Q: Is it actually a good time to buy? A: Yes!

We put our money where our mouth is.

In our latest post, we spoke about how this is a good time to be a buyer, and within the last two weeks, two of our team members have closed on new homes themselves. They were able to recognize this narrow window of time as an opportunity: both not only successfully closed on their new homes for under list price, but were able to negotiate on significantly more inspection items than they would have in previous markets, and one of them received a buydown from the seller!

We asked both team members the question everyone wants to know the answer to: why now?

"I'm buying now for four main reasons:

1.) Competition is substantially less at the moment. Buying now provides an opportunity to secure a property well below list price in some situations. 
2.) I believe our local market will bounce back in 2024. Multiple offer situations and rising prices are likely to be commonplace again. 
3.) In general the fall is a great time to purchase real estate when many buyers are not in the market. 
4.) While interest rates are high, we have a need/desire for more space and I believe favorable refinancing terms will exist in the near term."

"We were renting for several years and desperately wanted to become homeowners. Although I'm not an agent, being a part of our clients' journeys to homeownership has been an incredibly rewarding experience, but with every purchase, there was always a part of me that wished it could have been us. We explored buying at the start of 2022 and would always find ourselves drawn toward the highly competitive properties. We decided to take a step back and start our search again when the market wasn't as intense. When interest rates started to increase, we knew that there might only be a narrow window of opportunity for us to take advantage of if we were willing to take on a higher rate in the short/mid term. We knew it was a good time for us when we noticed properties in our ideal neighborhood staying on the market for longer and when we started to see price drops occur more frequently. In the end, we were able to:

1.) Purchase a house in a neighborhood we wouldn't have been able to if competition was higher. 
2.) Secure the house for under list price. 
3.) Negotiate all inspection items. 
4.) Receive a credit from the seller for a rate buydown.

Although our interest rate is higher, after factoring in the cost of having to offer above list price and the cost of having to take on certain inspection projects that we couldn't have gotten sorted in a more competitive market, we calculated that we would end up paying a fairly similar amount each month. We know that when the opportunity to refinance with more favorable terms arises, we will act on it. For now, we are just so happy to be in our own home, finally paying money towards our mortgage (not someone else's) and finally able to decorate exactly how we want. It also feels good to not be the only person on the team who rents anymore!"

If you're considering buying a home and want to learn more about navigating this market, please reach out today. Our award-winning team would love to help!