WACO, TX — As many people struggle to find a home to buy in Central Texas, one local woman has been on the search for a place for over a year.
Keisha Simonette has been trying to move her and her kids out of her apartment and into a house. Unfortunately, she's had no luck.
"When it's time for me as a first-time homebuyer to make that move and there's nothing available, it's tiring," Simonette said.
She said she has alerts set on her phone for when houses come on the market, but even that hasn't been much help.
"I'll call as soon as I see it, I'll call up my realtor and we'll set up a time, and usually, nine out of ten times, a few hours before we're able to view the property, boom, it's under contract," she said.
Realtor Tracy Guillory, of Bentwood Realty, said she knows the current seller's market is making it hard for some of her clients. That's partially because of the increase in people from out-of-state moving to the area.
"There's a huge spike in residents that are moving from their current states to Texas, so that makes the market a bit unbalanced for the residents that are actually here," Guillory said.
Guillory urges those looking for homes to not look on their own but to work with a realtor to find properties quickly, and even find some before they make it to the market.
"Be patient. It's going to come around, it's going to balance out," she said of prospective home buyers.
Simonette is trying to do just that. She doesn't expect the market to calm down for at least another year, but she's keeping her head up.
"I'm hopeful. You know, it's a bit of a storm but I encourage everyone to just be patient," she said.
