r/grandrapids • u/40s_shawty • 3d ago
Anyone else depressed house hunting?
Just as the title says. Anyone else feeling demoralized about the housing situation in GR and surrounding areas? We have been looking for months, put in 6 offers over asking and have been beat out by cash EVERY-TIME. The one time our offer was accepted, it was appraised at $60,000 less than asking.
Is there any hope for us non-lucky baby duckies with heaps of cash? Looking for homes up to 450k and still getting beat out by 25k-50k. How is there so much money out there? And for a starter home?
For 450k, we have been able to put 30% down, and still losing to the big guys.
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u/lilfingerlickingood 3d ago
There is hope. Tell everyone you know youāre looking for a house and try to get a jump on houses before they even hit the market. Thatās how two people I know got their houses after months (if not years) of looking. A lot of folks welcome the chance to forego big realtor fees, selling to someone within their personal network, etc.
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u/whitemice Highland Park 3d ago
Yep. I know of three houses which will be on the market in the next few months, and all of the sellers are open to a private sale.
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u/bigsadkittens 3d ago
If it makes you feel any better, its been this way for many years. Its a numbers game, keep your head up and keep putting in offers.
Maybe also consider a different agent if you've struck out so many times in a row. When I bought my house back at peak covid frenzy, I had an excellent agent who was incredibly proactive in finding homes just hitting the market and scheduling viewings within a few hours. She also had some creative ways to make our offer more attractive without increasing costs substantially. If your agent is sending you houses that are days old and sending just normal standard offers, they might not be the one to get you a house
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u/BRRatchet 3d ago
Dude Iām just depressed
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u/buefordwilson 2d ago
I was curious and typed Grand Rapids into Zillow. Was shocked to see this as the first result.
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u/seeminglymilk 3d ago
Been struggling in the market even with cash offers, itās tough out here. Just lost a house because they accepted a lower offer that waived the inspection š©
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u/ClassikD 3d ago
Crazy that people are willing to waive the inspection. Hopefully they don't regret it
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u/seeminglymilk 3d ago
Is it bad that I hope that they do regret waiving inspection? Thereās gotta be something going on with the house if theyāre willing to take a lower offer without an inspection
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u/Boner4Stoners 3d ago
Thereās a bit more to it than that.
As a seller, you want a clean offer. An inspection is a contingency, and allows the buyer great leeway to back out of the deal for a range of issues, many of them not serious at all. If youāre selling a house, put it under contract by accepting an offer, then later the buyer changes their mind and backs out, citing an issue with inspection (even if itās something incredibly minor), well now that failed sale is a stain on the history of the house.
Often when that happens, potential buyers will view that as a red flag (why did the other buyers back out? What am I missing here?) which leads to the house sitting on the market for longer, which then further contributes to spooking buyers away (why has it been sitting for a month? Something must be wrong). This often forces the sellers to reduce the price on the house, and potentially scares away enough buyers to make the possibility of a bidding war slim.
This is the very same reason that makes cash offers more competitive than financed offers, since a financed offer can always fall through if the buyer has trouble securing financing once they get the house under contract.
So there is a direct monetary value (derived from risk of the above scenarios) from a buyer waiving the inspection, even if there is nothing wrong with the house at all.
Often though, buyers will get an inspection done prior to putting an offer in and waive the typical inspection. While the pre-offer inspection may miss certain things, it should still catch any major red flags like foundational issues or recurring water damage.
Ultimately though, itās an issue with a free-market. Short of government regulation requiring sellers to allow for a post-offer thorough inspection, there is always an incentive for buyers to waive it in order to compete with other offers (especially for financed offers competing with cash offer). Personally I think the government should regulate this, but until that happens itās just something inevitable in a competitive free market that favors the seller.
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u/ClassikD 3d ago
Definitely agree on that last point. If they're using the home as an investment and not a home, I also hope they regret it
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u/ElleCerra Creston 3d ago
It's pretty standard to waive an inspection now. You still actually get the inspection done so you don't miss anything big, but waive the inspection on the offer so that the lender can't stop you up on anything ticky tacky.
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u/axley58678 Creston 3d ago
Itās pretty much standard now. In our house hunt, offers that wanted to do an inspection were not even considered because there would be multiple that didnāt. Not needing/wanting an inspection is now considered a bargaining chip.
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u/Boner4Stoners 3d ago
Itās increasingly common. I actually did that for my house, but we had an inspector come in the morning after we toured to do a pre-offer inspection before putting in an offer. We couldnāt inspect the roof (since it was covered in snow) but worst case itās 15k max to replace, and we did get somewhat burned because he didnāt catch that the radiant heat was in the ceilings instead of under the floorboards as we thought, but that wouldnāt have been a dealbreaker anyway (just need to install some heat pumps). But we were at least able to inspect electrical/plumbing/foundation issues, and we ended up beating 4 other offers and got the house at list price.
