Ughhhhh my landlord wants to sell our rental - Updated: We decided to buy it.

[Kanin]

Updated - We caved. We talked to someone we trust who convinced us that the appraised price (whatever it ends up being) is a solid decision-making tool. And that the market here is likely to continue to be strong in the future. All I hope is that if we ever decide to sell, we can at least break even. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts, I do appreciate all the input. 

 

I feel like crying - or screaming! Our part of Maine is having a huge housing boom. Our landlords are quite wealthy, and (I thought) very nice people.  About six months ago, they asked if we wanted to buy our rental. They told us they're not in any rush to sell, but if we ever want to buy, we could get an appraisal done and move forward. We've been delaying because of COVID (didn't want someone in the house) and because housing prices are so high right now. Also, they said on numerous occasions that they weren't in a rush, didn't want to sell to anyone but us, and were happy to continue renting.

Fast forward to this morning, they called and said they want to sell the house. We have one week to decide if we want to buy it, or they're going to list it with a realtor. They quoted us a price, and said if the appraisal is lower, we could buy for the appraised price.

BUT! The quoted price is super high, way higher than we were expecting. We have to decide to buy, not knowing what the appraisal will show (takes about a month to get appraisals these days), so we have to be okay with the quoted price. I assume we could still back out if the inspection shows something very wrong, but still.

UGH! This is my spring break (teacher). I was looking forward to finally getting to relax a little. And we were very excited to start having friends over outside as we're getting near to being all vaccinated, and I was going to work on the garden....

Plus houses are selling super fast for super high prices around here. If we decide NOT to buy this house, there's no guarantee we'll be able to find another place to live in the area, which would mean moving away completely. After 2.5 years, we finally have acquaintances that are turning into actual friends... 😞

Edited April 18, 2021 by Kanin
Update

[Jean in Newcastle]

They gave you six months notice that they were looking to sell. 

[Katy]

Anyone looking to retire from rental properties would be a fool to not sell now.  I doubt there will be a rural property boom like there is currently for another 30 years. I'm sorry it's inconveniencing you.

[athena1277]

Since you can’t get a quick appraisal, I would look at a lot of comps in your area.  See what similar houses have sold for, especially in your neighborhood.  That will give you an idea if his price is reasonable or if he’s reaching.  If his price is way too high, show him the comps and make him a lower offer.  Remind him that by selling to you, he will save thousands in realtor fees.  It could be a win for both of you.

[teachermom2834]

I'm sorry. I know that is really stressful.

I would counter offer if interested. If he gave you an asking price based on what he plans to list it at with the realtor then there is some wiggle room there. It would save them so much money and trouble to just sell to you. If you are interested I would see if there was room to come down on the price. It sounds like he offered you one price or the appraisal if lower but that doesn't mean you can't make an offer yourself. 

[Bootsie]

Oh that is so stressful.  We went through this a couple of years ago with our landlord.  I think it was really a situation where the husband wanted to keep the house and the wife wanted to sell.  They wanted to sell and we said OK but then they backed out.  We said we wanted stability so they offered us a 3year lease.  One year into it they became difficult to deal with; said they needed cash because their twins were starting college in four months (didn't they know this for 18 years????)  They offered to sell--we thought price was high and got an appraisal that was significantly lower.  It was not a house we loved (great for a rental but not something we wanted to own).  Luckily for us, another house a few blocks away went on the market and we were able to snatch it.  So, the owner of the rental was left having to repaint, recarpet, and all of the other things that have to be done to sell a house and pay a commission to a realtor.  

How much longer do you have on your lease?  Is there anything in your rental about allowing access to the home for showings if the landlord wants to sell?  

[kbutton]

49 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

They gave you six months notice that they were looking to sell. 

I didn't take her information that way at all, though if it sounds like they were fishing to gauge interest. 

