Agent Lady team member Brittany Loeffler writes about the reality of buying a home in Philadelphia through a series of short stories.
The Big Housing Shortage
Kevin Mason put down his phone and glanced over at his wife. Katherine sat on the recliner rereading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for her high school English students. He walked over to his wife and sat down on the arm of the chair, embracing her. Katherine looked up with her soft green eyes and gave her husband a smile.
The couple had been married for four years already and could not have been happier. Katherine, a school teacher, had met the love of her life while walking her dog in Fairmount park one unusually warm spring afternoon. It was like a scene out of a movie. Her golden lab ran ferociously towards Kevin, who sat on a bench near the river reading the newspaper and jumped onto his lap, dragging petite Katherine behind him. Ever since, the two have been inseparable and madly in love.
Katherine flipped the page, ending the current chapter and gave her husband a quick kiss. “Who was that honey?” she asked, still lost in the crazy adventures of the little orphan boy.
“It was Cherise, she called about the offer we put in last weekend.” Cherise Wynne, also known as Philadelphia’s own Agent Lady, had been working with the Masons for the last few months helping them purchase their first home.
“Did we get it?” Katherine asked, her voice filled with hope and excitement.
It had been the third offer they submitted already. The two homes before had been put under contract with buyers willing to spend more than the asking price. Now, Kevin and Katherine both held financially secure jobs that allowed them to spend a good amount of money per month on rent, but they knew their budget and they wanted to stick to it. It didn’t make sense to them to buy a house that would end up hurting them in a few years.
Kevin looked down at his bare feet dangling from the recliner and took a deep breath. “Not this time, baby.” Katherine sunk lower into the chair and put her book on the side table.
“I just don’t understand! Why are we always being outbid? Are there not enough houses for sale?” She was starting to get worked up, her breathing becoming rapid and shallow. Kevin put his arms around her and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
“We’ll just have to keep looking.”
“What if this is the universe telling us that it’s not the right time to buy a home? Maybe we have to wait a little longer.” Katherine was a firm believer in a higher power and that everything happened for a reason. Kevin, on the other hand, wasn’t as firm of a believer in this theory.
“I think it’s a great time to buy a house! We’ve been talking about starting a family and moving somewhere with some more grass. Chestnut Hill is beautiful and quiet! I’m tired to living in South Philly where people live on top of each other.” Now Kevin was starting to get worked up too. Through their frustration, the couple had an argument about whether it was time to stop looking or not. They decided to make up, sleep on it, and talk about it again in the morning.
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The aroma of dark, strong coffee filled the kitchen as bread popped out of the toaster. Katherine was reading her book again, writing down notes in her notebook and highlighting passages. It was a Saturday, which meant Kevin was going to be asleep until noon. She always thought sleeping that late was for college students and teens, but had to change her perspective after meeting Kevin. She buttered her toast, closed her book, and decided to see if anything new hit the market this morning.
Scrolling through the same houses she had seen for the last couple of weeks, she concluded that there had not been any additions made to market in the last few days. Who knew that buying a home could take so long? It wasn’t like shopping for shoes, where you try some on, push the uncomfortable and expensive pairs to the side, and buy the perfect pair at the counter. No, this was an auction where if people liked the product so much, they would bid above and beyond the value of it.
The cursor made its way to the couple’s bank statement and savings account balance. She was satisfied with the number displayed, especially after all of her hard work and personal finance abilities. However, it just wasn’t enough to put down twenty-percent on their dream house. She calculated some numbers to see the amount of their monthly payments if they had originally placed a higher bid, but the outcome made her uncomfortable. She pushed the calculator away and decided to refill her coffee mug.
As expected, Kevin finally rolled out of bed around noon and poured himself a freshly brewed cup of coffee. Katherine had already gone on her weekend run and was preparing a salad for lunch. “Well good morning,” she greeted as he wiped the sleep from his eyes.
“Good morning.”
“Are you awake enough to talk about our next moves in this home buying process?” Katherine tried to start the conversation calmly, already knowing what the outcome was going to be.
“Yeah, okay.”
The two sat on the couch with their thighs touching. “First off, I know how much you want to move and own a house. I know how badly you want to start a family and to seem like we have everything figured out, but I don’t think right now is the right time.”
“But-“ Kevin started to argue before his wife cut him off.
“No, please listen to me. This is a lot of money we are committing to spending on a house. If I’m going to spend this much money, I want it to be on a house that I absolutely love and one that I can afford. I don’t want to face the repercussions of buying a house that we can’t afford! I saw my parents lose their house in 2008 and I don’t want our future family to have to go through that too. Do you understand what I’m saying?” Katherine found that she was slightly out of breath. Being able to put her feelings and frustrations into words was extremely freeing and therapeutic.
Kevin sat quietly, soaking in the points his wife had just made. He knew she was right, because she always was. There really was no rush in them buying a house. It was more of the pressure to present themselves as put together people who were established and settled from his parents and seeing his friends do it. He knew it was a stupid reason and that they should only buy a home if it worked out for them. There is no mold that the two must fit, like in high school or college.
He realized he must have been staring off into space for too long when Katherine tapped his leg. “Do you agree with me?”
“Completely,” he said with confidence. He did agree with his wife. Knowing that she always had her head on straight and stood up for what she believed in was one of his favorite things about her. “Let’s call Cherise and let her know we want to wait a little while. We’ll start saving up some more money. Who knows, by this time next year the market may have done a one-eighty!” Katherine gave her husband a kiss and squeezed him in her arms. There was no rush for them, she realized, and they should enjoy each other and what they have now.
About Brittany: Brittany is the super organized (and awesome) office and marketing assistant that helps home buying and selling clients have the best experience possible. She also shares her creative side by writing compelling short stories about the home buying process that are loosely based on actual client situations. Expect to receive emails and phone calls from Brittany if you decide to work with the Agent Lady team to buy or sell a home!
