How One Couple Beat 32 Other Offers to Get Their House
First-time home buyers have it hard these days. Between rising prices, shrinking inventory and everyone wanting in on historically low interest rates, some shoppers are wondering if it’s even possible to land a house right now.
A new series by realtor.com, “First-Time Home Buyer Confessions,” profiles buyers who have navigated a variety of obstacles to get their homes. They share what they learned along the way, hoping to inspire others buyers to get in the game.
The first story follows Julie Migliacci, a virtual events planner near Boston, and her husband Mark, a banker who specializes in affordable housing. They actually beat out thirty-two other buyers to land their 1627 square-foot home in the Wakefield suburb of Boston.
Spoiler alert: They paid $50k over asking.
In 2017, Mark and Julie moved from New York City to Boston and rented a 900-square-foot apartment in Belmont with their two daughters, Chloe and Rose. When COVID hit, and everyone was suddenly home all the time, the apartment that had once seemed small had become absolutely claustrophobic. When they started questioning whether any of them even liked each other anymore, they decided to move up the timetable on their house hunt to “right now.”
Clarissa Buch, a Miami-based writer whose work has appeared in Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure and Bon Appétit, interviewed the couple about their experience:
How much did you put down on the house— and how’d you save for it?
We put down 20%. We’d been saving for three years. We’d made sure our rent was low enough that we could really sock a lot away. We could have paid higher rent for a bigger place, but we wanted every extra cent we had going to our house fund.
What were you looking for in a house?
COVID-19 definitely shifted what we were looking for in a home. We always had a goal of finding a place with about 1700 square feet, but now I found myself wanting a yard more than ever. I’m a city kid, so I never thought that was something I needed. I also wanted to find a house that was close to the city, in case we ever needed to commute back in.
How many homes did you see in person?
Starting in April, over the course of five weeks, we visited 10 homes— alone, in masks, with plenty of hand sanitizer. With COVID-19, there were no open houses.
How many offers did you make before you had one accepted?
We put in offers on five of those houses.
Why do you think your first four offers didn't pan out?
At the beginning, we had this HGTV idea of what a home-buying experience would be like. We thought we’d go $10,000 above asking and be fine. But what we realized is we weren’t even in the running. It was a waste of time and paper. I was surprised at how competitive the market is right now. We kept making offers on houses after seeing them for just a few minutes, and we still kept getting outbid.
Every time we got denied, we asked who won the house instead. The offers that kept winning were those that waived all contingencies. So we did what everyone tells you not to do: We waived the financing contingency and the home inspection in order to even have a shot. We crossed our fingers, read all of the disclosures very carefully, and hoped it would all work out.
How did you know this house was the one?
We thought this house was nuts! It has a two-story rock formation out front that looked like a death trap for my two kids.
At the time we put in an offer, we had an offer in on another house as well. That house checked all the boxes but needed a bit more work. This house, despite the rock, was move-in ready.
As we waited to hear back on these offers, we tried to talk ourselves out of the house. We kept saying, "It’s an empty-nester home, not a home for a family." And then, of course, that’s the house we got. We’re really happy, though. It’s definitely our dream home now.
How’d you manage to beat out 32 other offers on this house?
In addition to waiving contingencies, we were very aggressive with our price point, offering $50,000 over the asking price. And that wasn’t even the highest offer!
It may have helped that I wrote a very heartfelt letter to the sellers. I wrote letters to every house we put an offer on, where I described a tiny detail that I thought would resonate with the owners. For the house we ultimately got, I wrote a letter where I joked that our whole family smiled when we first walked into the home, except for our fish. My husband was against using that line, but I think it worked!
What surprised you about the home-buying process?
It’s crazy that we’d see a house for five or 10 minutes before deciding to put in an offer. With houses staying on the market for a matter of days or even hours, we knew we had to act fast— yet after our offer was finally accepted, the process slowed down, like a lot. We closed in 30 days, and I was surprised to hear that was considered lightning-fast. I wanted to move right away! It takes just a few hours to buy a car.
What’s your advice for aspiring home buyers?
If you decide to buy during COVID-19, I’d recommend doing as much research as possible. Get to know the neighborhood because once you find a house you like, you’ll likely have to jump on it right then.
Some markets are aggressive these days. If you aren’t ready for that, it’s going to take you a while to find the right home. Be ready for a lot of heartache. But if you’re crazy enough to be a buyer right now, then that must mean you’re motivated— which is a good thing!
Carrie Rowland is an Accredited Buyer’s Representative,® Certified Probate Real Estate Specialist,® Military Relocation Professional,® Graduate of the Realtor Institute® and a Realtor-Associate at RE/MAX Alliance Group in South Tampa
