This family in Burnaby got outbid 16 times in the last two years during their attempts to buy a house.
Frustrated Burnaby family outbid on 16 homes in two years - NEWS 1130
BURNABY (NEWS 1130) – Being outbid 16 times in the last two years is disheartening for one Burnaby family of four.
Maria Dosen and her husband sold their home in 2014, they moved in with her parents but assumed it would be short term until they found a new place to live.
“We are searching in Burnaby, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody and New Westminster,” she explains. “It’s been beyond frustrating to put my kids through such an emotional ride. One of them is a special needs child, so it has been even more emotional for him. It’s put a strain on me and my husband. It’s really frustrating when you know there are anywhere from six bids to 20 bids coming in and you know that you’re not going to get that home.”
With a budget of $1.2 million, the family has often put in $70,000 over asking price but they’re no closer to owning than they were two years ago.
As a result, the Dosen family has had to change their expectations. They plan to push their search further out and may have to consider smaller homes.
“We are going to re-evaluate and now start looking at townhouses and downsizing which is really not what we want to be doing. That just seems like the next logical step.”
Describing the situation as worse than a rollercoaster ride, the couple has been told they need to go $100,000 over asking.
“My son needs therapy [and] I need to be able to pay for his needs, so we can’t go [higher].”
UBC Real Estate Expert Tsur Sommerville says outbidding is dramatically getting worse.
“With prices rising really quickly, the idea of what is the right price for a unit becomes really hard to figure out. You can put in a bid over asking but someone else is seeing the market differently and they’re bidding more than that,” says Sommerville.
He says more people are chasing fewer units and that results in multiple offers and bids