I am sorry, OP. I think this is happening to a lot of people because prices are so crazy high right now. I don't know how anyone is able to find housing right now. 😞 I hope you can make this work--I know other people that bought their rented house unexpectedly, and I agree with others that if you can cut out a realtor, a lower offer that takes those fees into account might be acceptable to them.

[Sneezyone]

I'm sorry this is happening to you. DH and I are seriously thinking about selling ours for similar reasons. We don't want to live in it and it's gonna be a serious drag on our EFC if we keep it vs. putting the proceeds into our current home.

[mommyoffive]

UGH I am so sorry that is super stressful. 

Yeah I think they gave a heads up they wanted to and also they could get so much right now.  

[IfIOnly]

This is happening to us right now. We have a housing shortage in our area, so the possibility of us being homeless was very real. We know several families who have had to do temporary, emergency housing situations, some for as long as 5-6 months. Our current rental homes sold, and thankfully we were able to find another rental. We did get a 60-day notice at least. Hoping everything works out well for your family and the area you live right now is not in as much crisis as others. (((Hugs)))

[MEmama]

Ugh! I'm sorry you have to deal with this right now. Housing is insane all over this part of the state—not only crazy expensive, but there’s barely any housing stock available at all. My town has 9 listings. Nine. 😳
 

I hope the process goes smoothly for you and that everything miraculously falls into place. ((Hugs))

[Selkie]

1 hour ago, Kanin said:

I feel like crying - or screaming! Our part of Maine is having a huge housing boom. Our landlords are quite wealthy, and (I thought) very nice people.  About six months ago, they asked if we wanted to buy our rental. They told us they're not in any rush to sell, but if we ever want to buy, we could get an appraisal done and move forward. We've been delaying because of COVID (didn't want someone in the house) and because housing prices are so high right now. Also, they said on numerous occasions that they weren't in a rush, didn't want to sell to anyone but us, and were happy to continue renting.

Fast forward to this morning, they called and said they want to sell the house. We have one week to decide if we want to buy it, or they're going to list it with a realtor. They quoted us a price, and said if the appraisal is lower, we could buy for the appraised price.

BUT! The quoted price is super high, way higher than we were expecting. We have to decide to buy, not knowing what the appraisal will show (takes about a month to get appraisals these days), so we have to be okay with the quoted price. I assume we could still back out if the inspection shows something very wrong, but still.

UGH! This is my spring break (teacher). I was looking forward to finally getting to relax a little. And we were very excited to start having friends over outside as we're getting near to being all vaccinated, and I was going to work on the garden....

Plus houses are selling super fast for super high prices around here. If we decide NOT to buy this house, there's no guarantee we'll be able to find another place to live in the area, which would mean moving away completely. After 2.5 years, we finally have acquaintances that are turning into actual friends... 😞

Sorry about your stress, but I don't understand why this would change your opinion about them being nice. They gave you plenty of advance notice and the right of first refusal.

[Kanin]

1 hour ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

They gave you six months notice that they were looking to sell. 

They gave us six months notice that they wanted to sell to us, and only to us. If we didn't want to buy, they said they would be fine to continue renting it to us. That's why I'm upset.

 

If they told us six months ago that they were planning to put it on the market, that would have been fine and I wouldn't fault them - but it feels like a betrayal because they swore up and down that they weren't interesting in selling to anyone but us. 

[Kanin]

18 minutes ago, Selkie said:

They gave you plenty of advance notice and the right of first refusal.

I disagree. They gave us a week to decide if we want to buy it or not. Previously, that had promised that they would ONLY sell it to us, and if we didn't want to buy it, we could continue renting for as long as we wanted. They said repeatedly that they were not interested in selling to anyone but us. 

They'll sell for $X or whatever the appraisal is, whichever is less. So basically we need to be okay with their higher price in case the appraisal is actually close to what they want. It feels sketchy to agree to buy something as major as a house without knowing the exact amount of money I'm agreeing to. 

