Buying a house in the crazy 2023 real estate market!

So, as I’m writing this post, I’m well aware that the housing market has probably become a whole lot worse since just a year ago. However, even last year it was pretty bad! And that’s when my husband and I were looking for a house.

Yes, buying during the beginning of the pandemic would have been amazing with those low interest rates! Unfortunately, being self-employed musicians has its downsides, and we weren’t able to prequalify until 2023.

And, once again, being self-employed musicians means our income wasn’t exactly sky-high, to say the least. Our price range was around $200k, maybe slightly higher depending on taxes and other factors. Apparently the “sweet spot” (according to our realtor) for the kind of house we wanted was more like $350k.

Starting our search

Let’s just say we had a few disappointments! There was one house we really loved that was listed at $205k. It was a foreclosure. We offered on it a bit higher than the asking price. It ended up selling for more like $260k. Agh!

We went to look at another house, too, but couldn’t offer on since it was recently fire-damaged and only cash offers were being accepted. The house was listed at $135k and ended up selling for $255k… cash!! That really showed me the true extent of how bad the housing market was!

Basically, we started to lose hope. We didn’t have the funds to offer enough over these asking prices to even stand a chance against the competition!

The start of a blessing!

Just as hopelessness was setting in, there was a house in a nearby town that we noticed on Zillow. We decided to take a look. On the day we scheduled the showing, I happened to be home alone for the weekend, as my hubby was on a trip with some friends. I also had caught a cold and didn’t really feel like going. I wasn’t that interested in the house or the area it was located in. However, I asked my husband if I should still go, and he said he thought I should. I thought to myself, “Listen to your husband.” So, I went.

As I expected, the house was not what we were looking for. But as my realtor and I spoke outside the house at the end, he happened to mention another house nearby and offered to show it to me.

Our future home!

It was a two-family house that wasn’t currently on the market! Our realtor knew someone who knew the owner. The old lady who had lived here recently passed away, and her kids needed to sell the house. I was only able to see the outside, but it looked big and it was in a nice neighborhood, too.

A few days later, we came to meet the owners and see the inside. Our realtor told us that if we offered around $230k, they’d accept. Although we weren’t originally looking for a two-family, this was a great house! Two spacious floors with two bedrooms and two porches each and a large attic with so much potential. It was also an old house, built in 1917, which was what I wanted (old houses are built so much better!). And the best part was that since the house wasn’t even on the market… we were the only ones offering! No investors to snatch up our house this time!

The lovely sellers

What was even more heart-warming was how the owners seemed so eager to sell the house to us. I think they knew how easy it was for a house like this to be snatched up by an investor and turned into a rental, and they didn’t want that fate for the house that was in their family for around half a century.

So, long story short, we offered, they accepted, and we finally had our house! We started our house-hunt in February 2023 and closed on June 30th of the same year. Not so bad for a terrible housing market, if you ask me.

And of course, when you buy a house, you also sign up for a TON of work! Check out these other posts to see our insane renovation projects!!

Tiling for the first time! Pantry floor

Have you been in the market for a house? Did you score an amazing home like we did? Write and tell me about it in the comments below!

Happy house-hunting!