The Never-Ending (?) Journey to HomeOwnership

Homeownership.  In Hawaiʻi.  On Oʻahu.  Where to begin?  Geesh!

Well, as many of you already know, it’s not exactly smooth sailing right now in terms of the current trends.  The median price for a single-family home is in the $750,000 range.  Say whaaaaa???!!!

So I guess that answers any question as to what I’ve been doing with my “extra” (if there is such a thing as “extra” time in being a mom…let alone a mom of 3 keiki) time.  As first-time homebuyers, we’re also new to this process.  In the process of trying to climb this steep learning curve, I couldn’t find anything online where someone shared their experience in buying a home in Hawaiʻi, on Oʻahu.

We haven’t puka’d thru on the other side yet, so I can’t share the silver lining just yet.  BUT, here are 5 things that I’ve come to experience and wanted to share.

1.  It really is a SELLER’s market.

I’m sure you’ve read this or heard this on the news.  But being in the trenches, I can tell you that it’s true.  We’ve submitted offers on two houses so far.  The first one that we submitted an offer on received 13 offers.  THIRTEEN!!!  Because the competition is so stiff, many people offer more than the list price and big downpayments–areas in which we are not able to compete.

In receiving so many offers, guess which offer a seller tends to accept??????????  Take a wild guess!  Double down, highest bidder takes all.

2.  This journey to Homeownership takes a lot of time and energy!

There are many reasons why this journey to homeownership is such a time suck.  For one, it is a long journey.  I would say we “started” this journey and became more serious in this journey once we got pre-qualified.  We started the pre-qualification process in November 2016!

Second, due to the complexities of the market, the inventory available, and the process of figuring out what we’re willing to “settle” for, this too takes months.  Submit an offer.  Offer is rejected.  Go back to square one in looking for another home that is purchase worthy.  Round and round we go.

Third, in hopes of achieving our goal of homeownership and (to a certain extent) ending this madness, there is the process of trying to learn how to ensure that the next offer we submit will be accepted.  I think this is really where we have been pushed to think about what we’re willing to “settle” for.  I put “settle” in quotes because, although it may be obvious, we can’t really get everything that we want in a home.  Are we willing to buy a home that will result in 4 hours of commute time to home and work everyday?  Are we willing to squeeze into a 2 bedroom?  The list goes on.

OH!  And let’s not forget the stress of this hurry up and wait game.  This is something that I did not fully prepare myself for until it happened because I didn’t know what to expect.  Due to the climate of the market, it is a sprint from once a home is listed to submitting our offer.  On more than one occasion, we have seen homes listed one day and by the next day it says that it is “in escrow.”  How the heck?!  Seriously.  Even if we’re able to keep pace with the other horses to even have a chance and we submit an offer, getting our offer accepted (as discussed above) is yet another obstacle.  But the waiting, waiting ON EDGE, once our offer is submitted is so nerve-wrecking.  I can’t sleep and can’t really focus on anything else other than waiting for that phone call to hear the great news that our offer was accepted.

3.  The inventory sucks…

I’m guessing this is pretty obvious too.  But again, in speaking from our personal experience, the inventory sucks.  There are slim pickings.

4.  Timing is KEY.

As I may have alluded to earlier, our wants in a home have evolved over time through this process.  Partly due to what’s available, partly due to what we are able to afford, we had to alter our “wants.”  Of course hindsight is 20/20, but reflecting on our journey thus far, we have seen that perhaps we should have started with “plan F” instead of “plan A.”  As a result, since we started with “plan A,” the inventory for “plan F” changed so that by the time we got to wanting to switch gears to “plan F,” the inventory was even slimmer and decreased our options even more.

5.  Remain optimistic.

With all of that said, I think it’s important to remain optimistic…or, at least that’s how I’m able to manage these rolling sets of turbulent waters.  I truly believe that we will find the right home for us all in the right time.  Even if we’ve gotten this far in our journey to rent our current apartment for a longer time frame than we had hoped, we are learning more and more along the way to hopefully be more prepared for when the timing is right and these pieces fall into place.

Anyone else going through this journey to homeownership right now?  Or perhaps you just purchased your home?  I’d love to hear about your journey!  Any words of advice?