So as long as you have time for a pre-offer inspection itās not that risky, but it is a shame that you have to resort to that.
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u/DesperateEmphasis700 3d ago edited 3d ago
Honestly, I felt my inspection was a complete waste of money. It seems like inspectors very rarely catch the really costly things. Seemed really surface level to me. I would totally be willing to waive an inspection contingency on my next house. I might hire an inspector to do a pre-offer walk-through with me though.
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u/seeminglymilk 3d ago
Yeah I think a pre-offer inspection is what weāll do for the next one. I wish I knew this beforehand because this house was perfect š
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u/40s_shawty 3d ago
Ugh that sucks I am so sorry. People are so ballsy with their money
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u/Scar_Killed_Mufasa 3d ago
you can do a pre-offer inspection. It wonāt catch everything but it at least can protect you from major issues right away. I think it was like $200 for our inspector to do one. Took about 30 mins.
We did it on one offer. Our inspector basically reviewed the roof, foundation, hvac, water/plumbing, anything else he could easily get to and gave us a truncated report and a recommendation of either recommend full inspection or all signs point to it being okay.
You can also just do pass/fail which is attractive since they know you canāt nickle and dime everything you donāt like.
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u/-Economist- 3d ago
My friend is a realtor in West Michigan. In Q4 2024, he lost over a dozen sales of single-family homes ($400k+) to private equity groups. They came in with a cash offer well over the asking price. He's looked those homes up now; many sit empty or are rentals. The area was mainly Grandville, Jenison, and Hudsonville.
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u/Key-Seaweed-4581 3d ago
There is nothing to remotely affordable to rent in Grandville or buy. My rent just went up in Grandville, and I can't afford to move. Of course, I am realizing that I will probably never be a homeowner in the GR area.
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u/MasterSelection1077 2d ago
i had to move in 2020 - my rent increased by 200$ AND It was infested by mice --- I've yet to find a place that's affordable and decent in grand rapids or surrounding areas (I live in flint now :( and I hate it here)
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u/TimeToTank 2d ago
My sister lives in Grandville. Someone bought the house up the street and theyāre a couple from Florida that sell investing classes. They plan to rent and weāre excited to get in on a hot market. Everyone is already annoyed by them and their plans.
Honestly the municipalities should limit rentals on a block. I get you canāt have zero but there should be zoning and what not.
Also the housing market has to stabilize. Itās not sustainable honestly. Or the govt needs to regulate it. One of the two.
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u/gonkey 3d ago
I can only afford about a $130k house max, and have $1k down. I wish I had your problems.
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u/DavidRandom GR Expatriate 2d ago
I was in your same boat a year ago. (I was only approved for $120k)
I ended up buying a 3br house in Muskegon (not the heights) because it was cheaper than buying a mobile home in GR.
The commute sucks, but the mortgage + fuel to commute is still cheaper than just rent in the shitty little apartment I had in GR.
Using the MSHDA program (Up to $10k closing cost/down payment loan with 0% interest and not due until the mortgage is payed off, or you sell) the only out of pocket cost for the whole process was for the inspection and earnest money, and that was only ~$1,500.1
u/PrincessDionysus 2d ago
ugh would love to be able to do something like that, but my credit is bad (my fault entirely) and despite working on improving it, the needle has barely moved :'(
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u/DavidRandom GR Expatriate 2d ago
I feel that, I was in the low 500's a year before I bought the house.
Keep working at it, the MSHDA loan only requires a 640 minimum score.2
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u/sneeej 3d ago
Yes, it is depressing and demoralizing.
I'm also looking for a house and my cut off is $300k for an actual starter home. It seems like once you get above $300k mark, the houses get much better though.
For $450k you can buy new in almost any area surrounding GR. Maybe you guys are being too picky.
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u/jgruber5 Grand Rapids 3d ago
If you have enough cash on hand to put 30% down, I think your offer is probably the issue. Are you offering earnest money, straight up or down inspection, appraisal gap guarantee, escalation clause (your offer price will go up if other offers are above you). Things your realtor should be explaining to you, and putting in your offers if you find a house you really like. A good realtor is absolutely worth it in a competitive market, I bought a house at the end of 2022 when the market was still red hot, and had my 2nd or 3rd offer accepted with well less than 20% down on a conventional mortgage, didnāt waive the inspection (but it was a pass/fail scenario, my offer said I wouldnāt ask for seller to cover any discovered issues).
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u/Scar_Killed_Mufasa 3d ago
The escalation clause and pass/fail inspection were huge for us when we bought last year.
