For years, I’d loved being a buyer agent. Everything inside me enjoyed the glow in buyers’ eyes when they walked into THE ONE! Smiles all around, sitting on furniture with family while envisioning their new lives in the home, putting together a good offer based on comps, negotiating terms and reasonable repairs, handing over those keys amidst happy tears and excited hugs…..and THEN….2020 hit.
It was a year like no other. Everyone can agree. And while many people became confined to their homes and hardware stores became the only stores open, people started slowly venturing out to overcrowded Lowes and Home Depot in hopes of turning their new 24/7 abodes into places of refuge where they could replicate parks, offices, gyms, and movie theaters. Home renovations began in a flurry and continue to this day.
And the OTHER homeowners, well, they decided that the home they had once loved would not accommodate changes to add all those things they were missing. For a brief moment in 2020, being a buyer agent became fun! So many people wanted to buy at once, and there were still homes available.
I’ll never forget the moment I realized something was shifting. My family and I went away to the mountains for Memorial Day weekend. I had put out a full price offer before leaving for a buyer family on a new construction home that had sat on the market for months. The listing agent for this national builder called and said, “We’ve never had this happen before, but we got your offer at the same time we got another offer. And we now need your highest and best.” Thankfully, my buyers got the home, but it was the beginning of the craziest year in Real Estate ever.
One agent I did a transaction with told me she’s been in Real Estate for 30 years and 2020/2021 made her want to never do a transaction again. WHY? The heartbreak of seeing what very quickly began unfolding for buyers all over our region.
I-buyers and large investment firms began sending letters to every affordable housing owner daily, offering to buy their homes without marketing or accommodating showings. Although sellers would have no representation and would be hoodwinked out of their hard-earned equity for outlandish repair reductions, many sellers chose to go this route- creating an inventory shortage. Anytime another property in decent shape went on the market, multiple offers would flow in, many being from cash investors and for well above the list price.
Typical buyers with loans just couldn’t compete. I’ve heard of buyers putting out 10-20 stellar offers on properties that were overpriced before giving up. These buyers were waiving inspections and appraisals, putting down massive deposits, offering to close in just a few weeks, and even paying seller closing costs.
To give you an idea….one of my buyer families lost out on 4 homes before getting their offer accepted the fifth time. They offered well over the listing price, and there were a whopping 74 offers on that same property, which was only on the market for two days. Many buyers never had this luck, though.
Not only did I help buyers through this crazy market, on the flip side, I’m also a listing agent. I have the good fortune of representing a company that cares about what has happened to buyers in our region.
Better Path Homes entered the market right before this craziness began with a vision to serve first time home buyers and people needing quality homes at an affordable price. From granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, luxury vinyl flooring, decks and patios, to elevated ceilings and attractive fixtures- these beautiful new homes offer worn out, broken down, exhausted-from-the-multiple-offers buyers something they can’t find anywhere else in their price point.
I can’t tell you how many tears of joy I’ve witnessed at walkthroughs, the stories told, “We thought we’d never be able to buy a nice home,”... ”Now our kids have a safe place to sleep at night”... ”We are paying less than we were for rent”... ”We could never have afforded a quality home without your company”... ”We have such peace of mind knowing this home has a new construction warranty”... The story is the same many times over.
It has brought hope to a group of buyers who had lost hope and to people in our communities: single moms working hard to give their children a bright future, the vet who has served his country and can afford a safe and quality place to now call home, the young couple just starting out, the senior who needs a place near her grandkids but still wants independence in an affordable and low maintenance property.
We are bringing hope to buyers; we are doing good. We are on the right side of history, and I’m just overjoyed I get to play a role- one home at a time, one family at a time.
Let us help you sell your home hassle-free, and with a fair cash offer! Call us at (704) 802-1097.
Rebekah Sosa is a realtor specializing in problem-solving- from the start of a contract to closing. Her mission is to bring the heart back into home buying and selling because she believes every transaction is all about the people involved.