House Hunting Progress
The Home Search Continues
If you don’t know already, I have been in the process of searching for a home with my partner, within closer proximity of San Francisco for a little over a month now. I wanted to share a little update on how things have been going, what I’ve learned so far in terms of where the market is at, and how our list has evolved since we first started looking.
Let’s start with what’s going on with the market. If you’re not at all familiar with what’s going on with California real estate, this will give you a very high-level overview. Before diving in, I will caveat this by saying I am by no means an expert, but have started to see some patterns emerge and have picked up on a few interesting things since we started this process.
With interest rates continuing to rise, lending restrictions tightening, and lack of inventory, the market is still very much difficult to navigate. There are a decent amount of buyers, but homeowners aren’t willing to sell and part with their low-interest rates, which is driving prices up. Based on what we’ve been looking at in the East Bay, homes are going for anywhere from $20k-$150k over asking, and the list prices are not below market value by any means.
We’ve toured about 8 properties so far in Marin County, Sonoma County, and Alameda County. We unfortunately were priced out of putting in an offer on a home we really liked given the level of interest on the property, so we’ve started to loosen some of the constraints on our list and explore other options.
We recently toured a fixer home that just came onto the market in our favorite neighborhood and are exploring what financing options are available for a ‘live and flip’ situation. We’re waiting to get a few quotes back from a contractor on what the big ticket repairs would be to get the home into livable shape, and from there we will continue to talk about if taking on a project like this is something we are ready for and interested in.
We’re excited about the potential, but it’s easy to overlook the complexity and potential roadblocks since we’ve never taken on anything like this before. Research will only take you so far before you have to roll up your sleeves and just dive in head first.
Despite market constraints and high home prices, I’m optimistic we’ll find the home that’s right for us, and am continually reminding myself to let go of expectations and timelines and just allow the process to unfold as it will.
Wishing you all a lovely week ahead. Stay tuned for more updates as we go.
x, MK.
