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Comment by pbuzbee | Hacker News Reader

Any advice for someone looking for their first home?

Based on this article and others I've read, it seems like many of these factors (low interest rates, limited new supply, etc.) are likely to continue for at least the next several years. The only change that could help a first-time buyer would be if the end of the pandemic leads to favorable conditions (reset preferences, end of eviction moratorium, etc.). I feel like I could wait another 3-5 years for it to flip towards a buyer's market, but that's certainly not guaranteed and who knows how high prices will have gone in the meantime.

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I just bought and sold a house in a very hot market. The things that people are doing right now to stand out in my market were,

- Get pre-approved.

- Write a personalized letter why they should get the home.

- Offer above list price and be willing to pay above appraisal (part of your offer).

- Put your offer in right away. Most people who viewed my home put in an offer within a few hours of seeing it.

- Forgo an inspection to get a faster close date.

- Pay cash if you can.

- Buy new construction, we bought new construction and didn't have to compete with anyone. It costs a little more up front, similar to a new car I imagine, but we plan on staying >10 years if we can help it.

As long as you are financially secure I wouldn't wait for a better market. IMO it doesn't matter if the market is high or low, it only really matters if you leave the market.

> Write a personalized letter why they should get the home.

In CA realtors are trying to push back on this. They claim fair housing law risk.

I don’t see any risk though if you’re the first offer.

Right now you're almost certainly not the first offer, and even if you are, they'll have 5+ more by the end of the day. This means that your letter could theoretically be the deciding factor in which offer they pick, which does have the potential to run against fair housing laws.

Yes, my realtor asked me to write a letter pre-COVID when housing was less of a seller's market, and we refused. We're a gay couple and didn't want that biasing our seller.

> we bought new construction and didn't have to compete with anyone

In my market this isn't the case. Some builders are having literal blind auctions on small lot starter homes - after the X months wait list gets you there.

> I feel like I could wait another 3-5 years

> who knows how high prices will have gone in the meantime.

Devil's advocate but the average person might also have 3-5 years more of savings + cost of living salary raises by then

Agreed. Timing the housing market is like trying to time the stock market.

If you can afford a home, want to buy one, and it’s in a location you want to be in, it makes sense to buy.

If the area you’re looking at has land supply (I.e, empty lots and not all built up) I would wait - there is a new house supply crunch caused by inflated materials cost caused by drops in production during covid.

Those at least should level out at some point and supply in those areas increase.

All bets are off in built up metro areas. Be sure you won’t have regrets if you end up having to stay there 10+ years.

The best time to buy is ten years ago. The second best time to buy is now. (to paraphrase a proverb)

You really can't predict. low interest rates are awesome.

location. find some other place. where the community has what you need, and what you like. As with many other things such as fads, sometimes all you have to do, is look across the street. It's also mud if a long term thing. So think about what a community could look like in the future. If it is run down, but people are renovating, that's a good sign for the future.

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