Overview: Our clients were first time home buyers with a limited budget who dreamed of a home where their children could grow. The competitive market for properties under $300,000 made the search a battle of bidding wars and cash buyers. Despite several disappointments of coming in second best or worse, persistence and strategy helped our young family find a true home and a hopeful beginning.
This young family had dreamed of their first home for years. With three children and renting a too small apartment, they wanted more space and other school options. They also wanted some roots and a place for memories.
The market for homes under $300,000 was extremely tight in spring and summer of 2025 though. Houses came and went in a day. Ten offers, twenty offers, sometimes more. The list price was never the price, it was only the start. The bidding drove numbers higher, tens of thousands above what they felt fair or could afford.
Each week blurred into the next. Another showing, another offer, another call that it wasn’t enough. A cash buyer. A buyer willing to waive every inspection. A buyer ready to throw money at the deal. It was a grind.
We worked together and adjusted. We wrote stronger offers. We stayed open on timelines. We stretched the map beyond the district they wanted most. Ultimately, our first time home buyers, who had not originally wanted a home that needed repairs and updating, looked at a fixer-upper with enough space and a great yard.
By expanding their search beyond curb appeal, and becoming willing to accept some work, the market opened up for our first time home buyers. They found a house with potential near parks and easy access to almost everything Milwaukee has to offer. Because it was an older home it needed floor work, fresh paint, a roof, basement work, an out building torn down and landscaping. This ultimately played to our buyers advantage as the only other people making offers were flippers.
The family who owned the property had been their three generations and wanted to sell to a family if possible. By making a firm offer and being flexible on timelines, our first time home buyers got their new home. Sometimes circumstance works in your favor.
The closing process was difficult as the out building needed to be torn down, the basement repairs contracted and multiple inspections to be passed. After about six weeks, everything was ready to close and that went off without a hitch after much prior effort.
Three key inspection items had to be satisfied to get the mortgage program approved and the house to close. A new roof had to be started, a basement water problem had to be fixed and a damaged out building (yep, in West Allis, old chicken coup) had to come down. We found the contractors needed to replace the roof, do the basement work and take down the chicken coup which was the size of a one car garage. We then found a college aged landscaping and clean-up crew to help with the yard, we even got our hands dirty making the yard was kid safe (don’t expect that, lol).
Ultimately, there was a little luck involved here, though there was a process to finding that luck. We knew this house was a target of flippers, but we also knew the home had been in the family 2 generations. We found out that the sellers did not want to sell to a flipper and preferred to sell to a young family. Bingo. We built that relationship and they worked with our buyers despite the challenging underwriting and closing process. Hard work led to a lucky find here.
We think there are some lessons here for first time home buyers. The first is that the market might not be on your side at your price point for move-in ready homes. In those situations, and really anytime, a willingness to do some work, can get you a home that at a better price point than paying for all the work to be done for you ahead of time.
People who do the work want to get paid, so, our advice to anyone without a luxury price point, is that the more work you are willing to do, the better deal you will likely get. That clearly won’t work for everyone, but for those who are willing and able to do some work, there’s a bigger market for you. Let us know if that’s you, because we have a lot of potential homes for you.
Our clients willingness to pivot from perfection, have persistence, be willing to do some work and have us work on making a great offer with follow through worked out. Our clients found their home and some peace of mind for their family. They found a new beginning.
Use the Wisconsin Haven Realty team to sell your house or buy your home the right way.