In this candid dialogue, a homebuyer (Speaker A) and their real‑estate agent (Speaker B) recount the entire home‑buying journey near Traverse City, from the initial decision in May‑June to closing in July. They discuss the lengthy, stress‑filled timeline and the need for extreme patience. The buyer explains how they determined affordability, grappling with lender expectations that mortgage payments could consume 60% of take‑home income and deciding how much of their settlement to allocate as a down‑payment while preserving a nest‑egg. The conversation details the property‑search process, including viewing 10‑15 homes, using an automated notification system that sent instant alerts for listings matching criteria, and conducting drive‑by previews to quickly eliminate unsuitable homes. Multiple negotiation episodes are described: an initial low offer on a $389k home that was rejected, subsequent counter‑offers, and finally a full‑price offer of $350k on a better‑located, updated property that was accepted. Emotional ups and downs are highlighted, especially the children’s reactions to homes and the buyer’s anxiety while waiting for offer responses. Post‑contract concerns such as utilities, storage, and the seller’s use of the property are explored. The buyer reflects on the current Traverse City market—prices have risen dramatically, making sub‑$300k homes scarce, and they compare their target range ($250k‑$600k) to past affordability. Finally, the agent comments on the evolving role of real‑estate professionals, emphasizing data‑driven tools, negotiation expertise, timeline management, and problem‑solving as key value adds for buyers.
Chapters
Everything takes time. That is the— this is, yeah, like buying a home is an exercise in extreme patience. Like, you just— it's humbling. And even if it doesn't feel stressful, it's stressful. Like, it's just stressful. The whole— yeah, whatever it is, if it's excitement to, you know, it's the ups and downs.
So just want to talk about the buying process. We just finished closing. Gosh, when did we start?
I think the beginning of June.
Okay, I think in earnest. You'd kind of been thinking about it longer than that, right? Yeah, it sort of felt like—
was it May? I think it might have been May.
I think so.
Kids were still in school.
Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah, yeah, that's right, they were. And it felt like to me like you were thinking, thinking, given, given your circumstance, which I don't know that we need to go into a whole lot of detail on that. But you, you had been communicating with me about making it happen, but it seemed like it wasn't until we really just— hey, let's just start looking at houses. Yeah, right.
Until you said, oh, it's okay to go, like, yeah, you felt— bother you.
Yeah, right, right. I think— yeah, that's, uh, uh, yeah. So that's kind of a thing that I take the opportunity to cover. It's, it's, um, interesting that buyers sometimes feel bad about, um, I mean, the reason why you use an agent is to help you with the process, and then people feel bad about—
well, I think it felt bad because it was above my— the first house was above my, uh, okay, yeah, ability.
Ability, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
By in the end it was for sure, so it felt that way.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, yep, I remember that.
Let's go.
Right, because you got to start, right? You got to start somewhere. And it was also a way for us to get a much better feel. I mean, you can get a feel from looking at pictures, but you really can't get the best feel without going and looking.
Oh yeah, because we went to one house and I was like, wow, get me— no, thank you, get me out of here. Right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we looked at probably between 10 and 15, probably.
Yeah. Okay.
Yeah, yeah. And then there was one house in particular that we ended up moving off of, right, that we had made two offers on, I think, right?
Right.
Let's talk about like deciding our price range too, by the way. So we started our process by— or you started it by going to a lender, right, and kind of getting an idea. Talk a little bit about that.
What was interesting because it was a pretty wide range at first. And I was— when we started looking at how much I would have to put down, you know, because I would need to have— or what I could even pay per month. I mean, you know, it's— they were going to give me a lot more than what I could, I felt, reasonably afford because I didn't want— you know, I don't want to be totally—
or what you wanted to afford. Right, right.
Well, I mean, I think going back in his— like, in history, it was a little closer to a, uh, 30% to 40%, right, of your take-home, your mortgage payment. And now that was— it was going to be closer to 60%, um, to afford the homes.
60% of your take-home per month was going to go toward your mortgage was what they— what they were That's how far they were willing to go.
Yeah, it just depended on my down payment.
Yeah.
Which was a little unsure when we first started what I was gonna have.
Yeah.
And then I decided I didn't really want to put everything in under the, you know, just throwing, taking my settlement to and then moving it right into a house.
Wanted your settlement, meaning from the other, from the other property that, um, that you're working with a partner to kind of separate and then take your settlement from property, using that as a down payment, right, on this new house.
Yeah, I wanted to maybe keep a little nest egg that I, you know, to make improvements or, or get through the next few years deciding what, you know, where, if this is going to work out.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, okay, because I haven't had to have like a mortgage payment, really a substantial one for 15 years. So it's sort of a bit of a, you know, change. Not had before, but yeah, it's been a while.
