From the Editor: Searching for Home

I recently spent a weekend touching up paint, shuttling furniture to a storage unit, power washing my patio and readying my house for sale. 

When it will hit the market is anyone’s guess, but I’m determined to be fully prepared when and if we ever find a new house to move to. 

My husband and I have been searching for a home for more than six months, executing a long-standing plan to return to a more city-centric lifestyle once our youngest son departs the nest this fall. What we had not counted on was a hypercompetitive real estate market, with historic low inventory, rapidly increasing prices and unprecedented demand. 

Each morning, I eagerly await the automated email from our agent that contains the newest listings. If there is a house that fits our parameters, we immediately schedule a showing, for just 30 minutes. We absorb as much information about the house as possible in that short time, and if we are interested, we can try to return for a second viewing. Most homes offer showings for about three days before contracts are due. Blink, and you can potentially miss out on your dream home. Or someone may decide to make an offer on it sight unseen, way over asking price, and the house is gone — it’s happened more than once. 

We recently saw a promising listing but were heading out of town. We were able to squeeze in a showing before we left and decided within those 30 minutes that we were interested. We talked to our loan officer, and stayed up until 1 a.m. gathering the necessary documents rather than packing. During a layover, we conducted a 30-minute “walk-and-talk inspection” from the Miami airport via a FaceTime call with our agent, who accompanied an inspector as he checked out the major systems and made sure the house did not look as if it was in danger of collapsing. Early the next morning, we conveyed the terms of our contract via email, text and an international phone call, submitted a strong offer before the 5 p.m. Friday deadline, then waited. 

The next afternoon, we learned that we had been outbid. 

The search continues. 

Our annual Real Estate Guide explores the challenges of the housing market, which, despite rising interest rates, shows no signs of cooling. We also present our annual Referred Realtors list of professionals who have been recommended by readers and their peers. Our real estate team has been invaluable during our search — I can’t imagine trying to navigate this process without them.