How a Mortgage Nerd Bought a House in a Seller’s Market

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I closed on my house about eight months ago, but it feels like it was in another lifetime. Yes, the COVID-19 pandemic makes time feel bizarrely elastic, but also, the housing market has undergone dramatic changes during that time period. As a writer focused on mortgages and homeownership, it’s my job to watch this stuff, and what I've seen in 2021 has been legit bananas.
If you're struggling to find a home you can afford or trying (and failing) to get an offer accepted, I just want to say — take it easy on yourself. It's not you. This is really hard.
For those of us who aren't already rolling in dough, it may take big sacrifices to afford a home: sacrifices like taking on an extra job while living on a spartan budget, breaking a financial "rule" like borrowing from retirement funds, pooling resources to create a multifamily or multigenerational household, moving from a high-cost part of the country to a low-cost one, or any combination of the above — plus all the things I did.
Here's how I bought a house. It wasn't glamorous, and most of it wasn't fun, but these are the kinds of moves people determined to become homeowners are making in this market. And if you’re not in a position to follow suit (or just don’t want to) don’t sweat it: There’s no shame in continuing to rent and bolster your financial health in the meantime.
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