[Kanin]

1 minute ago, Dreamergal said:

If your market was anything like ours, 6 months ago the market was warm, now it is blazing hot. We have found notes with our mail from random realtors asking if we would like to sell. People are buying houses as is without inspection, bidding wars are happening and most houses sell well above price. 

I know friends who have done the very thing  and honestly, if we had a rental property that is what we would do. They want to fund their retirement it looks like and I cannot fault them for that. I am sorry you are caught in the middle.

Yes, same here. They were approached by a realtor out of the blue. To make things worse, this is a town that's already having major growing pains because there is nothing affordable to rent or to buy. Lots of out of staters are buying even kinda crummy houses and fixing them up. 

[Beth S]

Talk to a Realtor Friend off-the-record.
IMO, you still have lots of opportunity to negotiate.
Sellers should expect it.

Edited April 17, 2021 by Beth S

[Carol in Cal.]

10 minutes ago, Kanin said:

They gave us six months notice that they wanted to sell to us, and only to us. If we didn't want to buy, they said they would be fine to continue renting it to us. That's why I'm upset.

 

If they told us six months ago that they were planning to put it on the market, that would have been fine and I wouldn't fault them - but it feels like a betrayal because they swore up and down that they weren't interesting in selling to anyone but us. 

It sounds like their thinking changed a bit.

There is also a looming possible change to how capital gains will be taxed that might be driving this sudden move.  

Also, at least out here in CA, a lot of landlords are unload properties because of the restrictions on evictions for nonpayment of rent during COVID.  People are seeing the handwriting on the wall as the law shifts gradually against landlords, and not wanting to be stuck in the future.  

Anyway, be that as it may, it might be that you could counter offer with a structured purchase that would be helpful to them, like an installment purchase.  That way if they want to spread the tax bite over 10 years they could do that.  Maybe they would give you a discount for avoiding the realtor fees as others have mentioned.  It’s hard to proceed in parallel, but I would suggest looking for another place at the same time so you don’t get stuck.

[Catwoman]

I’m sorry you have to deal with this, Kanin!

It must have been such a shock to have had to make a decision in such a hurry, after previously having been given the impression that there was no rush.

[Bootsie]

If you simply say "no, we don't want to buy" how much longer can you continue to rent the home?

At this point, are they asking you to sign any type of contract?  I am just wondering how that would be worded, "We agree to pay $x or an appraised value, whichever is less?''  Who does the appraisal?  Will they be legally bound to sell if you have an appraiser that comes back with a $ amount much lower than they are expecting?  Different appraisers can come up with very different numbers, especially the older or more unique the property is.  Will you need to get a loan?  How easy is loan qualification at the price they are asking?

When we were in your situation recently, we found that we could think about the possibility of purchasing much more clearly when we simply thought of the question as "If we were shopping for a house, would we want to purchase this property, and if so, what is the max price we would be willing to pay?"  

As an aside, I know of a lot of situations where people say "We don't want to sell to anyone but you..."  But, when it really comes down to it, when someone sells (unless it is a family member or similar situation), they want to sell to liquidate the property, and who it is that is buying the property is really irrelevant to them.

 

[KungFuPanda]

44 minutes ago, Kanin said:

I disagree. They gave us a week to decide if we want to buy it or not. Previously, that had promised that they would ONLY sell it to us, and if we didn't want to buy it, we could continue renting for as long as we wanted. They said repeatedly that they were not interested in selling to anyone but us. 

They'll sell for $X or whatever the appraisal is, whichever is less. So basically we need to be okay with their higher price in case the appraisal is actually close to what they want. It feels sketchy to agree to buy something as major as a house without knowing the exact amount of money I'm agreeing to. 

I'm sure they'd RATHER sell to you.  It would be so much easier for them.  Also, it's VERY nice to quote you a price when they could very well benefit from a bidding war on the open market right now.  Still, your stress must be through the roof.  It's a tough time to be buying a home or seeking a rental.  If you're not sure you want this house at this price, it might be best to find any rental you can for the time being and look to buy when the market calms down.  What are the odds that the house will still be worth today's prices in a few years time? This happened about ten years ago and it put a lot of homebuyers under water.

