I have a friend who really wants to buy a house. The one that he is looking at is a brand new build, and within walking distance to a whole bunch of amenities.
He’s been looking into purchasing one for the past several months, but he never could find the right home at the right time at the right price – a common issue when looking at home buying.
He had some funds tied up in an investment that wouldn’t be available for the remainder of the year, but unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), he found a perfect house within the last month or so. He loves the home; it is perfect for him and his family, but their money just isn’t available right now for use.
Timing is a funny thing. The house went on the market awhile ago, and it was sitting on the market for months before the offer that he put on it was submitted. The week that the offer was submitted, another person put in a lower offer. The only thing that made the people want to take the lower offer was that they could take possession sooner rather than he could, which was because his funds were tied up.
He really didn’t want to miss out on a house that he had been searching for for months, because it was perfect, so he adjusted his possession date to get the house without a real plan on how to free up his money in time.
The sellers accepted his offer, and luckily he and his family ended up taking out a bridging loan to cover his down payment so he could take the opportunity to buy the home that he wanted. He’ll pay back the bridging loan when his funds are all released in the summer.
Are you good at taking opportunities or do you let them pass you by?
Hmmm…that is a tough question. I guess, unless I’m missing something, I probably would have done it too in order to get the tax credit. However, I certainly wouldn’t have waited until the last minute. Of course, we’d also need to be clear that we weren’t paying more than necessary just for the house/condo simply to close quickly. Obviously if we are paying $20,000 more than we should to get a $10,000 credit, the math doesn’t work.
If I could use it to my advantage and see value in it, then yes I would do it. If there is no monetary gain though, then I would not.