I hate how the whole process works.

We had one seller essentially manipulate us by telling us there were multiple offers when there weren’t, told no less than three people that they had the house inspected to make sure it was in good shape then gaslight us about that and claim we were lying when we asked for the report. Then they ignored our contract terms, then refuse to make repairs or discount the house after significant work was required when we had the house inspected. Then when we canceled our contract because the option period was about to expire (after offering to extend it if they got the forms back to us before the deadline) because they refused to negotiate on the price or repairs, they asked why we backed out of the deal.

THEN THESE FUCKERS WOULDN’T SHARE THE INSPECTION REPORT WE PAID FOR WITH THE NEXT PROSPECTIVE BUYER UNTIL THEY WERE UNDER CONTRACT. Which is not how that is supposed to go.

The new buyer reached out to our agent and asked about what was up and if we would share the report to which I said of course, here is everything we went through and how these people behave, lowball the shit out of them.

It has more to do with interest rates and home prices than down payment though you aren’t wrong about that being a burden. A $200k house on a 5% down fha loan requires about $10k in down payment and another $10k mortgage costs. Then when it used to be about 3% interest rates, that would cost you about $1000/month in P&I plus insurance and taxes.

That world is gone though. A basic house in the houston metroplex now goes for $300k at 7% interest so while the down payment has only gone up $5k the rest of it has gone up ~100% meaning a basic house is now a $2000/month expense.

That is napkin math but if you do the numbers for real it is probably pretty close.

Some sellers have realized that this market is not the covid market anymore. Those that have not have seen the houses sit for 9+months. In Texas, that’s crazy to me given the hight cost of insurance and property taxes. In real terms, a 400k house costs ~$5000/ year to insure, and costs ~$7000 per year in property taxes so if it sits for 6 months, that costs you a MINIMUM of $6k even if the mortgage is paid off.

We just closed on our new (to us) place last week and while the seller was more realistic about price, they insisted we pay for everything, appraisal, survey, all closing costs which was not how it was 8 years ago when we bought our first house.

One source

Unfortunately, ground burst or partial underground bursts are significantly dirtier than air bursts. You only get partial completion of the reaction on the parts closer to the ground or underground which further irradiates the debris that is kicked up. Its all kinds of bad news.