楼市火爆时如何低价买到房子？一位30岁女性做到了
在苦苦寻找了7个月之后，汤娅·史密斯准备放弃拥有一套住房的梦想，打算额外签署一年租约。
30岁的史密斯曾经为11套住房出价，拿出时间为许多住房撰写了个性化的意向函，并且出价尽可能高于卖方的要价。每次房地产经纪商都会发信息告诉她未被选中。11次被拒绝已经让史密斯无法承受。
她说：“我是双鱼座，所以有点敏感。我会非常喜欢一套房子，然后我想：‘好，就是这一套了，我要买下它。’然而每一次都未能如愿。当前的经济形势……令人容易情绪化和沮丧，我以为我永远买不到房子。”
过去一年半，不止史密斯一个人对房地产市场感到沮丧。许多购房人表示，在找房过程中，由于低库存、高需求和破纪录的房价等原因，让他们感到气馁。除此之外，有更多的房子被投资者抢购，或者变成了短租房。房地产市场竞争激烈，尤其是对首次购房的人而言。许多人曾经在充满压力的购房过程中落泪。
今年春季，史密斯决定最后一次出价，为位于美国得克萨斯的大学城的一座三居两卫住房出价215000美元。她的出价比卖方要价低了10000美元，所以她并没指望能够收到好消息：虽然在今年4月需求开始下降，但市场依旧火爆，而且58.8%的住房售价高于卖方要价。
然后她在复活节收到了一个如奇迹一般的特别消息：她的房地产经纪人发短信说：“给我打电话！”只要她想要，就可以买下那套房子。
她表示：“我无法出更高的价格，而且我感觉在这个市场中，如果你无法给出高于卖方要价的价格，就根本买不到房。我甚至不知道为什么我能够签下[购房合同]。”
在机构投资者已经对这套房子产生兴趣的情况下，为什么史密斯的出价可以胜出？这是因为她是自己提交的申请。史密斯称，前任业主是一位单身老妇人，她希望帮助另外一位女性。
史密斯说：“有许多投资者出价，但她发现我是一名单身女性。她感受到了女性与女性之间的联系，她的想法是：‘我希望她买下我的房子。’”
史密斯在4月完成房屋交割，5月入住。之后几周，她一直忙于更换地板和粉刷房间，享受新的社区生活。
她买房前并没有亲自看房。虽然她很喜欢这套房子，但它建成于20世纪20年代，并且一直由同一个家族拥有，直到被史密斯买下（卖房人终生生活在这里）。这意味着它很有特色，但需要一些简单修理。到目前为止，她已经拆掉了多个房间的地毯，露出了精美的硬木地板，并对房间进行了重新粉刷。她还翻修了客厅砖砌的壁炉。
这需要一大笔钱。随着对经济衰退的担忧日益加剧，史密斯称她将减少购买咖啡和其他小奢侈品，开始充实自己的储蓄账户。此次购房已经让她清空了自己的账户。
她表示：“虽然我为这套房子花光了大量积蓄，但我感觉这套房子本身就像是一个储蓄账户。但是房屋改造是必不可少的。”
而且她希望未来有一天能够将同样的善意传递给一名潜在购房人。前提是她决定搬家。
她说：“我非常喜欢这套房子。我想在经历过购房的过程之后，我不太可能会在某一天想要将它卖掉。”（财富中文网）
译者：刘进龙
审校：汪皓
在苦苦寻找了7个月之后，汤娅·史密斯准备放弃拥有一套住房的梦想，打算额外签署一年租约。
30岁的史密斯曾经为11套住房出价，拿出时间为许多住房撰写了个性化的意向函，并且出价尽可能高于卖方的要价。每次房地产经纪商都会发信息告诉她未被选中。11次被拒绝已经让史密斯无法承受。
她说：“我是双鱼座，所以有点敏感。我会非常喜欢一套房子，然后我想：‘好，就是这一套了，我要买下它。’然而每一次都未能如愿。当前的经济形势……令人容易情绪化和沮丧，我以为我永远买不到房子。”
过去一年半，不止史密斯一个人对房地产市场感到沮丧。许多购房人表示，在找房过程中，由于低库存、高需求和破纪录的房价等原因，让他们感到气馁。除此之外，有更多的房子被投资者抢购，或者变成了短租房。房地产市场竞争激烈，尤其是对首次购房的人而言。许多人曾经在充满压力的购房过程中落泪。
今年春季，史密斯决定最后一次出价，为位于美国得克萨斯的大学城的一座三居两卫住房出价215000美元。她的出价比卖方要价低了10000美元，所以她并没指望能够收到好消息：虽然在今年4月需求开始下降，但市场依旧火爆，而且58.8%的住房售价高于卖方要价。
然后她在复活节收到了一个如奇迹一般的特别消息：她的房地产经纪人发短信说：“给我打电话！”只要她想要，就可以买下那套房子。
她表示：“我无法出更高的价格，而且我感觉在这个市场中，如果你无法给出高于卖方要价的价格，就根本买不到房。我甚至不知道为什么我能够签下[购房合同]。”
在机构投资者已经对这套房子产生兴趣的情况下，为什么史密斯的出价可以胜出？这是因为她是自己提交的申请。史密斯称，前任业主是一位单身老妇人，她希望帮助另外一位女性。
史密斯说：“有许多投资者出价，但她发现我是一名单身女性。她感受到了女性与女性之间的联系，她的想法是：‘我希望她买下我的房子。’”
史密斯在4月完成房屋交割，5月入住。之后几周，她一直忙于更换地板和粉刷房间，享受新的社区生活。
她买房前并没有亲自看房。虽然她很喜欢这套房子，但它建成于20世纪20年代，并且一直由同一个家族拥有，直到被史密斯买下（卖房人终生生活在这里）。这意味着它很有特色，但需要一些简单修理。到目前为止，她已经拆掉了多个房间的地毯，露出了精美的硬木地板，并对房间进行了重新粉刷。她还翻修了客厅砖砌的壁炉。
这需要一大笔钱。随着对经济衰退的担忧日益加剧，史密斯称她将减少购买咖啡和其他小奢侈品，开始充实自己的储蓄账户。此次购房已经让她清空了自己的账户。
她表示：“虽然我为这套房子花光了大量积蓄，但我感觉这套房子本身就像是一个储蓄账户。但是房屋改造是必不可少的。”
而且她希望未来有一天能够将同样的善意传递给一名潜在购房人。前提是她决定搬家。
她说：“我非常喜欢这套房子。我想在经历过购房的过程之后，我不太可能会在某一天想要将它卖掉。”（财富中文网）
译者：刘进龙
审校：汪皓
After seven months of searching, Tonya Smith was ready to give up on her dream of home ownership and sign a lease for another year on a rental.
The 30-year-old had put offers in on 11 different homes, taking time to write personalized letters for many of them and offering over asking when she could. Each time her realtor texted her to let her know she hadn't been selected. Eleven rejections was proving to be more than Smith could take.
