I believe I have sold my house. I will know for sure when the buyer deposits the main portion of her earnest money with my agent tomorrow or Tuesday. The agreed price (5% over asking) means that my house will have appreciated at 7.9% annually since I bought it—about double the general inflation rate. That's, frankly, insane.
Of course, every other property in the area has also appreciated significantly, and there aren't that many of them for sale right now. I looked at a lovely place in a great location yesterday that had about 80% of what I wanted. By the time my agent and I had discussed it and were ready to make an offer, the property had gotten 5 other offers, the highest of which was 10% over asking. The average time on the market in my ZIP Code is 6 days, which includes the time it takes to write an offer and have it accepted.
Even rentals have dried up. I looked at a place Friday afternoon at a rent that I wouldn't have paid for a place twice its size ten years ago. I've had to expand my range to about 3x my initial search area, even adding Evanston to the mix. I've lived in Evanston for many years, so I know it would work fine for a while: it's well-integrated with Chicago transit, many of my favorite places are there, and it would only extend the travel time to my downtown office by about 10 minutes. But since I last lived in Evanston back in 2008, the city has closed its dog beach and no longer allows dogs on outdoor patios at bars or restaurants. That may not sound like a big deal, except longtime readers will know how much Cassie and I enjoy sitting outside in my neighborhood having a beer. (Well, I enjoy the beer, she enjoys all the people patting her.)
The clock is ticking. Closing on my current house will be May 13th, 45 days from today. And right now, I have absolutely no idea where I will wake up on May 14th.
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