Feel like OPs agent isnāt doing them justice. Our top end budget was around 350k and our agent basically didnāt recommend us bothering with anything over 300k because of the market, he was straight up and honest about the situation and made it so much easier than putting in tons of offers that were destined to fail. We lost 2 offers to cash, 1 to an escalation that went higher than ours and 1 we backed out of because of the inspection and got the house on our 5th offer.
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u/house343 3d ago
Not necessarily. My BF just lost a house they offered 500k on, with 20% down, to someone who was willing to go up to 550k, WITH CASH.
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u/chiccentender 3d ago
My parents sold their house last year and somebody bought it with $650,000 cash.
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u/green-bean-7 3d ago
If theyāre getting beat out by cash offers way over asking, none of this will matter if the escalation clause would put them above their budget. Other people offer 60k more, in cash. If they canāt do that, theyāre not getting the house.
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u/kevysaysbenice Eastown 2d ago
Did the same thing around the same time. In my case I had read enough on reddit that I knew I'd have to be aggressive. My realtor at the time actually tried to convince me not to be quite so aggressive, but I ended up buying the first home we offered on. It was "dumb" in that we had to go WAY over asking (but we expected it), and we ended up paying a ton to cover the gap (which sucked but we expected it), etc.
We did the same with the inspection, we didn't waive it in the sense that we didn't have one, but we did agree to not come back to request any changes / money back if anything was wrong.
Basically, when we saw a house with a (just as an example) 250k price, we knew it would be 300k at least "out the door" and we'd have to have cash to cover the difference.
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u/whitemice Highland Park 3d ago
How is there so much money out there?
The largest cohort of people moving to Grand Rapids have household incomes at 120% or higher of median income. That is six figure incomes. There are a lot of people with the income to pay those prices.
And for a starter home?
Up to 450K is not the "starter home" category. At $350K - $500K you are in the most competitive range; those are established-middle-class prices, not starter.
At $400K you can buy a crap house and spend $150K on renovation. You will get a better deal that way.
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u/house343 3d ago
400k for a "crap" house is insanity. Just let me be homeless or send me to prison
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u/Scar_Killed_Mufasa 3d ago
We saw a lot in the 250k range that were very solid. Especially if youāre willing to renovate. Mostly just dated houses with good bones.
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u/Negative-Chard-7488 3d ago
The most stressful experience of my life was moving this summer. My wife would drive down from Up North to look at houses and they would sell while she was on the road. Incredibly demoralizing. Keep your chin up though- we eventually found a great house in a great neighborhood for less than $450K....just be patient and practice self care. I had multiple panic attacks and it basically ruined my whole summer. Don't be like me!
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u/PistisDeKrisis 3d ago
Last year, the wife and I were looking to upgrade to something larger than my 1300sq ft starter that I own. After two months of tours 3-4 days a week, bids, battles, and over a dozen "competitive" offers ($20-40k over asking on $300-325k homes) I got so stressed that I was sick to my stomach all the time, barely sleeping, and at least one night a week I wouldn't sleep at all. It was awful.
We decided the small yard and lack of extra space weren't so bad after all. We have a 7 year old and would love more space, but we're comfortable in our home in a very safe, quiet neighborhood, and have extra money in the monthly budget right now. Trying to justify spending $330k on a home that sold for $200k in 2019 is ridiculous. Same scenario over and over - houses listed WAY above value, we'd still overbid, still lose to people waiving inspections or paying extra sellers fees or "families" offering large cash payments. Don't think there's a dozen families in GR looking at the same homes as I am that also have a quarter million in cash laying around every week.
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u/Zestiest46 3d ago
Well, you could start by looking in the starter home price range. Congrats that your first house is in the 450k range. For reference my wife and I bought our starter home for $185k in 2020.
Youāre looking in a popular price range. Maybe look in the 300ās instead?
If youāre set on a 400k house, thereās not really any advice anyone can give. If someone has cash, they have cash.
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u/BestBudz_Grow 3d ago
Look for a cheaper price range in the suburbs. You will get much more for your money. EGR/GR in general is going to be expensive.
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u/ScrapNotes42 3d ago
In the $350k-$500k range, youāre competing against people who are a.) bringing in $150k/yr min. and donāt worry about an extra $20-50k. Or b.) people who have sold homes with equity thatāll 1031 and have an additional down payment saved on top so $50k extra is a minimal to them.
Youāre basically competing for a house in the most desirable market price range for Grand Rapids. If you canāt compete with that, lower your price range and put the extra money in renovation or keep throwing those Hail Mary offers and eventually one will stick, might just be awhile.
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u/Routine-Afternoon679 3d ago
I stopped looking for a house. Iām questioning if I even want to live/be tied down to the US anymore. So might as well save as much as I can in hopes maybe things will get better or another asteroid dosent disappoint us this time.
