“I’m ready to buy, but I can’t find the right house and don’t want to settle for a house I don’t love. Should I just wait?”
This is a common buyer frustration as we continue to struggle with low inventory in the area, and unfortunately the solution to the problem is not an easy fix. No one wants to compromise on finding their ‘dream” home, but by taking the time to really think through your home goals, separate your needs from your wants, and evaluate your long-term budget, you can mitigate a lot of the stress of your home search so that the process becomes exciting and fun again.
When inventory went down in late 2022, many buyers who found their options had become limited decided to take a break and either save money to increase their budget or wait until more homes became available and interest rates go down. Many of those buyers are still waiting – inventory hasn’t picked up significantly, and because home prices continue to rise, the benefit of any extra money they saved is often negated. It doesn’t appear that interest rates are going drop enough in the near future to incentivize waiting when you consider the continued market appreciation, so the reality is the best time to purchase is now.
That being said, in order to buy now, you need to clearly understand what you can afford and separate that from your “dream home” ideal. We’ve been trained to compare everything we see with designed Instagram homes that don’t reflect how the public really lives – so it can be disappointing to walk into a listing and not see the picture you had in your head. I like to remind buyers that houses are not soulmates – there are many homes out there that will work wonderfully for you, and none of them will be perfect. The homes you currently have to choose from may seem like compromises, but they are actually the best possible options available to you at this stage in your life. Remember that most buyers have to buy and sell multiple times in order to step up to their forever home.
Lastly, if you don’t look, you won’t find your home! It’s not uncommon for buyers to skip looking at a potential home because it happens to be the only house on the market that weekend and it doesn’t seem worth it take time out to just see one house. Everyone wants the process to be like an episode of HGTV where you have ten options that are all amazing and you spend hours discussing which one is best. However, house hunting is a process, and you need to make sure that you commit to seeing everything out there so that you have the best possible market knowledge available to you when making a decision. While you may ultimately decide that it is worth it to increase your budget to get a home with fewer compromises, you may also be surprised to find that you learn to see the potential in the homes available and end up with a house you love.
Kari Carson
DRE #01903828
(818) 424-5537
Neighborhoods Served: La Canada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Montrose, Glendale, Pasadena, Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Greater LA area