Sorry you’re in a tough position, OP, and I don’t really have any good advice for you. We did an interstate move and the whole process of moving our things, selling the old house, house hunting in the new location, closing on the new home, and getting everything moved a second time took exactly a year. We signed a six-month lease initially and then went month-to-month once we were fully moved to our new location and ready to buy. We had to float the cost of two residences during most of that year to make it work. I’m so thankful we got into our new home before the world went crazy.
Personally, if I was you and I was reasonably comfortable with my current living situation, I’d probably just sit tight and hold off on buying until things settled down some and/or I’d saved up more money to give me more flexibility. Then again, I’ve heard stories from people in my area who had their rent jacked up 20% or more when it came time to renew their leases and they can’t find anywhere else to rent because everything is waitlisted, so waiting could turn out to be a bad idea, too. It’s so hard to say. (Your state might have laws against those types of price hikes so maybe that wouldn’t be a concern for you. My state doesn’t have those regulations because we love freedom, or something.)
Mostly I’m commenting because I just saw a thread on Nextdoor where people were discussing the difficulties of buying a house in this market when you aren’t a cash buyer, and I thought I’d pass on some of their suggested tactics. One, get on Nextdoor and ask/grovel for any leads on homes that will be hitting the market soon so you can try to beat the masses to their door, offer in hand. Or, better yet, get them to sell to you without listing. In the current climate, I’d think most people would want to put the house on the market so they could benefit from a bidding war, but you never know. Two, literally start knocking on doors in your desired location and ask people if they’d be willing to sell their home to you. Two people on the thread said this had been successful for them and it was how they’d managed to buy the homes they were currently sitting in. Actually, our realtor had done something similar in that he sent out letters to all the houses in the neighborhood we wanted to buy in asking owners to contact him if they’d be willing to sell. We did get a couple of responses, though neither house worked for us. The third suggestion was from a realtor and it was a doozy. She said she’s been advising her clients, if they’re able, to have
a family member buy the house with cash for them and then turn around and sell it directly to the client with a mortgage.
So, if you happen to have any wealthy family or friends who can buy a house for you and you hadn’t yet thought to ask for a tiny favor…
Like I said, I’d probably just wait.
that housing market was NUTS just like it is in some areas now.
