (Multiple Listing Services- catalog of homes for sale, sold properties, and property histories) would prove me wrong and knew I would gain access once I formally selected and began working with my realtor. The second thing I noticed was that homes were going on and off the market, as in no longer being for sell. The last, but most pressuring thing I noticed was that homes were going under contract quickly. This is what pushed me to go ahead and select a realtor so I could really start the process.
Of course, I realized a few things during the actual process, the part that starts after you’re preapproved and actually going to view homes. There is a lot of driving involved lol. My father was a realtor, and when I was younger, I use to sit in the backseat of his car after school while he drove clients around. May he continue t rest in peace. Now remember this was just my experience, so there may be realtors that do drive you around. I also realized you do the work on your own. Now give me a minute to explain this before you run wild with this statement. My realtor sent me houses, but most of them were houses that I had already seen and liked, saved, or favorited on one of the aps or websites I used to browse on my own. Oh, and remember that MLS list I was hopefully waiting on? Well, while in the process of home browsing via the web on my own, I stumbled across a realty group’s website whose search was the MLS. Yep, that’s right. After you entered your criteria in the form on their website and hit search, it pulled up results from the MLS. So, my hope that the MLS would bring more homes was shattered. Outside of the contracts and legal dealings and processes of buying a home, which are a big deal, it kind of makes you wonder if you need a realtor since you’re already finding the homes on your own. Realtors make 5-6% of the sale’s value but it’s usually split between the agent of the buyer and seller (propertyclub.nyc). So, for a house in the price range I was looking, that 3% would be a nice payment. Learning this fact possibly explains why the few realtors I follow on Instagram always show the homes in the millions as “home goals” and no others. If you could do it on your own, you’d be keeping that payment. But like I said, as far as contracts, negotiating deals, and all the paperwork goes, you may want a realtor so that you don’t have to deal with it or the mistakes you may encounter on your own.
Why It Didn’t Happen
Now onto the reason it didn’t work out. If the economy was going to affect the housing market, it hadn’t yet. I mean it makes sense because we were still in the beginning stages of the pandemic so of course the market wouldn’t have been affected yet. The strategy my agent and I had discussed was to put in an offer above asking, and increase by a certain increment each time there was word of a higher offer until we reached the ceiling price I was willing to pay. The strategy that I had known of was to put in an offer, usually below asking due to findings from the inspection, and to negotiate from there. It was made clear to me, because I asked, earlier on that there would be no negotiating with the way the market was. This meant that houses would be going for $10,000-20,000 over asking price. Now I didn’t care because I wanted what I wanted and was finding that houses with what I required were close to the low end of my budget, so I had room anyway. However, it was brought to my attention that that would mean overpaying for a house that’s already not worth the asking price.
Tip
To answer the question, you should by a house when the time is right for you. The purpose of this post was not to go into what all is needed, the process, or all the costs involved in purchasing a home. However, finding this information out should be a part of deciding whether the time is right for you. Also, if you plan to own a home one day, you should look into this information now, so that you can put a plan in place as far as saving for one or handling pre steps that may be specific to your situation, such as fixing credit issues. I can’t say that I planned it out, but I did know and consider all costs associated with purchasing a home. I would definitely recommend planning a purchase this big because costs aren’t the only thing to be concerned with.
The most important tip I can give when it comes to purchasing a home is to make sure that you can really afford it. You know your numbers so don’t lie to yourself. If you want something that you can’t afford, wait. Don’t let your preapproval dictate your budget because you may find that you get approved for more than you expected. Set your budget during your planning stages and have your preapproval be proof that you can handle the payment. I took the front seat on my homebuying process so that I could make sure I could afford the payments. You may be in a situation where you aren’t responsible for making those payments, but you want to be sure that in any case they can be made. Also, consider other luxuries you may want before your house will be fully paid for; cars, vacations, etc. You don’t want your mortgage payment to be so big of a burden that you don’t have room for anything else in life. Like I said, you know your numbers.
P.S. I recently saw a realtor representing a seller broadcasting on Instagram how they were able to get over 10k asking price for their client. Now remember, I hadn’t gone forward with my offer because it was explained to me that I’d be overpaying for a house that was already overpriced. So technically I didn’t have any proof that it could possibly end up that way. Well, after seeing that post, I was sure that my realtor, who explained the offer strategy, had not lied and tried to get a larger commission. Not that I thought he was. My realtor was a family friend, so I trusted him. Thank God for the person who explained to me about overpaying because I really just wanted what I wanted. Not to say that those who are putting up that extra money are crazy; it may have just been okay for their situation so they didn’t mind.
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