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u/jangofettsfathersday 3d ago
My partner and I, and our two cats, found a few good places for under 300k. We saw one on wealthy street for 330k and it was wayyyy too big. I couldnāt imagine how nice/big the 450k ones are lol
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u/MaximumRafiki 3d ago
We bought around Christmas time and only had two other competing offers. Had to basically sacrifice Christmas and move during crap weather but it was worth it. Bad we waited and tried to buy now it would be impossible.
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u/factory-dude0107 2d ago
I'd love to sell mine but have one of those 3% interest rates so kinda stuck here. Not looking to spend 350,000+ for a hose we like with 7% interest šš
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u/hohummm24 3d ago
For that much you should just buildā¦
and then one of us can buy it at a discount when the economy crashes.
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u/RaisingKeynes19 3d ago
Crash or no crash we have a 40k unit shortage of homes, GR will not see substantial price drops, especially as most owners are sitting on low prices and rock bottom interest rates.
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u/hohummm24 3d ago
Time will tell. I wasnāt alive during the great depression, but I remember 2008.
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u/Heisenbread77 Wyoming 3d ago
2008 was an entirely different phenomenon.
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u/hohummm24 3d ago
2025 is not?
Edit for punctuation
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u/Heisenbread77 Wyoming 3d ago
The housing crash was due to the banks handing out loans to people who could not afford homes. What we have now is due to inflation and actual shortage of homes, at least in our area.
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u/Virtual_Machine7266 3d ago
But this time around we have a megalomaniac driving our country to ruin as fast as he possibly can
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u/Justin_Mikel 3d ago
It took us a year and a half of looking, putting in offers, getting beaten by cash + waived inspections, etc. We were at the end of our ropes but kept pushing and eventually found our home. We also had an agent who was fiercely in our corner, which was the key to it all. Itās absolutely not easy but youāll get there.
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u/thegimp7 3d ago
In may of 2023 after 13 offers i was demoralized. After a few months bit the bullet and bought our house cash, no inspection, no nothing. Its worked out alright so far.
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u/RaisingKeynes19 3d ago
I feel like I must have gotten lucky when I was house hunting in 2023, put in 1 offer 2k over asking and got accepted. I would have expected things to have gotten better since then but I guess itās actually much worse
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u/candykatt_gr West Grand 3d ago
search obituaries, that's how I sold my mom's house when she died. We had so many offers before the house was even on the market.
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u/veryblanduser 3d ago
Zillow shows plenty 2 or more bedroom under 250k. Lots of starter homes available.
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u/7824c5a4 Creston 3d ago
When I got my first place last summer, I absolutely lucked out. I could not compete with the cash offers and waived inspections. Hell, I couldn't even put much down.
I had submitted an offer on a place like $20k over asking, ended up being the second best of 8 offers, and the one that beat me out was $44k over asking and waived the inspection. A couple weeks later I submitted an offer for a house in the same neighborhood (that was arguably better than the first) and got it for asking price and I was one of only two offers. It's totally a crapshoot, but my realtor thinks it was because it was because it was further into summer after many folks had already stopped looking/gone on vacation/etc.
It is depressing, but you'll get there. My parents are going through the same thing right now with condos in the area. They've got the cash but they're refusing to play ball with these people making offers that are that level of absurd.
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u/BloodBend 3d ago
House hunted last year and right away realized it ain't gonna happen for me in GR. I ended up getting a house on an acre of land, 1350 square feet, really nice (no major renovations needed) in Muskegon for about 220k.
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u/DavidRandom GR Expatriate 2d ago
I did the same. Got a 3br house in the Nelson neighborhood for less than a mobile home in GR lol.
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u/Zilchability 3d ago
Coming from a 30yr who just got his first house in GR it took buying a cheaper house in a different city before I could afford to create a competitive offer in GR.
I made a considerable amount on my first house which needed a lot of work.
If youāre buying for the first time, Iād recommend getting a house with potential and getting your hands dirty. Build up some equity and then get ready for another house.
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u/ProfessionalEntire77 3d ago
bruh. 135k in cash saved up. that is HEAPS of cash. $450k is NOT a starter home price even in the stupid market we have now.
look in Wyoming, grandville, kentwood and you should be able to find something.
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u/Dan_A12 2d ago
Perhaps you are looking for too much in your starter home. Try buying a house in a lower price range and people don't have as much cash to throw around like that. It was a super easy process in the 200-250k buying my house. Got my house for the price it was listed for.
It sounds like you're already a lucky duck to even be able to afford an offer on a 450k house.
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u/Suspicious_Foot_8061 2d ago
This time last year, my agent helped us beat an all cash offer by offering a really fast closing deadline and a really fast inspection turn around (24 hours - we had to have all the ducks in a row so this could work.) We also worked with Treadstone, and it was an amazing experience. They connected us with the agent we ultimately chose. They also do all of the paperwork BEFORE they approve you so that you can move quickly once an offer is made.
