Charles George and Carolyn Lang needed to make a move, but the timing wasn't exactly ideal.
Their plans came together right as the greater Tampa Bay region was experiencing a real estate boom that made finding affordable housing a challenge for many.
The couple moved from Brandon and purchased a home in Ravinia Villas, in the Citrus Park area of Tampa.
"The pantry is amazing. You can see everything," said Lang, a teacher and Florida native who was born in Alachua County. "The shelves are the perfect depth, to really just have one layer of things."
Added George, an accountant for a small company in St. Petersburg who has lived in Tampa for 20 years: "We do have our hurricane supplies laid in. So we're ready. We were living in a condominium, a nice condominium. But it was second floor. And Carolyn was having some health issues. And so we decided to look for someplace that was first floor. And that was what started the search."
Finding the right location wasn't as much of a challenge as finding the right house that fit their budget.
"What happens is that over time, the good properties have already been picked off. And what we're being left with is houses that are serviceable. But if you really want a livable house, you're gonna have to put money in it over and above the high price you already paid. That gets tough.Charles Lang
"Yes, we have a good realtor, but we looked online like people do today," George said. "And what we found was a very unevenness in the market as to quality. So what might be a $250,000 house in one area could look vastly different than the same price and another not-far-away area. And I think working through all those challenges was part of our biggest thing."
That meant weighing the question of buying a home in a less desirable area, or a house for the same price in a more ideal location that would require upgrades to make it livable.
"The houses that we could have gotten for $250,000 would have needed $100 (thousand) to $200,000 of renovation to make them livable," Lang said. "So we just spent the same amount of money but we would have had to deal with construction and all the hassle."
All this, while the real estate boom created a sellers' market that made finding a house even more difficult.
"What happens is that over time, the good properties have already been picked off," Lang said. "And what we're being left with is houses that are serviceable. But if you really want a livable house, you're gonna have to put money in it over and above the high price you already paid. That gets tough.
"I consider some very fortunate. There are not a lot of properties, I think, that would meet our criteria."
Luckily for them, they found the house that fit their needs — and in an area that they desired.
But they had to act quickly.
"It came out, what, on a Monday?" Lang said. "We saw it on Tuesday and had an offer in almost immediately. And it didn't go to the weekend for people to come see it. So we didn't have a bidding war. But if it had gone further, we would have."
"The time interval for decision making is very, very short," George said. "And you're making one of your major life decisions here, you know, financially speaking. So that's hard."
