The current market has entered a new phase of interest rates. The current rate of around 7% hasn’t been seen since the crash of 2008. This creates headwinds for buyers, either first time or buyers looking to trade up to a newer house, especially if they have a mortgage at the 3% level.

Due to a career change in 2022, my wife and I were looking to purchase a home in the Orlando area. I was constantly monitoring the interest rates and the various housing market prognosticators and hoping for a dramatic downturn to aid us in our search for the house of our dreams. The downturn never materialized and prices and rates kept climbing. Our first option ended because we were outbid by someone and we refused to get suckered into a bidding war, although that’s what the common advice was at the time.

We were fortunate enough to find a house that filled some of the boxes on our checklist and purchase it without getting tangled up in a bidding war scenario. Not the house of our dreams, but it fits all of our needs and some of our wants.

How this experience helps you on your search for a house? The current market is entering a phase unseen since the crash of 2008. The rates and current high prices make it extremely difficult to qualify for most people and the current short inventory contributes to price stability. The best advice I can give to anyone in this present market is to find professionals that are willing to help you with all the options that are available, a good realtor to help find the best house to fit your needs and maybe some of your wants and a good lender to help with all the different options that are out there to assist with the home financing. This market is different than a couple of years ago, but homebuying is always a process of finding the house that you can afford and that checks the most boxes on your list. There’s one out there, it just takes patience and having a good team to help you on the way.