“Life happens.” Why some home buyers and sellers forge ahead in spite of interest rates
“Life happens.” Why some home buyers and sellers forge ahead in spite of interest rates
A lot of would-be real estate buyers and sellers are staying put in their homes as they wait out high interest rates. But not everybody can do that. One reliable group of home buyers and sellers who are keeping the real estate world chugging along right now are what some in the industry call the “life happens” movers.
TV producer Keith Browning, his wife and two kids were content renting their Houston bungalow with its short commute and good schools. Then …
“We found out in in April that my wife was expecting, due in December, and we just knew that three kids and two adults in a tiny 1,300 square foot house was just not going to work for us,” Browning said.
So, in June they bought a house — higher interest rates be darned — doubling their space and monthly payments.
“So having a new child really can be a force more powerful than mortgage rates,” said Ali Wolf with real estate data firm Zonda. “There are people that say, I know I shouldn’t sell, but I have to because life happens.”
And new babies aren’t the only milestones. Tim Surratt with Greenwood King Properties in Houston said almost everyone he’s working with is moving because of some major change.
“Whether it’s a divorce or a death or moving to a retirement type place and downsizing,” Surratt said.
That kind of change has been big on the sellers side of things for Leigh Brown with One Community Real Estate in Concord, North Carolina.
“I had a closing last week of an estate sale; the parent died, the kids needed to sell the property, they didn’t want to keep it,” Brown said.
And even if you do want to keep a house, sometimes jobs happen.
Diana Galavis with Watson Realty Corporation in Jacksonville, Florida, said she’s seen many folks relocating there for work reasons, including a client whose office just went back to 100% in person.
“He was living approximately two hours from where he needs to go into the office,” Galavis said. “But now he is looking to purchase a home closer.”
She’s also seen a lot of retirees move to the city for the golf courses, warm beaches and relatively affordable cost of living.
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