We bought a house! (In Covid!)
EEEEEEEE! We bought a house. Like an actual house. It has brick and siding and windows and everything. And a door. We made sure it had a door.
And we bought it during the Covid-19 pandemic. Were we crazy? Most definitely. But as we worked through the process, we saw God lead and wanted to take a step of faith into the direction of home ownership. For those who haven’t heard the “news”, or heard our story, here’s some Q + A:
Why buy a house during Covid-19?
We never planned to. Last winter we looked at our financial investments, talking about our desires and dreams for where we were currently living, and when we may see ourselves moving. We love where we live and aren’t in a rush to move––and have the opportunity to save while living in our current apartment. We thought we could stay in our current place for another 2 years or so before considering a move, either to a larger rental or buying a home.
We were pretty certain which agent we wanted to work with––a close personal friend who had some good experience in real estate. Although he was based in North Toronto so it was a bit of a commute for him to drive to our city. But we had super high trust, which in real estate is key. We previewed a few homes in February just to do some “pre-research” and get a sense for what was out there. How much do homes actually cost??? As well as see what elements were reflected in the difference in pricing etc.
As the pandemic hit our country in March and we entered the very long season of physical distancing and work from home, we looked at the economy and wondered if we should reassess our timing. Would more houses go on the market if people were forced to sell? Was it going to be a sellers market? Or a buyers market? Were the house prices going to drop at all? At the start of the pandemic the market seemed to pause quite significantly. The usual “spring rush” was put on hold.
Like the majority of buyers, we were looking close to the bottom of the market availability in terms of budget. We live close to some beautiful million dollar homes, but sadly it’s not for us. Near the middle of May as our province was entering Phase 2 of restrictions (with looser restrictions and more people going to stores etc), we started to browse the market online and check out listings. I think that’s when the rest of the province was waking up too. More homes were coming onto the market and the amount of buyers was growing too.
As we started to look at more homes we started to narrow down our preferences and dreams for the space. We needed a space for:
Family to visit
Seasonal renters
Home office
Future children (we hope!)
Hosting friends and family
Doing ministry
Ideally a backyard space for our dog
It doesn’t mean that we needed a giant home, but the set up and the space needed to work for us.
As the summer heat simmered and grew, so did the market. The “spring rush” was delayed and came into full force in June-August. Like crazy insane competition and bidding wars. It’s like everyone wanted to move this summer, buy a home, and get settled, before the feared “second Covid wave” in the fall.
We placed offers on 2 homes and lost to bidding wars, which was heartbreaking and stressful. While that is a common experience in home buying, the fever and competition was just next level. Some homes in our city were selling for $50-100K over asking price, even though they definitely were not worth that much. It seemed impossible for us to find anything in our budget and to meet our needs.
Yet, getting pre-approved on a mortgage meant that we knew we were going to get a major deal on the interest rate. We were originally approved for 2.24, but ended up closing our home at 1.74 😱 (with a 5 year fixed rate). The rates, timing, and opportunity were too good to pass up. So we kept going, trusting and waiting for God to make the right opportunity clear.
In the middle of a crazy few weeks in August, while feeling discouraged and stressed over the market boom, we saw a listing which seemed SO promising. It had been on the market for about a month (weird for the summer), and was still available. While waiting for our appointment to see the home on the Friday of that week, another offer was placed on the home on Wednesday and our hearts sunk. Yikes, maybe we had missed out. But then the offer fell through Thursday evening. When we saw the home on Friday we knew it was our top option and put in an offer that night, with no other competing offers. After a bit of negotiating with the sellers on Saturday, they accepted our offer, under asking price. Miracle? I think so.
What was buying a house like?
An exciting, stressful, discouraging, hopeful, prayerful, faith stretching, and unifying rollercoaster. Buying a home is not for the faint of heart. I personally found viewing homes, dealing with competition, and bidding wars exhausting. When our offer was approved and we moved forward with confirming the home, I was relieved––more so that we didn’t need to search anymore!
Where did we buy?
We are still living in our current city! We love it here, and hope to plant roots here for the next long while. We were able to buy a house in an area of the city with lots of new development and close to highway access for commuting etc.
When are we moving?
Spring/early summer 2021. Our current house is a rental property from the previous owners and the tenants (students from our alma mater) will be living there until spring––we cannot break their 1 year lease. We will do some minor renovations after they move out and move in shortly after that!
How do we feel now?
Well, we are landlords! That was an uncertain and scary prospect but so far God has really blessed the process. The current tenants are wonderful and interacting with them has been excellent. We are very relieved. We are currently balancing work, regular life, our dog, and now prepping and planning for the work on the house once we are able to start in spring 2021.
We are thankful for how God has blessed the process of buying a home, helping us work towards an investment that we hope will not only bless our family, but our ministry and community.
What’s next?
Life is full, and we are trying to be faithful with the day-in, day-out of living. So that means less time for me to write in this space. But are you interested in following along with the reno and moving journey? Let me know in the comments below or by sending me a DM on my instagram page @eglenys. If so, I may just share more! And fill in some time for writing on faith, ministry, and life along the way.
2020 was a hard year, sprinkled with some good moments. I’m super pumped for what 2021 has in store. God, please lead us as we surrender this next adventure to you!
A blurry polaroid of us at our “sold” sign.