Yeah, yeah. So the buying process can be, you know, just visiting with another realtor friend yesterday, and she was talking about how she had worked with one buyer's, one set of buyers, and the emotions were just really— that one was an example, it was a little over the top, but, uh But it is— it can be kind of an emotional roller coaster. I mean, I know you're showing your two kids the homes. They can get excited and then disappointed if it doesn't work. What, what kind of thing did you experience through this process as it relates to any emotional ups and downs as we were trying to make it happen for you?
Right. Well, the one house that we first put an offer on that was lower, they— I didn't really want to put it up. Well, no, I did put an offer before showing the kids, I think. And I only showed the kid— we only showed the kids 2 houses. I drove by a couple when I knew they were ready to kind of, you know, think about the possibilities of, of having, um, 2 homes. So yeah, the ups and downs, like, it's just nerve— like, it's nerve-wracking to, you know, put in an offer and wait. The 2 to 3 days, you know, depending on the time. I normally— it was within, you know, 48 hours. But that one house, I thought they really just got so excited about. And, and then when the offer came back, um, I just felt like that house wasn't worth what they wanted. Um, and so while I could have probably off, you know, offered what they were— they came back with I just, I couldn't, I didn't want to overspend. And then this house, though, the one came on really fast. You know, your, that collaboration station or whatever, what is the center that you set me up on? I think that's a great tool because then I'm getting emails and I was able to see it. I wasn't relying on you to see homes. I was seeing them first. So that was great. I loved that. Yeah, I still would like to be getting them. That's right.
Shoot, shoot, I gotta put you back on. Yeah, I loved it.
I was like, I want to see what, what sells and stuff.
But anyway, so, so that, that's the system where you're just getting automatic notifications of any property that met your criteria. The instant it hits the market, you were getting a notification.
Yeah, and it was great because once we started seeing properties and narrowing in my price range, or what I really got to— after seeing several, I got an understanding of the what was out there in general, um, got a price range that I was feeling comfortable with. And then that one house came on, and we— I went, and I could go instead see the homes. I started doing that. I started driving to see where they were, their neighborhood, so I could eliminate a lot of homes just by doing that.
You did sort of a drive-by preview.
Yeah, before I bothered you.
Yeah, yeah. So you could do it guilt-free, right?
Yeah, I could do it.
Yeah, yeah.
And that's— then we got in to see that house and yeah, it was a good—
yeah, yeah. So if I recall, the first one that we made offers on, that was started at like $389,000.
389.9, and then they went through a price reduction, 374.9, and that's when we made our first offer, or 325, because that was when I could do it through a Rural Development 0% down loan because I didn't have a settlement at that point finalized. Yeah, so I was like, well, throw it out there.
Um, yeah, so they came down from 389 to 374. They rejected outright, and then we offered $325,000. They rejected it outright. Now, no counter.
Yeah, no.
Okay, then it sat, sat on the market. I remember this now. They came down to $374,000. We offered $350,000, and they countered at $372,000, something like that. Yeah, and then we were like, you know, that we kept looking. And then, so I think this is why I want to mention this, because I think this is a lesson for sellers out there as well as buyers, is that then a little bit later we— that you get this automatic notification. It was right at $350,000. It was actually more updated than the one that we'd been making offers on. A little smaller, not as much square footage, 400 square feet less. Yeah, 1,814, but, but better updates, better yard, better neighborhood really, uh, too. I mean, uh, better location because it wasn't right near a main thoroughfare, uh, whereas the other one was. And we just made a full price offer and got that under contract at $350,000. And then it was like the next day where that agent came to me and said, I think my client might be willing to come down. And I was like, you know, yeah, but too late. And, uh, and that's the thing is people's circumstances, things change, right?
Well, I don't know, have you checked to see if that one is—
it is still on? Yeah, yeah.
I think, and I— they came down further to like 364, I think. And then, yeah, it's still— so it's sitting. So we've been through this process for since the beginning of July. Yeah, what if I put that one, that offer in?
So I know that right now we have a frustrating thing, and it is something that I struggle with a little bit as a realtor, because when You know, we'd been looking, looking, looking. We'd made some offers, got rejected. You were excited about this house. We want to put the best offer in so that it gets accepted. And so we offered full price. We offered to give— she was really asking for time after close, so we gave her 30 days after close and at no charge. And now that we have the property, I mean, you just, you just bought it. We just finished closing. But now waiting, like, waiting. Yeah, right. It doesn't feel like it. It does make it sort of anticlimactic. And, and it feels— it doesn't feel great. But the thing I always try to think about is, well, maybe if we had an offer that you wouldn't have been able to get the house, you know, you just don't know.