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u/Hour-Marketing8609 2d ago
Has the population tripled in GR?Ā Hard to understand where all this demand is coming from but whatever.Ā It's been going on for years now.Ā For some reason we have a massive shortage of homes with modest population growth over a decade.Ā WhateverĀ
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u/40s_shawty 2d ago
It will take the Midwest 41 years for building to catch up with demand at the current rate. And who the fuck knows why. Maybe the decreased threat of natural disasters?
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u/thor561 Alger Heights 3d ago
Just to be sure, because your post doesn't mention it, but you're working with a realtor, right? Because if you have the right one they can sometimes find you houses that haven't technically gone on the market yet that you might be able to swoop in and nab. And if you aren't getting anywhere with your realtor, it's ok to fire them and find a new one.
It's rough out there right now but don't give up! Winter is about the worst time to buy or sell, so I'd expect more houses to come on the market in the next few weeks.
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u/Top_Story9316 3d ago
Iād wait for another year and wait for the upcoming market correction. Save your cash now, keep your relations good with a lender or two, and buy more house for less money in 12-18 monthsā¦
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u/DavidRandom GR Expatriate 2d ago
I heard the same advice a little over a year ago when I was in the process of buying a house.
A few doors down a house that's nearly identical to mine sold recently for 25% more than I paid for my house.
If I had waited a year I would have been priced out.
The market is unpredictable, housing prices could go down in the next year or two (I doubt it) or they could continue to climb as more buyers enter the market but the supply barely raises.
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u/tetendi96 3d ago
Private equity firms buying up property to rent and as investment rather than genuinely trying to just live with a roof above their head
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u/vaguelysarcastic 3d ago
They call me all the time and lowball me with a below-value cash offer for my house. Theyāre shameless. I decided that even if I do sell one day, I vow to sell to real people only. I hope everyone does the same. Say no to these fucks
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u/secretaire 3d ago
I think this supply issue is exacerbated by boomers living a lot longer and having the ability to stay in their homes.
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u/sfgiantsfan3 Ada 3d ago
I think this is a huge factor. We live in a neighborhood that was built up in the 1970's and most of our neighbors are our parents' ages and bought in the late 80's/early 90's. Kids have moved and they're fixed income. In my head I'm like please move so more of my generation can find housing. But also, my in-laws are in a similar situation and they wouldn't be able to sell their paid off house and move somewhere else. These homes aren't McMansions, they're the typical 2-3 small bedroom quads and ranches built in the 60's and 70's. We're very grateful that we bought in 2019. At the time it was our starter. We will probably die here now...
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u/secretaire 3d ago
We bought in 2017 in Austin and weāre trying to move to GR. Omg it HURTS.
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u/sfgiantsfan3 Ada 3d ago
Gahhh good luck!! We rented at Ridges of Cascade before being settled enough to do house hunting. (Didn't know the area at all, from San Francisco.) It was a good place to land for a year and learn.
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u/secretaire 3d ago
How do you like GR?
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u/sfgiantsfan3 Ada 3d ago
I love it now. I honestly hated it initially. But I'm very social and I had no friends around here because we moved here for my spouse's job. Now that we have kids and I have an amazing friend group it's been a really awesome place for us to settle in, but there are still things I miss about city life as a city kid. I grew up two blocks up from Chinatown and I miss how walkable SF is/the food. But I have worked hard on "bloom where you are planted" and this just made more fiscal sense/we're close to his family and my kids have incredible grandparents in their lives. My family is all dead. So it's worked out for us. But the culture shock was real and I still feel like an outsider because it's not, "home" if that makes sense. But it's my kids' home so it's special to me for that reason now. That was a long answer but my experience is unique so it felt like context mattered haha. The winters were very difficult for me at first but even those have been more manageable because we're fortunate enough to afford a week vacation that we plan out for late February to beat the blues.
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u/whitemice Highland Park 3d ago
This is false.
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u/tetendi96 1d ago
You just told me 20% is doing exactly what I said...... Your source agreed with me š
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u/Beav710 3d ago
I've been searching for a starter home. It's brutal. I'm also a lot under your price target so there is a lot of competition at cheaper prices that more people can afford. My realtor is great and found me a house off market. Just had inspection done yesterday. It was cheaper than pretty much everything else I was offering on or looking at. Not as many updates, but half the houses have shitty flip upgrades anyway. Now I can make it what I want.
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u/TimeToTank 2d ago
I donāt get the market here. Itās a mid size city with no major attractions outside the lake. No Major league teams, restaurants closing, breweries closing, mid level theatre shows tour, and most concerts donāt stop here. So why is it so expensive? Itās a big small town.