"I’m a Pisces, so I’m a little sensitive. I would get so attached and think, 'OK, this is going to be the one, it’s going to happen,' and then every time it wouldn’t," Smith says. "It was emotional and frustrating...in this economy, I thought I would never buy a house."
Smith is far from alone in her frustrations with the housing market over the past year and a half. Many buyers reported feeling discouraged during their search, given low inventory, high demand, and record-breaking prices. Adding to the struggle, more houses are being snapped up by investors or turned into short-term rentals. It's tough out there, especially for first-time homebuyers. More than a few have shed some tears as they navigate the stressful process.
This spring, Smith decided to put in one final offer on a $215,000 three-bed, two-bath home in a college town in Texas. Her bid was $10,000 under the asking price, so she wasn't expecting good news: Though demand was starting to fall in April, the market was still hot, and 58.8% of homes sold for more than the asking price.
Then she received a different kind of Easter miracle: a text from her realtor that read, "Call me!" The home was hers if she wanted it.
"I wasn’t able to offer over, and I felt in this market, if you're not able to offer over you won't get it," she says. "I didn't even know why I was signing [the offer]."
What set Smith's offer apart, especially when institutional investors were also interested in the property? The fact that she applied on her own. According to Smith, the previous owner was an older single woman who wanted to help another woman out.
"There were a bunch of investors, and she saw that I was a single lady," says Smith. "She felt that woman-to-woman connection of, 'I want her to be the one to buy my house.'"
Smith closed on the house in April and moved in in May. In the weeks since, she's been hard at work upgrading the floors and painting the rooms, and enjoying her new neighborhood.
She bought the house without seeing it in person. While she loves it, it was built in the 1920s and owned by the same family until Smith purchased it (the seller lived there her entire life). That means it has plenty of character—but needs a bit of TLC. So far she's pulled out the carpet in multiple rooms—revealing beautiful hardwood floors—and repainted rooms. She also refinished the brick fireplace in the living room.
That's costly, and with recession fears rising, Smith says she's cutting back on buying coffee and other small luxuries to start to rebuild her savings account, which she depleted on the purchase.
"Even though I had to put a lot of my savings into it, the house feels like a savings account," she says. "The transformation of it, this was meant to be."
And she hopes to be able to extend the same kindness to a potential buyer one day. If she ever decides to move, that is.
"I love this home so much," she says. "I think after how I was able to get it, it's going to be hard for me to want to sell it someday."
