As I sit in my realtor’s Mercedes and prepare to sign away 30-40%
of my salary for the next thirty-year, I joke, “I should add ‘offer writing’ to
my resume.” This is our tenth offer. We feel it! This is the one. Ideal location,
hits almost every single one of our needs and wants, and we can overbid. We go
$5,000 over list and include stipulations to please the seller. A nervous
excitement comes over my fiancée and I as we step out of our realtor’s car.
On the drive home, we talk about preparing for
disappointment. We’ve submitted a solid offer, but for a buyer with a down
payment under 20%, the chances for disappointment are high. In this market,
inventory is low and the competition is fierce and includes buyers with bigger,
better bankrolls, investors who higher folks to go out and buy houses as rental
properties, developers looking for a lucrative flip in the best neighborhoods,
and everyday folks, like myself, who have saved up some loot and no longer want
to “throw money way” by renting.
We enter a multiple offer scenario and we competitively bid $249,000
for the property, a full $14,000 over the list price. Ultimately, the home sells for $261,000! The
sellers were a family of developers with a realtor for a son. Purchased in 2011
for just over $75,000, a $261,000 sales price yields them a gross sum of $186,000.
Even after factoring in labor,
materials, taxes, brokerage fees, and commissions, I think it is safe to say
that they doubled their money.
Even though we lose out, we gain more experience. We know
that homes like these are few and far between in our price range, but they do
come up. The next one is ours!
