Love in a hot market

Originally published March 28, 2021

I’ve been working with a young couple looking to buy their first house. The current market has inventory below a one-month supply. As a point of reference, a 6-month supply would be considered a balanced market. All that to say it’s a rough time.

We did find a great house in Mechanicsville: one owner, built in the early 70s, brick rancher. No renovations had been made, but the look in their eyes told me they had found what they wanted. Unfortunately, so had 16 others that also put in offers. Of the 16, five were cash. Keep looking.

The next weekend we found the perfect house in Midlothian. Shout out to my clients to have a broad search area throughout RVA. 54 other buyers also found this house; did I mention it was perfect?

Anyway, keep looking.

We had a conversation, because of the market, and decided to look for the diamond in the rough vs. the perfect house. While in a home that we assumed was a former rental we discussed the pros and cons. The bottom line was, yes they could live here, but don’t feel it. I think the poor paint job, years of dust on the ceiling fans and general shoddy up-keep was the main reason.

The next house was dated and in an older neighborhood. But on the inside you could literally feel the love that had been shared in the house. The new carpet certainly helped, but we could still see, this house was not perfect. What it had though, was love, and with that, they could put in the work to make it their home.

We made the offer and got it. Will close in a couple of weeks, sellers now need to find a place to stay. I write this to share that you can see when a house has been loved. Similar to a puppy that has been abused and is skittish and nervous, an unloved house is empty and hollow feeling. Here’s to you finding your loved home!