Well, right. And I think that we're coming off of a different type of market, that the last 4 years have been so different that things are starting to change, at least in my price range, you know, where, where it's homes are actually sitting a little bit.
Yeah.
Um, and then in that neighborhood there's 2 more that popped up, which I thought is really interesting.
Yeah.
Um, hoping for kids.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Um, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's a bummer, but it is what it is. I knew I had a— I assumed it was gonna happen. I just— since she's the seller, wasn't— had kind of moved most of her things out and is working seemingly— I don't have all the answers— but down, downstate and not living up here, it feels like it's being more used for like storage, which then I would come back and be like, can I buy you a storage unit? Like, can I pay for a storage down there if you're not gonna live? If you don't— it would feel better if she was living there, right?
Right.
And if she's not living there and wants to use— I mean, even if she wants to use the garage as storage while I painted and things like that, I mean, I would Yeah, you know, although that would seem probably a little weird to do that. But right now I'm happy. I was— I wasn't sure if I had to pay utilities, which as we know, she— yeah, you don't enjoy it very cold.
Yeah, right.
I'm hoping when she's not living there, it's still not set at, you know, 55 degrees or whatever it was.
Yeah, it was, it was, it was— yeah, the air conditioning was working, that's for sure. Yeah, yeah.
So Yeah, yeah, it would be— feel a little bit better to have the, the keys, but, um, yeah, is what it is.
Yeah, yeah. So I mean, that's one thing that I struggle with, and I try to really communicate that up front, that, you know, hey, you're probably gonna— once you get it, you know, it's amazing, people's mindset changes after it's under contract, you know.
I was not excited about it before though, when we— because I talked, I was like, wait a second, don't we normally— yeah, you know, but I think again, back in the day, everyone was offering the last 4 years, they just— whatever, just— yeah, you get exactly what you want.
And even though the market changes, and I think you're 100% right, the market has changed, but that doesn't mean the attitudes of the people in the market has changed quite yet.
And we didn't know, so if one— if the same exact offer had come in But they— one was charging for 30 days and one wasn't. I mean, um, just a blind offer. Yeah, that's what they're gonna go for.
Yeah.
Was it likely? Probably not, but you can't go back. Yeah, but yeah, it just, you know, and it— maybe if my living circumstances were a little different, I would— maybe it would be just fine. Yeah, like it wouldn't be that big of a deal.
It's just hard to wait to now those extra— yeah.
Cohab.
And I know, had you gotten the disbursement from the sale of the use for your down payment, if that had gotten earlier, then we could have— we could have been doing this earlier.
Yeah.
So yeah, take time.
Everything takes time. That is the—
this is—
yeah, like buying a home is an exercise in extreme patience. Like, you just— it's humbling.
It's—
yeah. And even if it doesn't feel stressful, it's stressful. Like, it's just stressful. Yeah, whatever it is, if it's excitement, you know, it's the ups and downs.
When you showed the kids the two properties, I mean, I was reading your body language and I could tell that the anticipation of how they would respond.
Yeah. And it was stressful for you, I think, you know, so attached to the one that they saw first, right? They get attached. Yeah, I was, I I was totally shocked. Um, yeah, and it's funny because everyone's like, oh, do you love it? Do you love the house? I'm like, it's gonna be like a nice home for the family that I can fix up and do some other things. But it's, you know, like, yeah, no, I mean, I— my price range that I would be really super excited about would be probably $500,000 or $600,000 for a house.
But yeah, well, and that's kind of your personality. You just break it down for people, but you know, a lot of people would just manufacture, you know, right? Whereas you, you just say, well, you know, for $350, for what I paid for it, yeah, I like it, you know.
Yeah, I mean, what it's— what, what the market is.
Yeah, not like, uh, like, not like I just won The Price Is Right or something, right?
First looked at That was pretty— well, though, not— there was that one in Lake Anne that was closer to Lake Anne that was like above my, uh, you know, probably above what I wanted to pay because I could have gotten a loan on that depending on what the, um, what I had for a down payment. But, um, that one, I, you know, had the, the decking on the back, which this has kind of like that, and then It was bigger, bigger yard. But again, all things happen for a reason. You got to pay for that home to get heated. You've got to— right, there's all that, like, right, you know.
So, and you have a nice big backyard on this one. The kids are thrilled. Soccer. Yeah, a lot of soccer can be played on one half.
I don't know what we'll do with the other half, but in the front I can garden.
So, and we know your next-door neighbor is a winemaker. We met him on a showing and That's, uh, I know, yeah, that was great. That's an extra plus. Yeah, yeah, you're gonna, you're gonna hit it off.
