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Thread: Buying a house during the pandemic... ?

  1. #1
    Bullpen or whatever RedEye's Avatar
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    Buying a house during the pandemic... ?

    Looking for advice once again. Just got a new job so have more income predictability moving forward. Normally, would be the ideal time to get a house, but now we have the added uncertainty of the pandemic.

    Seems like on one hand the market uncertainty and interest rates would be a good combo for buyers. On the other hand, if the market tanks like 2008, we might regret jumping in before everything levels out.

    Any thoughts from people who are professionals in real estate (or just people who have more experience buying houses) would be much appreciated.

    Thanks!
    “Every level he goes to, he is going to compete. They will know who he is at every level he goes to.” -- ED on EDLC


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    Re: Buying a house during the pandemic... ?

    Well, this is out of the box thinking. I'm not in one of those 2 groups so I'll just suggest to not rush into anything and good luck.

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    RedEye (03-30-2020)

  5. #3
    First Time Caller SunDeck's Avatar
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    Re: Buying a house during the pandemic... ?

    Just closed on a house and have an accepted offer on one. We started this prior to the pandemic so we were kind of hamstrung. The market here seems a little slower, as in we didn't notice the usual rise in houses going on the market that usually occurs in the spring. If your market is similar, that may be an issue. The other concern is that some local county offices may be closed or taking longer to process paper work.
    Next Reds manager, second shooter. --Confirmed on Redszone.

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    RedEye (03-30-2020)

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    Re: Buying a house during the pandemic... ?

    Following this thread, my wife and I are in about the same boat. We're looking but not rushing because the one thing I worry about is 08 and houses going under and losing it without missing a payment.
    Quote Originally Posted by teamselig
    The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change, the realist adjusts the sails.

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    RedEye (03-30-2020)

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    Member 15fan's Avatar
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    Re: Buying a house during the pandemic... ?

    Closed yesterday on sale of home we had been in for 5 years as well as home we plan on being in for a while.

    A few headaches, mainly some last minute drama fabricated by the buyers agent in our sale. (We learned after the fact that the last minute demands he was attributing to the buyers actually had nothing to do with the buyers needs but instead his desire to get a cheesy staged “happy new home” photo from our old kitchen up on Instagram within an hour of closing. If I ever see the guy on the street, every knuckle on my right fist is going into the bridge of his nose. Hard.)

    Best advice is to know your budget, know what your current home is actually worth, why you are looking, what you think you want in your next place. Find a realtor who has been in the profession since prior to the last recession. You and your schedule need to drive the decision-making process, not the agent’s need for a commission or two in the next 60 days. We started the dialogue with our agents about a year ago. Not once did they tell us now is or isn't the time.

    All of the selling/buying/packing/unpacking has been a great distraction from the pandemic. If nothing else, use this time of distancing to do major cleanout and purge at your current place. Fill an extra trash bag every day. It will make listing and moving easier whenever you decide it’s time.

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    RedEye (03-30-2020),TRF (04-03-2020)

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    Member Redsfaithful's Avatar
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    Re: Buying a house during the pandemic... ?

    I would hate to have to make this decision right now, and the only advice I can give is to fully believe you're going to do it with the best available information you have today and not to beat yourself up later if it turns out to have been bad timing.

    Personally, if I were buying and able to wait until fall I think I would. Whatever this is will be priced in by then I think and we'll have a better understanding of what it all means going forward.
    Turning and turning in the widening gyre
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    North (03-31-2020),RedEye (03-30-2020)

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    Pitter Patter TRF's Avatar
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    Re: Buying a house during the pandemic... ?

    I think its a good time to buy, terrible time to sell and a great time to refinance. IF you have the finances and the income security. That's key at any time of course, but especially now. If I refinance now, my payment gets lowered by about $150 a month. We've only been in this house 2 years. If I refinance and make the same payment, I'm looking at knocking off almost 15 years. I started the process with my current mortgage company, but they have not responded. So it's off to the open market.
    Dubito Ergo Cogito Ergo Sum.

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    Griffey012 (04-04-2020)

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    Re: Buying a house during the pandemic... ?

    We just closed on our dream home 2 weeks ago and have been moving in during all this. Its been great in some ways, hard in others (harder to get companies to do work-movers, etc) but we also are finding handy men have more time right now and the mortgage rates are low. It is scary not knowing what the market is going to do but think we are going to be ok. Now the hard part is finishing up our old house to get it on the market. We live in an area where the housing market is booming though and homes aren't staying on the market even a week in many/most cases except for the really high dollar ones.
    Good luck with whatever you decide OP!
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    Re: Buying a house during the pandemic... ?

    I would wait, it is likely Covid sends us into a long recession, housing prices will probably decline a decent bit. I’d highly doubt they go up in the next 12-24 months. So worst case you save a little more cash and pay a similar price, best case you avoid being immediately underwater and perhaps can get even more.
    "Today was the byproduct of us thinking we can come back from anything." - Joey Votto after blowing a 10-1 lead and holding on for the 12-11 win on 8/25/2010.

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    RedEye (04-14-2020),Sea Ray (04-11-2020)

  18. #10
    Bullpen or whatever RedEye's Avatar
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    Re: Buying a house during the pandemic... ?

    These are solid insights; thanks to all.

    We are dipping our feet in the market again. Just made an offer but no contract yet. Obviously, a long way to go before we are committed to anything. Atlanta housing market is still churning somewhat in the middle ranges where we are looking, so if we find something we love, we will probably move forward.
    “Every level he goes to, he is going to compete. They will know who he is at every level he goes to.” -- ED on EDLC

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    Re: Buying a house during the pandemic... ?

    U.S. banking regulators temporarily defer real estate appraisal requirements


    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. banking regulators announced Tuesday they were giving lenders more time to conduct appraisals on real estate transactions, in an effort to keep firms lending amid widespread “stay-at-home” orders.

    Regulators said lenders would have an extra 120 days after closing real estate transactions to conduct required appraisals. The longer window will remain in place until the end of 2020, which regulators said would “allow regulated institutions to

    extend financing to creditworthy households and businesses quickly” amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

    Reporting by Pete Schroeder; Editing by Sandra Maler

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKCN21W33N

  20. #12
    First Time Caller SunDeck's Avatar
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    Re: Buying a house during the pandemic... ?

    We're just about set to close on our sale. Of course there were inspection issues and I have nothing against competent home inspectors. But this one, what a moron. They required us to explain the evidence of prior termite treatments, specifically when was the termite bait station installed and how was it being maintained. I was really confused by this since we've never had termite issues and there were none indicated when we bought the house. So I looked in the report and saw this picture.

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    Well, that's not a termite bait station, friends. It's actually a garden hose guide. It was not in a location where you'd find a bait station, for one...and it looks nothing like a bait station, which are flush with the ground. This thing sticks up a good six inches, see below. You may imagine I had some choice words for the realtor.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Last edited by SunDeck; 04-15-2020 at 10:50 AM.
    Next Reds manager, second shooter. --Confirmed on Redszone.

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    North (04-15-2020),TRF (04-21-2020)


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