As you know, we’ve been in the market to buy a house for some time now–even made the move from drizzly, expensive Seattle to sunny Atlanta and, to us, the land of affordability. But we haven’t yet even made one offer on the beautiful homes we’ve been walking through each weekend, and we probably won’t. At least not in the next couple of months, anyway. And why not, you ask? Well, it’s pretty simple, actually, and apparently lots and lots of homebuyers are doing the same.

It’s a buyer’s market! (Read CNN’s article Homebuyers turn screws on desperate sellers).And because it’s a buyer’s market, and because it’s likely going to be a buyer’s market for some time yet, we’re just not in that big of a rush to shell out our hard-earned savings if we’re going to be able to purchase more house for the same amount in a couple of months, when sellers are even more desperate than they are right now.

Why am I so confident in this fact? Well, the truth of the matter is that homes keep popping up on the market down here, and listings that have been on the market for a little while continue dropping in price (just yesterday one of our ‘dream’ listings dropped by $4,000–not much, really, but a drop nonetheless, and likely a product of the price of the listing just a few doors down. And when I say ‘dream’ home, I mean ‘dream’ home. All upgraded kitchen, immaculate finishing, large yard, etc.

I feel almost hesitant to even mention where we are looking for homes, because there are so many of them out here that are in perfect condition that I almost feel like I would be letting the cat out of the bag. Obviously that’s not true, because it’s not like the homes are down some hidden path and not on the MLS system, but coming from a place where homes like this sell for more than double we’re literally speechless and in awe of what we can now afford. But there are homes for sale in our desired area located within just a few feet from other homes of equal beauty and value. It’s scary as a buyer to see so many homes for sale, because you start wondering why, exactly, all of these homes are for sale. Is something wrong with the neighborhood? Is something wrong with the construction of the homes? Or is Mary or Sarah or Betty really telling the truth when they say they’re relocating for a job? Or moving to a larger house? Or (insert whatever reason here). So we wait.

We wait until we see homes start selling. And we watch–watch what the homes sell for, and how long the gap between when a home is first listed and when it actually sells, is. Could we go put a down payment on a house right now, and afford it? Absolutely. But why do that just yet? Rather than haggle with the seller about paying our closing costs, or kicking in the new appliances, or paying for us to go to Cancun if we buy the house, I’d rather wait it out and have them offer it to us automatically. And do this all on top of a sales price that makes me feel comfortable that if home prices go down, I won’t be the one under water. It’s what is going to make me feel good about purchasing our home. And so, that’s what we’ll do. We’ll wait. And wait some more if we need to.