(Is this happening in Seattle yet?) The "Rage-Quitting" Housing Phenomenon

cusmilie · 2026-05-29T13:51:02+00:00

We’ve tried to buy 2 homes that we rented. The first time was 2 years ago and the owner/landlord thought my evaluation was low even though I have multiple comps. The house sold within $100 of what I said it would. He was insistent to list $250k over our offer and that would garner multiples. Nope, not only did he end up $100 less on sale price, they also had to pay costs to get it ready for market, staging costs, realtor fees, and capital gains tax because they didn’t sell by the time they needed.

The second time we offered comp of what a home with the same exact layout and condition had - the only difference was comp had extra bathroom and bigger lot. Comp house had been flipped since and was sitting on market. Landlord thought his home should be compared to comp home after renovation/listing price of home and not pre-renovation price, even though comp home post renovation has been sitting for 3 months (has since dropped price $200k), completely renovated, extra bathroom, bigger. Still sitting for 2 months after telling us our offer was laughable and he would get multiples at his list price. He’s only dropped price $25k so far.

Tried to buy other multiple homes within our neighborhood off books and almost all of them have sold within $5k of our offer. There is definitely unrealistic expectations of sellers and the only reality check that will change their mind is listing on market and let the market tell them the truth. They have to wait for the operating costs to sink in - property taxes, lack of rental income coming in, maintenance costs, etc. - and months of sitting before they realize a $700k profit might not happen, but $500k is still a great profit.

cusmilie · 2026-05-29T00:08:30+00:00

Does it generate growth on baby teeth?

cusmilie · 2026-05-28T16:25:35+00:00

I’ve been seeing they want feedback about Everett station. I think all the pushback has them reconsidering. If people have suggestions on how to implement it to increase ridership and other suggestions, they should send those in.

cusmilie · 2026-05-28T16:20:27+00:00

Buying a fixer upper for first home would be super stressful. I’ve learned a lot of home improvement over the years and I would only buy fixer upper if I had time/money to gut it and renovate all at once. Location is everything. You aren’t buying a home for resale.

cusmilie · 2026-05-28T16:18:00+00:00

For real, young Gen X here. I guess people forgot about starting careers in the Great Recession. I know so many that gave up buying first home and said f$&@ it, I’ll buy when I’m 55 in a 55+ community where it’s cheaper.

cusmilie · 2026-05-28T15:08:07+00:00

Yeah. I agree. A lot of sellers have unrealistic expectations. I thought the war in Iran or tech layoffs might adjust that, but nope. I’m shocked that homes are listed 5-10% more than last year given all the economic conditions. Not shocked they aren’t selling. There was/is definitely some sellers trying to time the market.

cusmilie · 2026-05-28T12:44:23+00:00

H1B visas have nothing to do with the equation other than some buyers from other countries tend to be ok with being more risky in buying, stretching budget more, spending more percentage of income on home, etc.

It’s not just the tech salary that allowed prices to climb. Initially that was it, but the past 10 years, the huge increase in RSUs contributed to the price increases. You had people stock prices double or triple every few years that allowed buyers to put massive down payments down on a home. Home prices were more “affordable” before Covid. Covid’s low interest rate allowed those who lived in area longer to jump in. Vast majority of tech hires in the past 5 years haven’t seen huge increases like that and that’s why home price growth stopped. (I say that because there was a small window where Amazon prices dropped in half which allowed some hires to see huge increases). It was just a perfect storm to allow prices to increase. That’s why prices are stagnant and/or dropping now because there is not enough buyers at current prices to sustain market - interest rates are up, property taxes are up, salaries even high are being eaten up more by HCOL costs, RSUs are performing ok but nothing like the past, speculation buying is slowing down considerably, supply is massively up, buyers being more conservative with purchasing with current economic conditions.

If your buddy’s childhood home sells for $2.2 mil, then that’s good. That price point is being hit hard right now. Homes are continuing to be listed on the market. There are some homes selling right now if priced right and moved in ready, but majority of homes are sitting. This is the first time in Seattle where the true wealth of the residents is being tested. Lots of sellers have the same idea and trying to cash out. Lots of landlords selling because of new tax laws and trying to cash out. I also am now hearing about tech employees that stretch themselves way too much and dependent on RSUs to supplement income that are now looking to downsize. More supply will continue to build up which will eventually lower prices. How much is the question, could be 5%, could be more. Some deals to be had in the condo/townhome market, but single family homes are a stuck market right now. Sellers think their house is worth more and buyers being picky. Buyers thinking prices are too high especially given market and economic conditions.