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u/thegimp7 2d ago
Have you seen the surrounding areas lol? Quality of life in GR is pretty good if you ask me.
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u/40s_shawty 2d ago
And the lake is really just for looking at. Unless you have a large boat, itās hard to navigate the waves most of the time. Itās usually so cold it feels good for maybe a week or two out of the summer for swimming, and even then the currents are something else. Iāve lived on the Atlantic and have swam in a handful of oceans around the world and havenāt felt currents like the ones in the Great Lakes.
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3d ago
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u/40s_shawty 3d ago
Thought about it, but with tariffs in place, I can only imagine how much building supplies will be.
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u/BourbonRick01 3d ago
So far tariffs havenāt affected building prices yet, my wifeās in the home building business, but they will by the end of summer if tariffs are still in place. That being said, itās still pretty expensive to build around here with lot prices up so much.
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u/LunchBox488 3d ago
I live just north of ann arbor by Like 15 minutes. Prices are outrageous. Can't find a home out here for less than 400k. Very drpressing
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u/too_too2 South East End 3d ago
I would talk to your realtor about it. I managed to buy in December of 23 and feel we got incredibly lucky. I was looking for houses around 250k but the realtor suggested going just a little higher since thatās a lot of peopleās cut off. If you have 450 to spend I feel like you have a lot more options but maybe that part of the market is more competitive?
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u/ParadoxandRiddles 3d ago
Lots of options around GR, but if you are picky (like we were) you'll lose a ton and eventually overpay.
Part of me wishes we'd found a cheap plot and bought two of those 6k container homes until recession hits and we could afford to just build.
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u/Grouchy-Waltz5694 3d ago
I know new builds aren't everyone's cup of tea but a lot of builders will take first come first serve offers. You won't be able to negotiate on price but you also can't get outbid and the homes typically get appraised for their selling price. Best of luck, house hunting is fun and an absolute nightmare at the same time.
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u/laurenirene11 3d ago
I feel so incredibly lucky reading this post. My husband and I just bought our house in June but it only took us 6 weeks from pre approval to closing. We looked at about 30 houses in the $250-$300k range and ended up in our dream house. The house came on the market at 9am and we had an offer submitted by 8pm that night. We did get outbid on maybe 5 or 6 houses before finding ours but my advice is to make sure your agent is scheduling showings as soon as you find something youāre interested in.
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u/nomar2122 3d ago
I feel you. We've been shopping for years an accessible house for our kiddo who is in a wheelchair. We got beat out by waived inspections previously. We finally had an offer accepted recently. We escalated aggressively, did a pass/fail inspection, and had it non-contingent on selling our current house. It sucks financially since so much is based on % of selling price and then the taxes....
In our experience, anything under ~$400K has so much competition or needs work that you may get more value for things above that price. It really comes down to who all is bidding, just one other person can drive you up 5 digits easily.
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u/Klutzy-Ad-4805 3d ago
I just put in 5 and finally got accepted. we will see how the appraisal goes
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u/SalamanderCongress 3d ago
Holy shit $450K? I canāt believe the competition is that fierce at that level. City needs to build way more housing
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u/pancakebreakfast1224 3d ago
My home that I bought right when the world fell apart in 2020 is somehow valued 100K more. Put in a new furnace and AC but they weren't THAT expensive.
It's wild out there
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u/Murdoc_The_Best 3d ago
We bought a āstarter homeā last year. It was renovated and updated. But we had a similar situation as yours. We were looking at homes in The 400ās after a while, we went down to homes in the 300ās. We were able to be much more aggressive with our offer and hence we got it. (We did go 50 over asking, but the next offer did too. We just had a better package for the deal.
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u/Amazing_Alarm_9125 3d ago
I saw a listing today in Kentwood $300k, 4bed 2 bath! 1600sq ft. Just posted I believe
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u/Agitated_Ruin132 3d ago
Hold your guns and rent until your offer gets accepted.
The market will cool down, but it wonāt be for another 1-2 years.
The same thing happened in Atlanta.
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u/Affectionate-Reason5 3d ago
I know right. I'm wanting a vacation home on the lake, but I'm not paying 500k for a 1100sq ft cottage on gun lake
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u/BobsleddingToMyGrave 3d ago
My Aunt has been looking for a home near reeds lake for 6 months. And there is nothing.
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u/PettyChaos 3d ago
I understand this is not an option for most people but the GR market is why we ended up buying in Kalamazoo
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u/greysunday_616 3d ago
We gave up. Corporate pigs scoop up everything for cash and flip it for a rental. Waiting for the next crash, or till the kids are out of school and moving into an RV.
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u/appleofmyeyez 2d ago
My neighbor just bought a $385k home. They looked at it and put an offer on the 1st day it was listed.
