Seattle housing frustration.

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MomaMoma

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 MomaMoma
Feb 18, 2021 352 Comments

So yeah this is another one of those posts..

My comp: $475k, wife’s comp $150k.

We live in Seattle currently, have about $450k in savings, mostly cash as we’ve been trying to find a house.

We’ve been aiming for $1.2M - $1.5M but have made offers on 7 houses each of them over ask with contingencies waived and we’ve lost out to all cash offers at least 15% over ask.

Starting to feel like we’re never gonna win without having an all cash offer. What should we do? Feeling like we’re treading water and never gonna get a house in this fucked up market.

#mortgage #housing #seattle

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 TOP 352 Comments
  • Apple
    krnfken

    Go to company page Apple

    krnfken
    Here is my suggestion:
    If you want to live in the neighborhood and house you like, start bidding even crazier than them. When you buy a house, you should be willing to lose some by overbidding. Otherwise you never get it. You can’t optimize everything to get what you want at the best price ever. It may even feel like gambling but you should be ready for that and your job and TC compensates much more than that. Buying a house, you should be ready to let go of some. You can’t win everything in life.

    Realistically, if you are not ready to spend at least 1.6M, you should perhaps start looking at other areas. Honestly with your couples TC, if I were you, we would be looking at 2.5M house in a popular neighborhood. But because of low downpayment you have, you will probably have to go for outer areas unless you are satisfied with small and old house. Bellevue is like Palo Alto. Everyone wants to buy a nice house there for obvious reasons. Bellevue was always tough to buy a house even in a cool market. Redmond and Kirkland are slightly cheaper. The bidding will be a bit easier than Bellevue.

    What Blind folks say here about housing often is not reality. Blind demographics are young and not many of them have been in the housing market for a long time. You should first start asking around the real folks who own the house. They will start sharing their stories and you will find out that each has a crazy story but all of them had to make a decision to go all in. You will also start finding that there are much more folks than you thought own multiple houses. What I want to say to OP is it’s ok to spend much more than what you are willing to now and that is what takes for you to get the house you want. The more you wait, the older and worse house you will eventually get and the price wouldn’t even be better. Either you adjust the expectation early or spend much more.

    Also have a good realtor who is experienced in the area. Buying a home takes a lot of learnings. Unless you are ready to spend 1.5M - 2M on a new built house in non Bellevue area, you would need to study about the old houses and what is the compromise you can do.
    Feb 22, 2021 7
    • That wasn't the point of my comment. I was pointing out that timing is really important in housing, due to the lack of liquidity. The same properties are literally double the price. So you're better off just waiting. Pretending that the only way to get a house is to drop 2 million is just...stupid.
      Feb 24, 2021
    • Facebook
      zuckSander

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      zuckSander
      Apple sounds like a multi-house owner or agent who benefits most from price appreciation. But appreciate your advice.
      Apr 27, 2021
  • Adobe
    rgm1

    Go to company page Adobe

    rgm1
    Wait it out. Artificial bubble right now between foreclose/eviction protections and cash prizes being sent by the feds every few months. Things will come back to earth and you’ll be able to get something on the cheap, comparatively.
    Feb 18, 2021 7
  • Amazon
    johncena77

    Go to company page Amazon

    johncena77
    Same situation. 400K combined TC. Bid and lost. Later realized that I didn't need a house. At peace now.
    Feb 18, 2021 0
  • Google
    crash-

    Go to company page Google

    crash-
    You both have a total comp of 625k, aim for something in 1.8M range there is usually lesser competition in higher bands.

    My tc is 350k and my wife's is 100k we are aiming for 1.4M in this crazy market.
    Feb 18, 2021 5
  • Apple
    krnfken

    Go to company page Apple

    krnfken
    All said here is exactly what happened in 2013 and keeps happening (with slight variations). Here is what’s going to happen to many buyers here. You keep losing the bids and the price keeps going up. The inventory will increase in Apr-Jun but so will the number of buyers because people shopping for houses usually have kids and they want to move well before the school starts. The bidding war shots up and peaks at May. Then, June becomes better for buyers (bad for sellers) because those overbidding folks already got theirs and the people who ate late for preparation for selling just put them in the market. Hence, more supply and comparably less buyers.

    So should you wait until Jun/Jul? Absolutely not if you want to buy a good house this year. Good ones will be sold out by end of June and you will be left out with so so selections. Even worse, the price would have already gone up compared to Apr. so when is the best time to get the house you want? Take vacations and put lots of focus on shopping in Mar-May and try to be done with it. You may get the bargain when you shop later but then the house would be more likely not something commonly demanded. This is important because you don’t want to buy a house with weird floor plan or in odd places. You should think about selling your house in the future as well. If the house is popular and bidding goes skyrocket, it means the house appeals to the demographics in the town. There will be good chances you will be able to sell yours in downtime.

    So what should you do? You have already noticed you are always outbid significantly by others. That means your preference is similar to what others are wanting. If you’re not ready to spend that much, you are playing a losing game. You keep bidding, losing and will eventually end up paying much more than those crazy outbidders later for the neighborhood you didn’t like first and with worse condition. It also means there are a few others who already figured out the game or are willing to lose some by overbidding.
    Feb 22, 2021 6