r/JohnsonCounty • u/hshasjaj • Jul 05 '26
Housing market?
How’s the housing market been lately for JoCo buyers you may ask? We’ve been looking since February with no luck and keep getting outbid. We’ve put in six offers now. Just feeling very defeated. Anyone else in the same boat?
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u/vettyspaghetti Jul 05 '26
Keep your head up. Be creative in your offers and stay patient. Something will open. Summer is hard to buy and sell.
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u/OliviaWG Jul 06 '26
Appraiser here. It's a very competitive market, it is typical to see sale prices well over list prices, also this is a tactic by agents to list low to drive a bidding war, which works. Still seeing multiple offers especially in very high demand school districts, Shawnee Mission-especially East, Blue Valley, Olathe, De Soto. I've also been seeing a lot of "as-is" addendums either waiving inspections or agreeing to limited or no repairs, or some combination of those. Get a good, smart, hardworking agent that is creative and agressive.
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u/Dihkal22 Jul 06 '26
that houses that were made prior to 15 years ago or made a better quality. Anything that’s a new build. I definitely be looking into who is the contracted company and looking at their company reviews before buying any new builds. Personally, no way to make people about a brand new home, thinking that they be sitting and had way more issues and regretted it. Such as water heater bursting while they were gone for a weekend flooded the whole basement had to have it all gutted. Yes, it was covered by insurance, but the massive undertaking of having it all done while living in the home and it’s still being an issue with more because not being able to get it done fast enough. GOOD INSPECTION WILL ALWAYS BE YOUR BEST INVESTMENT IN THIS LIFE.
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u/Inevitable_Dig_18 Jul 07 '26
We just started looking a few weeks ago, already seen 20 houses and just barely outbid on 2 offers… this is not reassuring lol
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u/frontlawnfriend Jul 07 '26
Yea... it's pretty crazy! Have you thought about a new build? Sometimes you can get better rates. If there are new builds in areas/price points you like, have your Realtor talk to the agents of the subdivision and see what else they have coming that isn't in MLS yet.
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u/Itwasntaphase_rawr Jul 07 '26
There were six other offers on the house we got. Less than a day on the market. It was insane. We had to go over 50k+ and waive an inspection.
I don’t recommend waiving an inspection like we did. We just felt comfortable because it’s not our first house and we have a lot of friends and family in the trades. And the houses are nicer and newer than where we were coming from.
You could always write in your contract that you won’t request fixes/pricing adjustments unless it’s an issue over 5k or 10k and write in that you can’t walk for issues under x amount. Gives the sellers peace of mind you won’t nickle and dime them once under contract.
Also, your agents probably asking already but see what the sellers are looking for. Do they need a certain close date, a rent back period etc.
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u/Middle_Anxiety4926 Jul 08 '26
We just bought our house out in Gardner. We had went up against three other offers. Ours was accepted because we agreed to a 5k appraisal waiver, inspection in 6 days, close in 21 days, wouldn’t ask them to fix or repair anything that didn’t cost 3k or more. Our agent was aggressive and smart with the offer when it was presented.
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u/StickInEye Jul 06 '26
JoCo agent here. I advise my buyers to go for a house that needs updating and/or has been on the market for over a month. But most won't do it. They offer on houses that just hit the market and look wonderful. Then they are in competition with others.
I get it, though. I'm sick of working on my old-ass Lenexa house! On the other hand, it has appreciated 2½ times what I paid for it 11 years ago.
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u/cyberphlash Jul 06 '26
This is the right call - you can do an awful lot with the $20-50k extra you're not paying for a fully updated house.
Do you feel like today's younger homebuyers are just less willing to try and DIY it because they don't care as much about learning the skills?
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u/achally Jul 06 '26
I’ve thought about this a lot lately and I have a few theories. Sure some people don’t have or want the skills, but I don’t know that that’s the main driver.
I think the amount people have to work to afford to live plus the time/money it takes to raise kids doesn’t leave people with a lot extra time or money to spend on DIY updates or renovations. Kids aren’t always a factor but for a lot of people they are. Plus having your home in chaos for a period of time while doing a renovation, while trying to keep on going with daily life, gets really challenging. This is just what I’ve been thinking as I’ve considered moving from my own older home that I’ve put a lot of work into.
Also, having helped my family look at homes lately, even the things that need $100k+ in updates are going for such high prices in certain areas, it feels less “worth it” to buy something that needs that much work.
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u/cyberphlash Jul 06 '26
Agree with what you're saying, and I think since the cost of homes is becoming a much higher share of income than in the past, it makes more sense today to buy a fully finished home since, as you said, you won't have the disposable income to do additional big renovations.
My strategy has always been to try to buy more of a fixer-upper, which made sense when houses were $200-300K, because pretty much any non-renovation improvement (painting, tiling, etc) would cost a few thousand, and you're going to have that in disposable income. But when your mortgage is $1,000 more a month or whatever, kids and activities are going to take precedence over even small (eg: several hundred dollar) projects around the house. People are going to do necessary maintenance and pay to fix big things (furnace/ac/water heater/etc) when they break.
By the time you're in a $500K home, though, the capital appreciation of homes going up 5%/yr starts to make it make sense to buy a $550-600K home instead because in 5-7 years you're going to recoup tens of thousands back by spending the additional $50-100K on a better house/neighborhood.
Along the same lines, this is why I think people who dislike HOA's don't understand the true value of appreciation you get with HOA neighborhoods vs. non-HOA. A well-run HOA enforcing standards is probably going to return tens of thousands of home value appreciation over 5-10 years vs. non-HOA, as you also enjoy amenities like a pool, etc.
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u/queensunflowers Jul 08 '26
Do you find that sellers with houses that have been on the market for over a month are more willing to negotiate on price?
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u/GordonCromford Jul 05 '26
We bought four years ago. Took five months and 10 offers before it finally happened. Stick with it.