I want to buy a house, but I can’t…what would you have me do?

r/

I live in the southern part of Maine. My fiancée and I have been looking at houses for months and months and have found ones we like and want to buy.

What happens, EVERY TIME is someone comes in and pays well over asking in cash…

How do I compete with that?

Comments

  1. phishmademedoit Avatar

    I’ve heard of people writing a letter to the current owners. You could tell them why you love the house so much and give them some background, it could sway them. Also save up at least 20 percent for a down-payment. Cash is always the easiest deal but a standard mortgage is still significantly easier than an FHA loan, which has additional requirements.

  2. Think-like-Bert Avatar

    Here’s what you do. Talk to rubbish clean out guys about houses. They’ll clean them out and a few weeks later, they house will be on the market. Yard sales and estate sales. They’re cleaning out the house in order to sell it. Have ALL your ducks in a row (mortgage, attorney, inspectors) and know the neighborhood prices. Ask the people at the yard sale what they plan to do with the house after getting rid of all the big furniture. Have them sign an offer. Have $500+ in your pocket for a deposit. You can beat the real estate agents to the property. You only need one property. DM me for more.

  3. United_Ad8650 Avatar

    In my area on the west coast, properties are being bought up by corporations who want them either to put multi-family housing on or or create whole new neighborhoods of upscale housing, it all depends where you live. As residents of this formerly small town, we’re not happy about that and would rather sell to a couple or a family, so that letter and all of the other personal things that people are suggesting are great ideas. I grew up in the70s & 80s and I always remember my stepdad saying “I don’t know how you kids will ever be able to buy houses with these interest rates.” That was when houses cost $60k, but interest was 7-9%. I guess it’s all relative. Good luck, I know I know you will find your house.

  4. crazdtow Avatar

    I bought my current home in a difficult and competitive market that sounds very much like what you’re dealing with. What I finally did when I was tired of the game and just wanted the hobby for sure was made sure it was a little under my full budget then told my realtor to outbid everyone who was putting offers in which ended up being full asking price however during inspection and comps etc it still got negotiated down low another five-ten grand. They accepted the highest offer because money is what really matters to be honest and I knew this as I was also selling a home at the same time.
    As others said make sure you are pre approved and be ready to jump on something quickly at full asking price or very close to it if you’re serious and want to get under contract

  5. techaaron Avatar

    Wait for the market to change.

    Never buy an expensive asset under stress. 

  6. Carolann0308 Avatar

    Wait it out. My son went through the same thing a few years ago. In this economy give it a year and there’s going to be homes available. People forced to return to the office and losing their jobs. The inventory will go up.

  7. Granny_knows_best Avatar

    Buy in a less popular area, not meaning a less desirable area, just less popular.

  8. Emergency_Property_2 Avatar

    You can’t compete with that. I make pretty damn good money and I couldn’t compete when we were looking for a house. What we did was buy a new built home. Builders don’t generally take bids on houses. Plus in today’s market their offering over incentives to buyers. At least here in North Texas they are.

  9. ConversationLevel498 Avatar

    Buy some land. Buy a Barndominium. Save to build the house you want. Then be your own general contractor. If you know nothing find a retired contractor – an old guy or gal who knows everything.

  10. Impossible-Energy-76 Avatar

    If anything else do a usda loan Fannie Mae, I personally did a usda loan, 3 bedroom ranch 28.8 acre nobody bothers us husband grows his weed I grow veggies and flowers.

  11. Wadsworth_McStumpy Avatar

    I’d like to recommend that you just keep trying, but it sounds like you’re near to giving up. So if that isn’t an option, consider buying empty land and building a house on it. It’s a lot more work, but you can end up with a house you love, in a place you love, without any HOA or other issues if you don’t want them.

    My wife and I did that, and ended up with a bit over 2.5 acres that’s zoned Agricultural/Residential. That means not only no HOA, but practically no regulations on what we can do with the land. We mostly just plant trees, but if we wanted to raise chickens or goats or whatever, we could. (That reminds me, it’s about time to pick a couple new trees to plant this year.)

    Best of luck.

  12. Fabulous_Lab1287 Avatar

    Offer more money

  13. Throwaway-SoWhat Avatar

    I don’t know if you’re willing to consider moving out of state, but that’s what I did. I lived in SLC, market was bananas, flew to Vegas and shopped for a house there and closed in 20 days.

  14. dmcdd Avatar

    Unfortunately, you’ll need to bid higher than asking. If that’s how your market is running right now, that’s the only way to buy.

    Unless you have friends that know the market and can get you in on the great deals, but I consider those just legends.