Edited April 17, 2021 by KungFuPanda

[Spy Car]

If you can swing it, you'd eventually build equity instead of paying rent. 

As @athena1277 mentioned, by selling to you they could avoid the considerable commissions they have to pay if it went on the market and other hassles.

Could be an opportunity. Hope it works out.

Bill

[bibiche]

Do you like the house? Do you want to buy it? It seems like they’re still being pretty nice to offer it to you first. Lots of people are being thrown out on their ears. In many, many areas of the country there are huge bidding wars that drive up the price of houses, as KFPanda mentioned. The fact that they’re offering it to you at all seems nice.

It’s entirely possible that if your area is experiencing a big boom the high prices are there to stay. If you want to stay there, do you want to get involved in the crazy no contingencies cash offer bidding wars and the disappointment that ensues when your offer isn’t the winning one? If you want to stay in the area, you like your house, and you can pay what they’re asking (or negotiate something you can pay), you might be better off just buying it.
 

And I’m really sorry. I’ve have had rentals sold too and it’s awful and stressful. The one positive if you decide to decline their offer to buy is that things sell so quickly that you’ll probably only have to deal with one or two days of people traipsing though your house before it sells. 
 

 

[Kanin]

53 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

If you simply say "no, we don't want to buy" how much longer can you continue to rent the home?

At this point, are they asking you to sign any type of contract?  I am just wondering how that would be worded, "We agree to pay $x or an appraised value, whichever is less?''  Who does the appraisal?  Will they be legally bound to sell if you have an appraiser that comes back with a $ amount much lower than they are expecting?  Different appraisers can come up with very different numbers, especially the older or more unique the property is.  Will you need to get a loan?  How easy is loan qualification at the price they are asking?

When we were in your situation recently, we found that we could think about the possibility of purchasing much more clearly when we simply thought of the question as "If we were shopping for a house, would we want to purchase this property, and if so, what is the max price we would be willing to pay?"  

As an aside, I know of a lot of situations where people say "We don't want to sell to anyone but you..."  But, when it really comes down to it, when someone sells (unless it is a family member or similar situation), they want to sell to liquidate the property, and who it is that is buying the property is really irrelevant to them.

 

If we simply say no, we can stay until May 31. 

I'm not exactly sure what a contract would look like. They said they would have their lawyer draw up a purchase agreement. I think it would be something like "$X or the appraised price, if the appraised price is lower." 

We would normally not be willing to pay what they're asking, especially since the housing bubble is bound to burst at some point. They are asking at least $50,000 more than we were expecting, and that's even accounting for the house probably selling for more than it's worth. 

The problem is, there are no rentals in the vicinity. There are 6 houses for sale in our town for less than $500,000. Most of the are way above our price range. Even looking in a radius of an hour from here, there's not much to be had. 

I agree with you that when the rubber hits the road, they don't actually care about our wellbeing. I'm just sad about it. 

[Kanin]

2 minutes ago, bibiche said:

Do you like the house? Do you want to buy it? It seems like they’re still being pretty nice to offer it to you first. Lots of people are being thrown out on their ears. In many, many areas of the country there are huge bidding wars that drive up the price of houses, as KFPanda mentioned. The fact that they’re offering it to you at all seems nice.

 

We appreciate having first crack at it. The house is okay. If it weren't a housing bubble, we'd buy something very different. Just wish it wasn't under such pressure. We won't even know what it's appraised for before we have to agree to pay for it. We might be okay with the appraised value, or not, but the not knowing scares me. 

[bibiche]

4 minutes ago, Kanin said:

We appreciate having first crack at it. The house is okay. If it weren't a housing bubble, we'd buy something very different. Just wish it wasn't under such pressure. We won't even know what it's appraised for before we have to agree to pay for it. We might be okay with the appraised value, or not, but the not knowing scares me. 

