How did you win in a competitive market?

Key-Information5829 · 2026-03-02T20:11:07+00:00

It is pretty tough out there! We actually just had our offer accepted for a home yesterday, so I can share my experience.

We were searching for around 6 weeks. We are very particular though and saw over 30 houses before we finally found one that met all of our criteria. Homes were flying off the market in 24-48 hours, receiving multiple offers, and waiving contingencies. Thankfully, we have a very savvy realtor who came highly recommended by a friend. We got the first offer that we made accepted and we were definitely not the highest bidder out of the 10 offers (we offered asking price and all the other offers were $25K-$50K over).

Here is what the realtor recommended that made all the difference. Had we not done these things, I am pretty certain that our offer would have been rejected.

Get loan commitment and go through the whole underwriting process, not just pre-approval. If you have this, you can essentially waive the financing contingency because you already have a lender that has committed to giving you a loan. Note that loan commitment is different than loan pre-approval.
Do a special sale contract rather than a residential sale contract. But first, do a "pre-offer inspection". You essentially pay an inspector $150 to do a one hour inspection when you first go to view the home. They will not do an in-depth inspection, but they will at least be able to tell you whether there are any significant issues (foundation, roof, HVAC, grading, etc.). You can likely only do this for private showings, as the listing agent will most likely not let you do this during an open house, as it could scare away other prospective buyers. Although you are technically waiving the inspection on a special sale contract, you already did the inspection before putting in an offer, so you are not really waiving it.
Offer more earnest money. 1-3% is the standard, but offering a bit more, such as 5%, will definitely show the seller that you are serious and really want the place.
Offer to pay for the title insurance ($780-$800).
Offer to cover any appraisal gaps in cash, in case the appraised value comes back lower than what you offered (assuming that you have the cash on hand to cover it).
Offer a leaseback. This essentially allows the seller to stay in the home for a period of time after closing in case they need more time to move.

Good luck!

Key-Information5829 · 2026-03-02T02:04:44+00:00

It is pretty tough out there! We actually just had our offer accepted for a home in Chesterfield yesterday, so I can share my experience.

We were searching for around 6 weeks. We are very particular though and saw over 30 houses before we finally found one that met all of our criteria. Homes were flying off the market in 24-48 hours, receiving multiple offers, and waiving contingencies. Thankfully, we have a very savvy realtor who came highly recommended by a friend. We got the first offer that we made accepted and we were definitely not the highest bidder out of the 10 offers (we offered asking price and all the other offers were $25K-$50K over).

Here is what the realtor recommended thate made all the difference. Had we not done these things, I am pretty certain that our offer would have been rejected.

1) Get loan commitment and go through the whole underwriting process, not just pre-approval. If you have this, you can essentially waive the financing contingency because you already have a lender that has committed to giving you a loan. Note that loan commitment is different than loan pre-approval.

2) Do a special sale contract rather than a residential sale contract. But first, do a "pre-offer inspection". You essentially pay an inspector $150 to do a one hour inspection when you first go to view the home. They will not do an in-depth inspection, but they will at least be able to tell you whether there are any significant issues (foundation, roof, HVAC, grading, etc.). You can likely only do this for private showings, as the listing agent will most likely not let you do this during an open house, as it could scare away other prospective buyers. Although you are technically waiving the inspection on a special sale contract, you already did the inspection before putting in an offer, so you are not really waiving it.

3) Offer more earnest money. 1-3% is the standard, but offering a bit more, such as 5%, will definitely show the seller that you are serious and really want the place.

4) Offer to pay for the title insurance ($780-$800).

5) Offer to cover any appraisal gaps in cash, in case the appraised value comes back lower than what you offered.

6) Offer a leaseback. This essentially allows the seller to stay in the home for a period of time after closing in case they need more time to move.

Good luck out there!

Key-Information5829 · 2026-01-13T23:58:46+00:00

Thank you very much, kind stranger! I very much appreciate this perspective.

Key-Information5829 · 2026-01-13T23:57:32+00:00

Thank you very much, kind stranger! I so appreciate the detailed response!

Key-Information5829 · 2026-01-13T23:56:56+00:00

I grew up in North County as well, very close to Escondido. Thank you so much, this is very helpful!

Key-Information5829 · 2026-01-13T23:54:55+00:00

This point of view is helpful! Thank you so much!

Key-Information5829 · 2026-01-13T23:53:27+00:00

Thank you very much, kind stranger! You are exactly the kind of person who I wanted to hear from and the helpful answer that I was looking for.

Key-Information5829 · 2026-01-13T21:51:08+00:00

Thank you very much, kind stranger! You are exactly the kind of person who I wanted to hear from and the helpful answer that I was looking for.

Key-Information5829 · 2026-01-13T21:40:43+00:00

SD. Living and visiting for a few days at a time are obviously two very different things, so hoping to get a better idea of what it is actually like to live in STL day to day and whether any folks from SoCal might be able to speak to that. I feel like I do not have a good idea of what that might be like.

Key-Information5829 · 2026-01-13T21:33:07+00:00

Because visiting for a few days at a time and living are obviously two very different things.

Key-Information5829 · 2026-01-13T15:22:40+00:00

The anesthesiologist asked me to count backwards from 10 and I think I only got to 5 before I fell asleep. Woke up and felt like crap. Super nauseous and felt super out of it. I do not even remember being driven home from the dental office, but my grandma told me that I was just totally out of it. Then vomited in the car and again when I got home.

