I started house shopping in 2019 in a high cost of living suburb. Prices seemed high. The market seemed frothy. I was very cocky and told my agent I wasn't in

I started house shopping in 2019 in a high cost of living suburb. Prices seemed high. The market seemed frothy. I was very cocky and told my agent I wasn't in hurry. Prices would surely normalize. We must be in a bubble! Everyone seemed so irrational. COVID hit and I was beyond smug. See, Mr. Agent, I told you. World wide pandemic will burst the bubble and I'm going to get a house for nothing. $450/foot houses are now $650/foot. We've been priced out of multiple neighborhoods. If you don't have an offer on a house within 3 days of the first showing, don't even bother. Add $100k to the listing price to even begin thinking if you can get the house. And then pray you aren't up against 5 all cash buyers. Meanwhile, I've had the down payment sitting in a savings account for three years and its buying power decreases every month. Should have YOLOed into BTC. Would have turned into one of those damn all cash buyers. Fun times.