I get it. I think you have to look at trends in your area too. From posts I remember, your area has been getting hot for some time, hasn’t it? Sometimes it’s not a bubble that’s going to burst. Sometimes the area was undervalued and the prices are there to stay. It’s entirely possible that you could be getting in at, while not ideal, a good time while the area is still going up. 
 

In one of the areas we used to live in we put off buying, thinking that the prices *had* to drop because the situation seemed untenable. Mistake. Those prices are still going up, years later, and the prices that we balked at then seem insanely cheap in comparison to current prices.

Good luck with your decision. 

[sassenach]

8 minutes ago, Kanin said:

We appreciate having first crack at it. The house is okay. If it weren't a housing bubble, we'd buy something very different. Just wish it wasn't under such pressure. We won't even know what it's appraised for before we have to agree to pay for it. We might be okay with the appraised value, or not, but the not knowing scares me. 

This whole situation is hard. I'm sorry that people above are being flippant about it. Anytime one's housing situation is suddenly threatened, that's a huge deal and SO stressful.

I guess I would start by asking if you like the house and would want to own it. If so, then I like the advice above to counteroffer. Or if that doesn't work, you still have to qualify for the loan so maybe there's room to structure the contract in such a way that you can get out of it if you don't qualify for the loan of that size?

 

[brehon]

24 minutes ago, Kanin said:

<snip>

We would normally not be willing to pay what they're asking, especially since the housing bubble is bound to burst at some point. They are asking at least $50,000 more than we were expecting, and that's even accounting for the house probably selling for more than it's worth. 

<snip>

I'm just sad about it. 

Re the bolded: I have no idea about your state/area of the state; however, my area has had a sustained housing boom for a long time, a very long time. Prices keep going up and there is no end in sight. People who can’t afford the prices are having to buy or even rent 1-2+ hours away from where they work.

All that to say, if you like your area and the house and can swing it, it may be best to bite the bullet and buy now while you don’t have to worry about losing out to all cash offers tens of thousands of dollars above an already high listing.

[Melissa Louise]

Housing stress is really tough. No advice, but sorry you're dealing with it on spring break. I hope a decent alternative arises. 

 

[Kanin]

9 minutes ago, brehon said:

Re the bolded: I have no idea about your state/area of the state; however, my area has had a sustained housing boom for a long time, a very long time. Prices keep going up and there is no end in sight. People who can’t afford the prices are having to buy or even rent 1-2+ hours away from where they work.

All that to say, if you like your area and the house and can swing it, it may be best to bite the bullet and buy now while you don’t have to worry about losing out to all cash offers tens of thousands of dollars above an already high listing.

You might be right. Sigh. I'm going to contact some realtors to see if they could give me their best guess about what it might sell for. 

[Kanin]

21 minutes ago, sassenach said:

This whole situation is hard. I'm sorry that people above are being flippant about it. Anytime one's housing situation is suddenly threatened, that's a huge deal and SO stressful.

I guess I would start by asking if you like the house and would want to own it. If so, then I like the advice above to counteroffer. Or if that doesn't work, you still have to qualify for the loan so maybe there's room to structure the contract in such a way that you can get out of it if you don't qualify for the loan of that size?

 

Thanks. I would not mind owning the house. It's not my favorite but there aren't any options that are better and in my price range. Not sure about qualifying for the loan. I'm fairly certain we would. But good idea to check that there's an "out" if we don't.

[JustEm]

2 hours ago, Kanin said:

I disagree. They gave us a week to decide if we want to buy it or not. Previously, that had promised that they would ONLY sell it to us, and if we didn't want to buy it, we could continue renting for as long as we wanted. They said repeatedly that they were not interested in selling to anyone but us. 

