{"id":20678,"date":"2020-12-30T11:55:37","date_gmt":"2020-12-30T19:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=20678"},"modified":"2024-08-11T22:38:22","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T05:38:22","slug":"buyer-i-bought-a-house-in-dallas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-i-bought-a-house-in-dallas\/","title":{"rendered":"I Bought a House in Dallas (And Netted An Extra $35K in Equity)"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Lauren and her husband found their unicorn dream home in Dallas, Texas, they knew they needed to act fast.<\/p>\n

Dallas \u2014 also known affectionately as Big D \u2014 is a hot real estate market that\u2019s only getting hotter.<\/p>\n

According to the latest real estate data, current active listings are down 29.6%<\/a> in the city, while home sales are up 20% from November 2019 to November 2020.<\/p>\n

With more homes being sold and fewer on the market, a strong seller\u2019s market is emerging. Today, buyers looking for houses for sale in Dallas<\/a> are faced with rising home prices (up 13.6%<\/a> just in the last year!), low inventory, and strong competition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re dealing with record low levels of inventory,\u201d says top Dallas real estate agent Troy Olson<\/a>, who works with 76% more single-family homes than the average area agent.<\/p>\n

According to Olson, even before the coronavirus hit, the conditions of a seller\u2019s market were already in motion in the major metropolitan area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings were humming,\u201d he shares. \u201cWe had launched a really good January and February, and then the brakes got put on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

But before the coronavirus came and changed everything, back in a more innocent time (ahem, 2019), Olson helped Lauren\u2019s family bag their dream home, and get quite a deal doing it. Here\u2019s their story.<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a>
Source: (Nate Hovee \/ ShutterStock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The unicorn property that started it all<\/h2>\n

Lauren and her husband weren\u2019t planning to buy a new house \u2014\u00a0that is, until their dream home popped up on listing sites in the summer of 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur situation is a little atypical in that we weren\u2019t necessarily looking to move,\u201d Lauren admits. \u201cI was just playing around online, and I found mine and my husband\u2019s dream home. And it\u2019s kind of a unicorn property, just very unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dallas, Texas, home was conveniently located in the city \u2014 within an attractive homeowners association (HOA<\/a>) community \u2014 yet it sat on a beautiful five-acre parcel at the end of a cul-de-sac, backing up to a creek.<\/p>\n

With four bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, 4,000 square feet of living space, a four-car garage, and light pouring in from massive windows, the home was a perfect compromise between the couples\u2019 individual needs.<\/p>\n

The property offered the community and amenities of city life that Lauren was craving, and it gave her husband the privacy and outdoor space he was looking for.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always thought to get the acreage my husband wanted, I\u2019d be out in the boonies, and this is definitely not that,\u201d Lauren laughs. \u201cI didn\u2019t have to give up anything in terms of neighborhood or having neighbors or that kind of a lifestyle where it’s more communal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two knew that with the competitive market in Dallas, they\u2019d need to jump on the home quickly, so they called in Olson, who they\u2019d worked with on their previous purchase.<\/p>\n

Timing was of the essence<\/h2>\n

The thing about unicorn properties is they don\u2019t show up often, and they don\u2019t stick around long.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in the real estate industry, but we\u2019re in the business of communication,\u201d Olsen explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody wants everything right now. Whoever gets there first, gets it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He booked a showing for the couple immediately so they didn\u2019t lose out on the opportunity.<\/p>\n

A year prior, they\u2019d gone under contract on a similar property, only to find out during the inspection that it needed a lot more work than they were up for. This time, though, the couple\u2019s luck changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe seller had just had another contract fall out, so our timing was nice in terms of, there wasn\u2019t actually a bidding war on it,\u201d Lauren says. \u201cI also think based on the uniqueness of the property, it attracted a very specific kind of clientele, because not everybody wants that much land to maintain.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this way, the property\u2019s uniqueness actually helped the couple win their dream home. The biggest challenge would be figuring out an offer strategy.<\/p>\n

\"It<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2026 And finding comparables was a challenge<\/h2>\n

\u201cTo be on five acres in the city is unheard of \u2014 it just doesn\u2019t exist,\u201d Olson reveals. \u201cBut they\u2019ve got dogs and wanted to raise a family, and didn\u2019t want to be boxed in on a normal subdivision where you\u2019re on a quarter acre and you\u2019ve got three houses surrounding you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, there\u2019s one nice thing about buying a run-of-the-mill subdivision home: As a buyer, it\u2019s relatively easy to figure out its market value through comparable sales, and then base your offer around your findings.<\/p>\n

But because this property was so unique and so outside the norm in terms of acreage, it was a challenge to find comparable homes and determine an appropriate offer amount.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where the couple really leaned on Olson\u2019s expertise. The veteran real estate agent did a lot of market research and helped them come up with a winning offer strategy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to go outside of that normal one-mile subdivision formula to try to find other things, and then make adjustments on the value,\u201d Olson recalls.<\/p>\n

Landing the offer and gaining some equity<\/h2>\n

In the end, their diligence \u2014 and Olson\u2019s market expertise \u2014\u00a0paid off.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter negotiations and counter-offers, we ended up coming in under their asking price by $10,000,\u201d Lauren shares proudly.<\/p>\n

Not only that, but their appraisal came in $25,000 over the sales price, immediately netting them more equity in the home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel like we got a great deal, because we got everything we wanted for less than it was listed for, and we ended up closing with extra equity that we didn\u2019t pay for,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Lauren credits Olson with helping the couple focus on the most important things in the negotiations, especially after the inspection.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe helped us walk through, what are the big-ticket items that will be costly for us to maintain on our own once we take ownership of the house,\u201d she explains. \u201cAnd how do we focus on just those items for negotiations, to be more strategic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"There<\/a>
Source: (Leon Seibert \/ Unsplash)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A 30-day closing<\/h2>\n

The couple\u2019s closing went off without a hitch, and they were able to close in an impressive 30 days. Considering they were buying and selling simultaneously, the feat was especially monumental.<\/p>\n

But, Olson cautions, you can\u2019t expect turnaround times like that anymore when buying a home in Dallas. That\u2019s because the coronavirus pandemic and rock-bottom mortgage rates have created a massive surge in home lending.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so many people refinancing, there\u2019s a shortage of appraisers,\u201d Olson says. \u201cAnd underwriters are backed up to the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re planning to buy a home in Dallas anytime soon, he adds: \u201cGive lenders an extra week right now to operate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The best of all worlds<\/h2>\n

Lauren and her husband are thrilled with their new home. It\u2019s the perfect spot for their family to grow into, and they feel even better that Olson helped them get such a great deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny buyer goes into a home, and you start thinking with your heart,\u201d Lauren shares.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou try to picture your family meals together, and raising your kids, and your dogs playing in the backyard and all the little things.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But real estate is an investment, and it\u2019s part of an agent\u2019s job to remind you to think with your head, too. Olson helped the couple think about the property as a long-term investment, not just a home.<\/p>\n

Lauren feels she and her family made a sound move for both their heads and their hearts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe right property, the right timing. Everything came together,\u201d she gushes.<\/p>\n

Header Image Source: (Tavarius \/ ShutterStock)<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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