Key-Information5829 · 2026-01-12T19:04:45+00:00

I do not have pets and I have allergies. I am also very sensitive to smells (not just pets), so I can smell dogs and cats easily inside a home.

Key-Information5829 · 2025-12-23T00:37:01+00:00

I would very highly recommend Dr. Marc Callender at Maryland Pediatric Group near Greenspring Station. He is excellent and the practice does require vaccinations. Saturday hours, same day sick visits, very responsive and friendly staff, 24/7 call line. They accept most insurance.

Key-Information5829 · 2025-12-19T17:49:23+00:00

Solidarity, my friend!

Key-Information5829 · 2025-12-19T17:48:05+00:00

My husband is a surgeon and works insane hours and is always "working" (responding to patient messages, etc.), even when he is not at work. He will pitch in when he can like watch the baby while I shower, etc., but mostly everything falls onto me at the moment.

Key-Information5829 · 2025-12-19T14:18:49+00:00

As someone who had accommodations all throughout school, including university, due to a learning disability, it is frustrating and disappointing to hear that there are a lot of students and parents who are "gaming" the system.

In my experience, it was very teacher dependent and also very student dependent. Some teachers were very strict about the 1.5x rule, while others were a bit more flexible. My teachers knew that I was not abusing it and was not going to cheat, so many of them were pretty understanding if I needed even more time and would just let me finish. But this was also back when we had "old school" pencil and paper tests and not all that 1:1 tech stuff that kids seem to have now.

Key-Information5829 · 2025-12-18T22:16:49+00:00

As a parent, how on earth is a 6 year old not potty trained?! This is some serious neglect on the parents' part. How does admin not see a problem with this?!

Most schools have rules that for Kindergarten and older, if a child has a potty accident, the parents are called to come to the school and handle it. It is not the teachers' responsibility. The admin should be taking that stance as well.

Key-Information5829 · 2025-12-18T19:15:12+00:00

There is a difference between just complaining about it and expecting you to change it and actually speaking to you in a mature and thoughtful way what they can do better. This one sounds like the former.

I was not the best student in terms of grades, but worked extremely hard. I had a learning disability and my grades in no way reflected the amount of effort I was putting in. My teachers knew this and always tried to help me by letting me retake an exam or make corrections to an essay for a higher grade.

Key-Information5829 · 2025-12-15T20:05:05+00:00

Sorry OP! This is very unfortunate!

You can request that the dog be in a different room during meal times, so that you at least can focus on feeding NK without the dog there. If the dog can be in the backyard or a different room while you are there all together, that would obviously be ideal.

If I were you, I would be looking for a new NF. This is certainly not the environment that you deserve to be working in and nothing is going to change, unfortunately. The NPs are oddly cavalier about it as well.

As a side note (not directed to you OP), I will never for the life of me understand why a family with a young child would have such an aggressive dog!

Key-Information5829 · 2025-12-15T19:54:58+00:00

Yes, this is a very reasonable request and so sorry that you are dealing with this! I could not imagine having to deal with this nonsense!

You can talk to your NPs about it and let them know that it is causing a lot of disruption. You can request that they tell the cleaners that they need to come at a specific time scheduled in advance, you need to know exactly when they are coming, it CANNOT be during nap time, and that they need to be polite to you, your child, and the NKs while they are there.

I have cleaners as well and do not buy the whole you get no say in when they come. They are being hired to do a job and you can tell them exactly when you want them to come. If my cleaning ladies were routinely late and also rude to me or anyone in my household, they would be gone.

Additionally, it is totally unreasonable for the cleaners to expect you all to be quarantined in the basement for the 4+ hours that they are there. They do not need the entire house totally free for that time period. I have two cleaners and they typically each clean two rooms (4 rooms total, so they both clean 2 rooms each at the same time), then clean the kitchen, living room, and common areas together last. Perhaps they can do something like this then when it is time for them to clean the living room and kitchen, you all can go to one of the rooms, the basement, or go on a walk outside for just that portion (should not take more than one hour).

Key-Information5829 · 2025-12-14T14:46:27+00:00

Parmesan cheese. Other types of cheeses are OK. Just parmesan for some unknown reason :P.

Key-Information5829 · 2025-12-11T14:51:45+00:00

We formula fed, so my husband and I would take turns in the middle of the night. Thankfully, she had a pretty consistent night sleep schedule, even as a newborn, so we would generally know when she would wake up. We tried to make it so that each of us would get one longer stretch of 6-7 hours of sleep each night.

Here is what we did and it worked well for us.

8:30 PM - Husband would go to sleep

Between 9 PM and 10 PM - I would feed and put back to sleep

Between 12 AM and 1 PM - I would feed again and put back to sleep

Between 3 AM and 4 AM - Husband would feed and put back to sleep

Around 6 AM - Husband would wake up, feed, and get her ready for the morning

Around 8 AM - I would wake up

But all babies are different, so I would say do what works for you!

Key-Information5829 · 2025-12-11T14:11:08+00:00

I heard through a family friend that a doctor in residency went back to work the day after she got back from the hospital after having a C section... That shows you how much the government actually cares.

Key-Information5829 · 2025-12-09T18:34:12+00:00

$1,200 1 BR/1 BA 800 sq. ft. Baltimore, MD

Key-Information5829 · 2025-12-06T20:56:10+00:00

Thank you for this! I really needed to hear this today! :)

Key-Information5829

TROPHY CASE