They'll sell for $X or whatever the appraisal is, whichever is less. So basically we need to be okay with their higher price in case the appraisal is actually close to what they want. It feels sketchy to agree to buy something as major as a house without knowing the exact amount of money I'm agreeing to. 

But that is standard procedure. You agree on a price and if during the process the appraisal comes back lower most times the sale price is lowered, the buyer pays more, or the deal falls through

[Kanin]

2 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

But that is standard procedure. You agree on a price and if during the process the appraisal comes back lower most times the sale price is lowered, the buyer pays more, or the deal falls through

I know. I'm just completely frazzled and exhausted. Wish we had bought this two years ago before the bubble. 

[JustEm]

2 minutes ago, Kanin said:

I know. I'm just completely frazzled and exhausted. Wish we had bought this two years ago before the bubble. 

I'm sorry, that seems very stressful. Here is my advice if you are interested in buying the house but the price is too high. Try to negotiate the price down by neither of you using realtors. That way the seller isn't paying the standard 6% seller fee. It isn't a lot but it is something. 

[kristin0713]

It is actually a good thing that they offered to accept an appraisal price.  Most houses are selling with an appraisal waived--ours did.  Houses are selling in HOURS around here, well above asking price, waiving inspection and appraisal, crazy amount of money down.  I'm sorry you are in this situation.  If you like the house and you can swing it, I would go for it.  Rentals are extremely hard to come by with the eviction moratorium still going on. 

[Carol in Cal.]

44 minutes ago, Kanin said:

You might be right. Sigh. I'm going to contact some realtors to see if they could give me their best guess about what it might sell for. 

This is a good idea.

Also, you might try to see how much of a mortgage you can qualify for.  Interest rates are very low right now, so you might be pleasantly surprised!  I know a good mortgage guy if you need a referral.  LMK.

[Bambam]

When is your lease up? Can they sell now or do they need to wait till the end of your lease? 
I'd check what the possible appraisal price will be. 
I'd check to see what other houses locally you could purchase and if those would be better options. 
I'd check into other rental property to see if that would be an option or not. 
I'd check into typical realtor contracts. Usually it is 3% for the listing agent and 3% for the selling agent. Higher priced homes can often negotiate that down. But - if they sell to you, they are probably saving 6% off the top, which I would try to get them to discount their selling price to you. I
If you have been good renters, I'd try to ask for a little break since you have a good record. 
Are they willing to carry the mortgage themselves or will you have to look for a commercial loan? 
Don't forget if you buy, you will have to carry home owners insurance as well.
If you buy, I'd ask them to purchase a year of the home insurance (the stuff where if things (A/C, furnace/whatever) break, they come out and fix it free of charge. At least here pre-COVID, that was pretty standard for sellers to provide. 

Personally, the way houses here are not lasting on the market, if I had rental property, I'd be selling too. 

[Bootsie]

I don't know what property taxes are like in your area.  When landlords in my area started getting large increases in their appraised values, not only did it encourage them to sell their property (because they hoped to get more $$ than they thought they would a few months earlier), but it also meant that they saw an significant increase in their property tax bill, meaning it was more expensive for them to remain a landlord.  

[Bootsie]

1 hour ago, kristin0713 said:

It is actually a good thing that they offered to accept an appraisal price.  Most houses are selling with an appraisal waived--ours did.  Houses are selling in HOURS around here, well above asking price, waiving inspection and appraisal, crazy amount of money down.  I'm sorry you are in this situation.  If you like the house and you can swing it, I would go for it.  Rentals are extremely hard to come by with the eviction moratorium still going on. 

Are people purchasing homes for cash?  It is one thing for a purchaser to agree to purchase without an appraisal, but I do not know of any lenders who will make a mortgage loan without an appraisal.  

[bibiche]

1 minute ago, Bootsie said:

Are people purchasing homes for cash?  It is one thing for a purchaser to agree to purchase without an appraisal, but I do not know of any lenders who will make a mortgage loan without an appraisal.  

