Every few years the housing market rewrites the rules, and buyers who learned the last set of rules show up unprepared for the new ones. Right now, the rules have changed more than they have at any point in a generation. The buyers who understand that are finding deals. The ones who do not are making expensive mistakes.
The arithmetic here is brutal and worth understanding clearly. A buyer who financed a $400,000 home at three percent in 2021 pays roughly $1,686 per month on principal and interest. That same loan at a seven percent rate costs $2,661. The difference between those two payments explains why so many potential sellers are sitting tight. Volume collapsed. Prices mostly did not.
Kaylene is a name you might hear from a lot of agents right now, because the buyers getting deals done tend to know exactly what they want and why. That is not a personality trait. It is a preparation habit.
Before you look at a single listing, get your mortgage pre-approval completed and in hand. Not a rough estimate. Not a verbal confirmation from a loan officer you met once. A full pre-approval based on verified income, tax returns, bank statements, and a hard credit pull. Any agent worth working with will tell you the same thing: no pre-approval, no offer.
If the report surfaces problems that go well beyond normal wear and tear, you have three options, not one, and walking away is a legitimate one of them. You can request a credit against the purchase price to handle repairs yourself. What you should not do is panic and waive your right to negotiate.
A seller with a specific need will sometimes take less money from a buyer who gives them what they actually want. A longer closing window, a shorter inspection period, a larger earnest money deposit, or willingness to do a rent-back period can all tip a deal in your favor without you spending an extra dollar on the purchase price.
Real estate is illiquid. Transaction costs, agent commissions, and closing fees mean you typically need three to five years just to break even on a purchase. None of that means do not buy. It means be honest about your time horizon before you commit.
Buyers who take the time to prepare before they start looking tend to find that there are still good properties available at realistic prices. A quick look at up-to-date property listings will tell you more about your local market than most of what you read in national coverage.
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