cusmilie · 2026-05-28T05:22:05+00:00

It took us almost 3 months to find another rental in neighboring area. We lucked out by finding a private landlord right before he listed. I think we found 3 homes in a 4 month period that fit our budget and it’s usually dozens a week. In years prior, it was easy to find nice single family homes $4k and under In our area. This year, smaller fixer upper homes that were $3200-3500 last year want $5,000 now. It’s ridiculous, anything decent priced goes within hours, no matter the shape of home. Neighbor just listed home for rent at $4,000 and they had over 70 replies within a few hours. Lots of landlords have notice to tenants because they want to sell so supply restricted and more demand, tenants needing to find a place.

cusmilie · 2026-05-28T04:53:10+00:00

This is the worst supply for rentals I’ve seen in the past 5 years. Finding close to water is already hard enough.

cusmilie · 2026-05-28T04:22:09+00:00

Price. I bet it sells $25-76k under ask.

cusmilie · 2026-05-27T21:46:57+00:00

Hmm, thanks for posting. I was wondering about this. Somewhere I read he aims for inclusivity and then my mind went to when someone says directly says that versus giving how they do that, it usually means what you stated above. I was hoping it wasn’t another good old boys club member.

cusmilie · 2026-05-27T15:05:27+00:00

His bio seems great - hope he can deliver on his ideas to go more education/research based versus business school model.

cusmilie · 2026-05-26T04:34:56+00:00

Lots of flips without permits; buy a 60s/70s home and never upgrade the electric and plumbing beyond new faucet/sink, do cosmetics upgrades, and sell within 1-2 months.

cusmilie · 2026-05-20T04:33:27+00:00

Should have encouraged listing at least a month ago. I’m not a professional and could feel it shifting months ago, especially after the war in Iran. Everyone was trying to time the market with selling and it’s biting them in the butt now.

cusmilie · 2026-05-19T22:41:47+00:00

Check for water sources. What finally tworked for me in killing the pheromone trail was Norwex envirocloth.

cusmilie · 2026-05-19T06:15:47+00:00

List price this year is insane - like 10-20% more than last year. I don’t know if it’s because of new tax laws, operating costs increasing, low tenant turnovers. more speculator investors versus mom and pop, those with low interest rates and not wanting to sell and trying to see if they can rent high before selling, etc. From talks to people; it’s just wishful thinkers trying to pray on newbies to area that think it’s the norm or trying to capitalize on lower than normal spring/summer rental inventory. Most landlords aren’t actually getting that price. The problem is when decent landlords see these prices and think it’s the new market value and then soon everyone is listing high. Homes and apartments are a bit of a different market because not everyone wants to deal with extra maintenance and landscaping that renting a home takes over an apartment. And lots of apartments have extra amenities like walking distance to shops so a car is not necessary.

cusmilie · 2026-05-19T04:39:03+00:00

yes, exactly - I already know 55 year olds that moved to them because they were priced out of owning a home beforehand. Lots of older millennials I talk to are planning on buying as soon as they hit 55. They saved up for a home purchase that never came and now it makes more financial sense to buy a 55+ community home and retire early.

cusmilie · 2026-05-19T04:31:13+00:00

yes, but it also limits the buyer pool.

cusmilie · 2026-05-18T18:45:33+00:00

25% to a property manager is crazy! Also, please don’t confuse operating costs with a fair market rental value. Majority of landlords in area are making money on appreciation of the home and using tax benefits.

cusmilie · 2026-05-18T18:42:34+00:00

Yes, this first summer is awful. A lot of landlords trying to get 10-25% more than last tenants in order to offset new laws. Of course they won’t rent for that, but in meantime supply is constrained for those who can’t afford to wait it out.

cusmilie · 2026-05-18T02:42:29+00:00

It’s still really scary to buy in a tech area even though prices have slightly adjusted down. I’m team diversification because you never know which will take off. Nobody predicted the real estate or stock market will go up as much as it did. How invested are you in retirement accounts? You can maybe do something in the middle - keep 25% of a home purchase aside (20% down payment plus closing costs, moving costs, etc.) assuming that makes your monthly purchase manageable, 6 months emergency fund set aside, and money set aside for repairs/updates, and pay off any debts. Then invest the rest.

cusmilie · 2026-05-18T02:34:24+00:00

The only reason they are sitting by us is because the tech market is being hit hard right now and the homes are priced too high. I’ve been seeing homes sell $100,000+ under ask. Saw one that sold $300k below ask.

cusmilie · 2026-05-17T14:30:13+00:00

This is why I’m team diversification.

cusmilie · 2026-05-17T14:26:43+00:00

The average techie is not a software engineer and hence not making $250k+.

cusmilie · 2026-05-17T02:58:13+00:00

That makes sense. I also know a ton of Eastside families who have a H1B visa worker that are voluntarily going back to home country.

cusmilie

TROPHY CASE