    My wife and I bought property and built a house (we were the contractors, but we hired a lot of it out.) It worked for us, but that was also about 30 years ago.

    Maybe find land and move a nice trailer onto it until you can build?

  15. Fabulous_Lab1287 Avatar

    Have you looked north of Portland the further north you go the lower the prices go.

  16. MeatofKings Avatar

    I worked with a woman who was part of a young couple in the same situation. They contacted their network of friends and colleagues, mostly through social media, about their situation. They found a retiring couple in their neighborhood willing to sell their home directly for the professionally assessed value. All sides were happy with the outcome. Can’t hurt to try.

  17. BobbyJoeMcgee Avatar

    Not buy a house? And save your money up?

  18. MadMadamMimsy Avatar

    Talk to builders. Building a house is cheaper because there are no homeowner improvements like landscaping, mirrors in bathrooms and fancy light fixtures. We’ve built 3…and we never thought we’d own a home. Ever.

    Not all builders are good. Talk to a few. Look at things like the flooring, and counter tops they use.

  19. Y_B_U Avatar

    That’s discouraging! People love their homes and they usually want their homes to go to someone else who will love their home. When we sold our home and even when we sold some undeveloped land we received very sweet letters with the offers. The letters described why the purchasers wanted our home. The letters were very motivational for us and we accepted those offers (even though the deal was not as good as others) because we were able to feel happy that our home was going to have a new family with kids going to the local school or close to the hospital that the buyer would be going to while undergoing treatment. Write a letter explaining why you want the home and how you will enjoy living there.

  20. jafbm Avatar

    It’s frustrating!

    I live in western MA. My wife and I found a house we liked in a nearby town. We went to put 20% down on it and between the time we were shoring up the deposit in the bank and submitting the P&S agreement, someone swooped in and bought it with cash! So frustrating.

    But we found a place we liked…it wasn’t listed normally because it was in pre-foreclosure. The original asking price was $280k, but we got it for $150 because the bank just wanted it gone.

  21. wilsonstrong-1319 Avatar

    Three years ago, the housing market was crazy! I was looking to move out of state. I’d fly down and stay with a friend for weekly intervals. The last time, right before I decided to give up my son found a house on Zillow. Actually 3 houses. I was using a realtor. Next morning, first appointment canceled, house sold before my arrival time. Second house was a dud and extremely overpriced. Third house was a gem. I barely looked at it. It checked almost all the boxes. When we got back to the car, I found out they had just listed the day before and had 3 offers. I outbid them all! No, I had no idea what anyone was offering. I made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.

  22. betweenawakeanddream Avatar

    Writing a nice letter to the seller, explaining why you want the house worked for us when the same was going on in ATX.

  23. VixenTraffic Avatar

    Buy a duplex. You can count the rental income towards the mortgage payment. Work hard and pay that off as fast as you can, then sell the duplex and buy a house.

  24. nerdymutt Avatar

    Don’t get into a bidding war, just keep trying. Just because everyone is crazy around you, doesn’t mean you are not when you join the crazy crowd.

  25. HalfwaydonewithEarth Avatar

    I would get married before buying a home.

  26. missannthrope1 Avatar
    1. Keep saving. The more you have for a down, the better.
    2. Consider buying land and building. Start with a trailer, if that’s all you can afford.
    3. Get creative. Go in halves with another couple. Get everything in writing to avoid conflicts.
    4. Talk to your parents around building an adu on their property and buy their house.
    5. Look for a fixer upper and put in your sweat equity.
    6. Talk to your accountant about buying something further afield, and living there weekends and holidays. Perhaps you can work part time from home, or stagger your schedules. I think the IRS says as long as you live in a house a half a year, you can claim it as your primary residence.
    7. Wait. The economy, or nature, could do anything.
    8. Worst case scenario, you have enough money to buy a house for cash when you are ready to retire.

    Good luck.

  27. QNaima Avatar

    We told our realtor we absolutely refused to get in a bidding war for a house so don’t bother. He listened; we found the house of our dreams in an area we hadn’t even considered. No one else had either because it was semi-rural, meaning it was in a suburb but close to a horse ranch. People used to ride up and down our street. In five years, it became the “it” place to live due to the convenience of fabulous grocery stores being built nearby (Wegmans, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s). Also, the county finished building a metro line, with a stop four miles from us vs. 10.

  28. JColt60 Avatar

    My friend just bought her first condo at 70 and loves it. She got divorced back in the 90’s. Moved in with her mom and took care of her for 20 years. Her mom passed with dementia. Brother bought parents house and let her stay a few more months while she searched. Took awhile but she’s happy.