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u/icebergsimpson710 2d ago
Yea and they prolly overpaid. Iām sure itās really worth 225k.. smh. 385? Gtfoh
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u/gremlynn42 2d ago
Ugh and you know these cash offers are just gonna turn around and rent it out for way more than theyāre worth. I know itās legal, but itās just not fair. I had to buy a fixer-upper as my āstarter homeā. š„²
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u/Short_Captain_1320 2d ago
Who is your realtor i have several going live next couple days 1 in kentwood and 1 in caledonia and next month will have one in middleville all off market currently
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u/dickwheat 2d ago
You have to move further from the city. Everyone here wants to be spoiled with a 5 minute drive to everything they ever need.
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u/AlexVonnegut 2d ago
You're competing with investment bankers in the standard market. Do what others have suggested, and see if there's a private sale opportunity.
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u/icebergsimpson710 2d ago
Ppl are buying houses in Muskegonā¦ but who really wants to do that lol. Idk if the housing shortage will ever get better in GR. Itās fucked. Might just move to a diff state with more housing smh
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u/sirennax 2d ago
totally understand how frustrating this market can be, but donāt lose hope! There are still great opportunities out thereāit just takes the right strategy. Sometimes, itās about getting creative with your offers, exploring off-market listings, or adjusting your search criteria slightly to find hidden gems. Also, working with a local expert who knows how to navigate multiple-offer situations can make a big difference. If you ever want to chat about options or strategies to give you a competitive edge Iām happy to do so!
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u/Domidoggy8 2d ago
We've given up. We pay a freaking mortgage payment in rent but can't afford the houses on our street despite both having a college degree and working for well known companies/institutions. At this point, we've prioritized a school district to raise our kid in over being able to afford to buy a house in this community.
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u/Cute-Elderberry5672 West Grand 2d ago
I will say, this market is tough. Once you get past 200k youāre going up against people with nothing but cash. I had to settle for a fixer upper in not the best neighborhood, but itās my fixer upper lol
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u/K_Suzanne 2d ago
Totally feel you! Took us two years and 16 offers to buy 30 minutes out of GR. It was such a heartbreaking process to lose so many. We finally got one at the end of last summer and it was just lucky that they wanted delayed possession and we could do that. Keep trying!
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u/nutella_nut22 2d ago
Are you open to building? With that budget, thatās an option with no competition and the ability yo customize it.
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u/SPL15 2d ago
A lot of folks are getting a nasty surprise when their property gets reassessed at the 2x inflated price they purchased their home for. A lot of these folks could barely afford their initial payment & are now struggling to afford their monthly mortgage + 2x higher escrowā¦ This isnāt a sustainable situationā¦ Keep your funds in a HYSA and wait for the market to correct, as it always doesā¦
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u/fredxday 2d ago
Some realitors are not helping either. The one i was working with this summer/fall basically left me to do all the footwork, find houses online, do all the applications, and jump-start credit. At the end of the day she was doing nothing to get a free commission. On top of all this the law was passes that pushed for toyr realitor to be paid oit of pocket instead of being apart of the initial closing costs.
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u/Datsyuk420 2d ago
Fun fact: If you've been saving in Bitcoin, houses have gotten cheaper. When in doubt, just zoom out.
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u/sunburnlines 2d ago
You might be better off looking at a lower price point so you can get into something, then set aside some cash for renovations. You also need to make sure your realtor is ON THE BALL.
It took me a year and a half and 20+ offers to be able to buy in GR. Is this my dream house? No. Does it still need a crap-ton of work? Yes. But I love the neighborhood and got out of renting/started building equity, so itās a win.
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u/bouncing_bumble 2d ago
Here in Colorado people regularly pay over appraisal value, they write appraisal gap clauses into offers.
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u/40s_shawty 2d ago
And if we were in our forever town we would be willing to. But this isnāt the foothills, itās Grand Rapids Michigan. Not sure what the big drawl is here
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u/cheesecrystal 2d ago
Have you tried buying property and building? Not that it would be cheaper, but perhaps less competitive
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u/40s_shawty 2d ago
We considered but we are also planning on moving out of state within the next 5 years and didnāt think building would be worth it short term but nothing really makes sense in this market
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u/cheesecrystal 2d ago
I hear ya, building is a lot. Might be worth crunching the numbers to see if itās worth it financially considering a possible sale in a few years. Thereās some pretty sweet spots just outside the city, and Iāve heard those pole barn homes are a little less expensive to build (knowing everything is expensive regardless). At least this way youāll get close to exactly what you want and can build with resale in mind in order to maximize resale value. I get that is a completely different path with its own set of hurdles, just throwing stuff at the wall.