Yeah, I know, and I like their wine, so that's good. Yeah, yeah, yeah, right?
Yep, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I was surprised in that neighborhood that there are as many homes that one identical, but I think I'm pretty happy with where because it's closer to the road and a smaller yard, and then another one on the other by the road. So there are— seems like, I don't know, I— since I haven't been getting notifications, I haven't been able to see. Not— I'm not—
so, so for the viewer, so for the viewer, typically most people, once they get a whole house under contract, they want to stop those notifications. And so I just kind of automatically did that and then forgot to put you— you had asked to be put back on, and then I just I just lost track of it. But do you still really want to continue? Okay, so I'll make a note to get you back on so you can see, see those notifications. So yeah, I mean, it's a good way to get— yeah, it's a good way to get a good feel for the market too. The more you look, the more you watch it, you know. Yeah. And that's really been like a Zillow, Realtor.com effect, the modern day. I mean, you know, the role of a real estate agent has really changed a lot, or at least the emphasis of a real estate agent. I mean, it used to be agents were the holders of the information, right? We're not anymore. I mean, a lot of times, you know, I mean, especially in a, in a certain geographical area— I mean, I'm covering a pretty large area, but somebody that lives in a particular neighborhood, they have access and they have more time. They're, they're focusing on their little neighborhood, and they'll know more about the neighborhood that maybe than I do. I mean, I have to go in and research it because I'm— my attention is spread over a larger geographical area, you know. Whereas, you know, a lot of, uh, you know, negotiation skills obviously are important for the agent to have, much more experience than the normal home buyer or seller with negotiation. Supporting people through the anticipating problems, the emotional ups and downs, controlling timelines, you know, it's, it's a Helping keep track of the timelines and the contract and the contingencies. You know, a lot of it is just— it really just comes down to good old-fashioned problem solving. There's always something, problem that can come up, and that's one thing that I've noticed where at least I feel like I try to make a difference. I don't know, it didn't really come up in our deal as much, um, other than let's see what I can do with getting you in there earlier than 30 days.
Cheerleader, right?
Like, well-intentioned, but yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not in the— yeah, well, when I tried, yeah, it wasn't— it was too early for me to say that, which was, you know, really what— once you get to about Christmas time, that, that weight will be a distant memory. Oh, you know, but it would be better if we could get you in right now, you know, just to paint.
I just want to paint.
Yeah, yeah. So we'll see what we can do there. Anything else about the I'm looking at like frequently asked questions here to ask anything else that, that you think someone looking for a home in the Traverse City area, you know, especially in this, in this price range— I mean, a $350,000 price range was— that was hard, hard to find after this crazy market, right?
I mean, well, I mean, and I'm still in my mind, I'm still at $250,000. Yeah, because I'm like amazed that these, you know, the last home that I had was bigger. I mean, not the one last 15 years, but before in Holiday Hills. So I, I still have that price range because that's when I was looking. And even if it had grown, you know, it's, it's shocking to me, the, the market and what, like, people are having to pay for homes in. Like, my price range seems so low, except that that would have been You know, what seems like 15 years ago would have been like double the size or whatever the quality of the, the house that I had before. So I mean, it's a little— being back in this market, I didn't think— but I didn't think I was going to be able to afford a house. But there's not much under $300,000 like anywhere.
Yeah.
I mean, I had— I didn't see any coming up.
And you wanted to be located—
yeah, so narrow.
Yeah, you wanted— because of the kids and where they're going to school I mean, yeah, had we pushed out, you know, toward Manton or toward Kalkaska or whatever, we could have. But you wanted to be between Glenlake School and Central High School, right? Just over the county line. That's an expensive— yeah, that is an expensive part of real estate.
But had it been even on the other side into Leelanau County, I noticed it would have been more. So like that area is a really great location and I'm excited to be in Lake Ann. So yeah, our price range, it seemed like a lot of homes were popping in that price range and I don't know what it's after, right?
We went, we looked for, gosh, I'd say a month before they started popping in that price range, right? And I think that's an important thing, it's in terms of persistence, like, and just coming up with the plan and sticking with the plan and just working it, you know, that, um, I think it could have been easy for you to get discouraged, right, in that first month, or set myself up for financial— right, or— or—
right, as I was—
become a slave to your mortgage, you know, homes that were—
sure, it would be nice to have, you know, something that— I mean, I think this house is a great house. It's actually probably going to be perfect for me over the course of the next 6 to 8 years, um, because of the neighborhood and the size. And it's— yeah, so once my kids are out of school, maybe then I will be looking elsewhere. But, um, yeah, just having a little bit of patience and not panicking. Yeah, not panic purchasing or um, getting discouraged.
