By pure definition, an economic downturn would normally mean less money to throw around, consequently fewer buyers, and therefore creating a buyers’ market.
But with an undersupply of properties in the market, the opposite is occurring.
Britt and Ian Schulz recently bought a house at Cornubia and can account for the stresses of modern-market buying.
They wanted to sell their small 400 square metre home at Gumdale to move into something bigger – a place with plenty of space, where they could potentially start a family.
They missed out on a house at Shailer Park, but then saw the Cornubia house they fell in love with, on 2000 square metres and with all the features they’d dreamed of.
“There were times when it was super stressful,” Ms Schulz said.
“We knew that there were other offers, but you never really know what other offers are on the table. We put in a first and final offer straight away, and we thought it was a good offer.”
The couple thought the stars had aligned. The offer was accepted, they had signed a conditional contract on their home, and everything was right to go.
Then, finance fell through on the offer for their Gumdale home. This meant they had to seek an extension to close the deal on their new home, which wasn’t ideal given there were other buyers waiting in the wings.
“We just had to be upfront, to ensure the owners of the Cornubia home that we were genuine buyers,” Ms Schulz said.
“We did think that it was possible for someone to come along and sweep the house from under us. If we didn’t get it, we were over it. We probably would have given up and stayed at Gumdale for a couple more years.
“We went to one house and there were 60 people at the inspection. There were a lot of people.”
The buying process took two months to finalise, but the couple is now in their new home, complete with backyard.
