Home Purchase....How long did you offer before purchase

[trekkingirl]

Misery loves company and I have been putting offers on houses for six months now and I feel like I am never going to get a house. I guess I have made 50 offers with most properties having 20 or more offers to compete with.

So how long did it take you to get an accepted offer? Was there much competition? I'm so frustrated and would really like to hear that I am not alone and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I was so surprised that the house actually has to pick you and you don't get to pick the house. I feel like the home buying process in the US is just so crooked and backwards and I hate being forced to play the game.

[crunchy_mommy]

Sheesh that is crazy! When we bought, we made one offer and it was accepted within a week (no competitors). Two of my friends bought more recently and one was also accepted immediately, and the other lost 2-3 houses to competitors but they weren't totally into those houses so they didn't put in their best offers. Here it is a buyer's market and there are way more houses than buyers, though I suppose there can still be competition for a great deal.

You can have my house if you want, I'll gladly sell it to you.

[goldingoddess]

You live in the SFBAY right??

We had the same experience when trying to purchase with an FHA loan in 2010. And the inventory is even lower now, so I'm sure it's worse. Best of luck, buying a home here sucks.

[trekkingirl]

yes we live in SF Bay Area. Northbay to be exact. Crunchy where do you live?

[crunchy_mommy]

Other side of the country, in New England... 50% of the houses on my street alone are either for sale or foreclosed!

[trekkingirl]

wow I wish it was that way here. There are foreclosures here but the bank isn't selling them. They are holding on to them to artificially jack the market up.

[crunchy_mommy]

Well it's great here if you're trying to buy a home I suppose... Not so much for those of us that have homes that are now worth practically nothing so we can't sell or refinance or anything.

Good luck, I hope you get a place soon!

[Sharlla]

We offered full asking and it was a done deal.

[trekkingirl]

I guess that's why there is so little inventory here. Everyone is stuck in their houses because they are upside down. Totally sucks for everybody, I guess. I can't get housing and others can't get out of theirs.

[lookatreestar]

we got so frustrated i was considering buying houses we didn't even love (or really even like). at that point i knew we just needed to wait and keep saving until the right house comes along. i am so over the "buy now or be priced out forever" bs. here we are beat out by all cash offers left and right all because of "investors" 

[goldingoddess]

We ended up buying a home we didn't love but it was what needed to happen for us.  Renting with animals in the bay area is very hard.  And mortgages are generally less than rents here.  I couldn't handle having next to no control over my living situation when renting.  Even though our house is tiny, 777 square feet, I can appreciate being able to have a water filter installed in my sink, putting in gardens and fruit trees that I won't have to say goodbye to, installing a charger for our electric car etc.  

I bet the market will be better in the summer than in the winter, there's always more inventory in summers.  You are correct that the banks are holding back inventory, it's so shady.

[trekkingirl]

are you guys in the bay area?

[goldingoddess]

Yep, we're in the East Bay.

[trekkingirl]

gold you tricked me with that picture of snow!

I just heard from my realtor that the last house that I offered on had 52 other offers 

That's gotta be some kind of record. The house wasn't even in an entirely desirable area, or maybe I'm wrong about that because 52 offers just blows my mind.

[goldingoddess]

Ha yeah, the snow was from when we visited Sequoia National Forest years ago.

We were in the exact same situation when buying in 2010.   It was rare that a house had fewer than 20 offers on it.  And there were so many cash buyer investors at the time, we had no chance as FHA buyers.  It was maddening.  We would offer 20 and 30k over the asking price on every place.  I think the only reason we got the place we did is because no one else wanted it.  It is super tiny, and is on a third of an acre split into three lots, but it is an L shaped yard when you put all of the lots together, so its awkward.  Lucky for us we like yard work, or more I like yard work.  Sometimes I think we'll live in this house forever just because I don't want to go through the buying process again.  We went through 3 realtors and just had an overall crap experience.  

Despite our place being small, it does have good energy and back up to parkland, so it wasn't completely a bad decision....

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by trekkingirl 

I just heard from my realtor that the last house that I offered on had 52 other offers 


That's gotta be some kind of record. The house wasn't even in an entirely desirable area, or maybe I'm wrong about that because 52 offers just blows my mind.

52 offers?!?! That's insane!!!! Seriously, move out here, you could get a place in 10 minutes flat!

That's really unbelievable.

[SunRise]

That is insane.  Im in a much smaller area, but right now, in my neighbourhood, there are only two houses for sale and they have been on the market for a while; its typical in this area, that most houses come up for sale in the spring, giving buyers more selection and a bit less competition. Have you looked at houses for sale by owner? Maybe that is a route to take. Ask the realtor.

[trekkingirl]

I'm now on my third realtor so I'm really hoping that third ones a charm instead of three strikes, you're out!