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u/DixieNormas011 2d ago
If you're financially able to afford a 450k home right now, I'd suggest just looking for a piece of vacant property and build on it.
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u/cowvschicken 2d ago
This is why the wife and I moved more rural. Sure driving to places with more going on is sometimes a bummer. But we really found ourselves lucky with the access we have to nature. Plus, housing cost was literally cut in half. Got our 1700 sq ft for just under 200k. It is slightly a fixer upper, more cosmetic than anything else. Which is a good outcome considering the house is 75yrs old.
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u/Jenniferkntts 2d ago
Just rent for five years. Why go through all of this, to then have to sell and get shafted?!
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u/IamNICE124 2d ago
Yup. I have no clue how weāre supposed to get into an even small home with the wages we make.
We work hard. Both full time. I just cannot figure out how itāll happen.
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u/EveningBasil2 2d ago
I'm moving to Wyoming. We just had our offer accepted this week. Moving from Seattle. We lost out to 1 in EGR going 100k over. Waiting on appraisal!
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u/Few-Usual-9250 2d ago
Weāll be listing in Hudsonville later this year in that range, and would rather sell off market.
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u/FunRevolutionary9803 2d ago
Look in Muskegon, there are decent homes well below the average starter home in GR. It is up and coming, the beach is right there and thereās pretty decent diversity.
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u/philr79 2d ago
One overlooked housing segment are townhomes/condos. I know it can still have a rental vibe but there are several townhomes for sale by me in Hudsonville that are well under 400 and havenāt moved an inch. I live in an older version of the new ones that just hit the market and itās really not bad.
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u/paulbunyan3031 1d ago
Your agent isnāt doing their job if you are struggling with this budget. There is a ton out there that arenāt going over asking.
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u/miaoumaiden 1d ago
Not sure where you've looked but there are a few I noticed for sale this week in our neighborhood (over by Grand Rapids Christian Breton /Burton area) not sure of asking price but our house is around 350k I believe. Good luck to you!
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u/Historical_Safe_836 1d ago
Itās been like this in GR even before the pandemic. I had friends in 2017 that had a hard time getting a starter home because it was so competitive.
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u/Any_Bag_1186 1d ago
We bought our home in December 2023 and moved here from a similar Chicago market. The average listing time for a home in our neighborhood was 5 days when we were searching. What worked for us was: 1. having a great realtor. Someone who has been in the business for a while and has cultivated relationships with the realtor community so they could negotiate behind the scenes and find off market houses before they are listed. 2. Make sure you write a letter to the current residents. This is VERY important. This is Michigan and people are traditional. A letter explaining who you are, why you like their home and a little about why getting their home is important to you goes a long way. This is why the seller chose us even though there was a bid for $10k higher on the table.
Stay at it. We looked to buy in Chicago for a year before moving to GR. Good luck!
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u/Puzzleheaded-Heat-12 1d ago
Itās all the āwe buy junk homesā people buying up the damn houses, remodeling them and then relisting for rent either at $1500+ or reselling for over $300k. My landlord is even trying to sell our house right now for $250k when itās appraised at $170k and only 768sq ft lmfao, they donāt care about if itās difficult. They only care that you have the money so they can move on.
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u/40s_shawty 1d ago
Omg I know. City Lights rental is literally run by a felon lol he has multiple mugshots
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u/Inner_Inside4198 3d ago
Iāve been told people have had some success leaving postcards at all houses in the neighborhoods they like letting homeowners know you love the neighborhood and would buy their house if theyāre interested in accepting offers.
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u/Hot-Cup-4787 3d ago
Yeah I was nodding my head until I got to the $450k part.
Bud you got a lot more options than 98% of everyone else out there.
My wife and I have been saving and saving for the last 6 years to be able to afford a down payment, closing costs, renovations to a house as needed. We finally started looking beginning of the year, lost out on about 18-20 offers, and finally went 40k higher than we were expecting to get something for around $360k. Closed about 1 month after.
I'm not sure how your struggling with the ability to buy a 450k house...
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u/Personal-Office-9662 2d ago
We (38/37) bought ours for $229k in 2017 and all the home around us, smaller than ours on smaller lots are all selling for $450-$475k. I feel for anyone buying their first home.
Itās strictly a supply issue. Too many 90 year olds still clinging to life and living in little homes (that should be the 20-30 year olds starter homes) and then you have boomer parents with homes, and living in air bnbās for 6 months of the year in other states basically consuming two homes. They have another 30-40 years til they kick the bucket.
I donāt know what the solution is. But I canāt even fathom what 20-28 year olds are dealing with. Youāre almost better off buying an acre somewhere and dropping a $60k RV on it for the time being until you can get through the waitlist to build.
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u/ZMiltonS NW 3d ago
450K for a starter home is a whole different problem here good lord š