Spring real estate season is off to a rocky start
House buying has become a marathon sport. The process has been very long for many potential owners as they compete for the limited supply of homes on the market.
Alexandra Leppo has been looking and looking for a home and is now in year two. But keeping her solid credit score and debt down has put her in a holding pattern.
“You can’t buy anything. Even if I go to pay off a credit card I always have to check to make sure it won’t screw up my pre-approval,” said Leppo. “Even if I was to rent. It would still affect the home buying process altogether.”
Realtors like Deric Lipski, known as Mr. Sold, says the buying process on average has gone from a couple of months to more than a year. “Part of making yourself get an offer accepted is having the best look on paper for sellers,” said Lipski. “You can’t do certain things that will affect credit like take out new credit cards, go buy a new car, new furniture. Anything that is going to impact your credit”
Jeff Mancovsky, at Mortgage Equity Partners, has been trying to help people get into new homes. He explains how paying over asking can still be cost-effective. “In most cases, you will outpace what you overspent and the property will be worth it,” said Mancovsky. “The person who said I’m not paying over asking who may have sat out for the past two years missed out on quite a bit of appreciation.”
Anthony Lamacchia’s real estate firm showed the housing supply numbers right now compared to prior years. “If you look, 13-thousand, and now we are at 5 thousand. People are just fighting over houses,” said Lamacchia. “Each month that goes by there will be more for sale and there will be fewer buyers. Because remember, buyers find homes. The other thing that happens is buyers give up and they sign leases for a year.”
Leppo says she will continue looking and try to be patient. “Hoping this year. Hoping this is the year because another year of waiting is a long wait,” said Leppo.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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