In many areas people are buying houses for cash with no contingencies, often for  hundreds of thousands over asking. At least in places I’ve lived. 

[itsheresomewhere]

1 hour ago, Dreamergal said:

If I go to Zillow right now and put my address in, I can get a estimate. I do not know if it is true or not. Perhaps you can put in your address and see if it came close to the offer quoted to you ?

 

I think this is a good thing to do. 

I am sorry you are going through this. 

Zillow had my house a couple of months ago valued at 1.1 million.  I wish. It is not anywhere even close to that. 

[kristin0713]

1 hour ago, Bootsie said:

Are people purchasing homes for cash?  It is one thing for a purchaser to agree to purchase without an appraisal, but I do not know of any lenders who will make a mortgage loan without an appraisal.  

Our buyers had 300K to put down. We had several offers the first day. 

[ktgrok]

46 minutes ago, kristin0713 said:

Our buyers had 300K to put down. We had several offers the first day. 

Where do people get that kind of cash??

[BusyMom5]

I'm sorry that your facing the decision,  but I don't think your landlords are bad people for making the decision to sell.  Being a landlord is a lot of work,  and it sounds like they have been wanting to sell for a while- it makes sense that they would take advantage of the flaming-hot market.  

[fairfarmhand]

1 hour ago, ktgrok said:

Where do people get that kind of cash??

If we were to sell, put the equity in savings and live in a condo while looking we’d have that kind of money to put down. Property values have escalated in our area and we’ve been in our home for 20 years. 

[prairiewindmomma]

1 hour ago, ktgrok said:

Where do people get that kind of cash??

People who cash out from California markets.

[Arcadia]

1 hour ago, ktgrok said:

Where do people get that kind of cash??

 

2 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

People who cash out from California markets.

Or cashing out stock options. Like 131 Google stocks or 100 Amazon stocks or 2,239 Apple stocks or 406 Tesla stocks. I think @kristin0713 is in California but I may have remembered wrongly.

[Frances]

15 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

People who cash out from California markets.

Not just CA unfortunately. Lots of people here in the PNW would also have that kind of equity. 

Edited April 18, 2021 by Frances

[klmama]

2 hours ago, ktgrok said:

Where do people get that kind of cash??

Having a great income or a lot of funds from selling another house will certainly make it easier. Even without those, it can be done by living very frugally.  Every time you finish paying off a debt (car, mortgage, student loan, etc.), you get another opportunity to save more money.  Continue to pay the monthly amount to yourself and save or invest it wisely, so you'll have it when you need to make a big purchase later.  

[Carrie12345]

7 hours ago, ktgrok said:

Where do people get that kind of cash??

What I’m hearing is that some people are pulling equity, investments, and even family loans to pay cash with the intent of refinancing afterward.

Those numbers are beyond MY means, but we have pulled some investments to be replaced by equity when we sell.

It’s a whole mess of privilege out there. As someone who’s pretty darn privileged, I found myself unable to compete for existing homes.  Now I’m worried about feeling torn when we list. Do I pick a ridiculous offer from someone who can throw money around, or do I hope to find a family looking to simply secure a roof over their heads for a fair price and saddle them with the expense of the rest of the work this place should really have done? (We’re repairing the roof!)

I don’t want to be a landlord because I don’t want my financial security tied to another family’s well being. I don’t have the stomach for that.

[kristin0713]

6 hours ago, Arcadia said:

 

Or cashing out stock options. Like 131 Google stocks or 100 Amazon stocks or 2,239 Apple stocks or 406 Tesla stocks. I think @kristin0713 is in California but I may have remembered wrongly.

I’m in NJ and moving to PA where we are seeing the same thing happening. People are leaving NY to move here, people are leaving NJ to move...anywhere else 😂  That’s why we decided to build. We’re two hours away from our destination and with nothing on the market and houses selling within hours, we didn’t have a chance.