‘Just do it!’
Elvia Del Cid was ready to give up her dream of buying a home.
People were paying ridiculous amounts, way out of proportion to their actual values, she thought.
“We can’t do this,” she told her husband, Jean Silvestre, 37, a foreman for a construction company. “It’s too much.”
But her husband kept rooting for the American dream. And her 20-yearold daughter, a student at Cal State Fullerton, got involved, searching online after classes for homes her mother should consider.
“You can do this,” her daughter kept saying.
Del Cid, 43, a children’s social worker, had been living in a Norwalk apartment for the past 20 years. About a year ago, soon after Del Cid and Sylvestre married, they started to think about buying a home since they now had two incomes. With a price cap of $550,000, they started their search in December.
They made offers on six homes but kept getting outbid, Del Cid said.
“I felt like my heart was being crushed one time after the other,” she said. “After we started getting experience and kept getting outbid, my husband said we need to find one we feel comfortable with and make a higher offer.”
Then, they looked at a three-bedroom corner house in Whittier that had an updated kitchen, granite countertops, new air conditioning, a large covered patio and a workbench in the garage.
“Elvia, this is the home,” Silvestre said.
“I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but the more I walked through the home, the more I realized it was a well-cared-for home. It was well maintained,” Del Cid said.
But the price was $599,000, or $49,000 above Del Cid’s and Silvestre’s price range.
“I couldn’t let myself get excited. I needed to do a lot of numbers,” Del Cid said.
When she finally agreed to make an offer, her agent pushed her to go higher.
“This home could be yours,” their agent said. “You have to make a higher offer because they have other offers.”
Twelve other offers, it turned out. She bid $640,000 — $90,000 above their price range.
But she knew. This would be just like the other offers. Her heart would get crushed again. She couldn’t take it anymore. Time for a pause, she thought.
The phone rang just before midnight the next day after a long day at work. Silvestre was in the shower.
“Elvia, are you still interested in the home?” her agent asked. “Yes,” she said.
“Well, they’re willing to consider you. They’re interested in you making a counteroffer,” he said.
“What do you mean, a counteroffer?” she asked.
“If you offer what they want, they’ll go ahead and make a deal,” he said.
Silvestre popped his head out of the shower: “Make it!” he said. “Just do it!”
Del Cid raised their offer to $655,000. Then she hung up and called her loan officer. At 2 or 3 a.m., the loan officer called back with numbers showing they could afford that price, along with a letter of approval.
Her agent called back at 9a.m. “They’re willing to accept your counteroffer,” he said.
Then came a flurry of paperwork and electronic signatures.
During escrow, the sellers agreed to pay off the rooftop solar panels and pay for minor termite damage repairs.
On March22, the home was theirs. They ended up paying $105,000 over their original price cap, but their low mortgage rate offsets that cost somewhat. It was the right decision, she now believes.
“We definitely overbid,” Del Cid said. “But that’s the world we live in now. It’s crazy. It’s a jungle out there.”