$pent Millennial

Dear Reader,

We are taking the win.

This past week, my partner Jesse and I put an offer in on a house—the one I mentioned last week with the nature preserve out the back door.

We didn’t get it.

We offered below asking at a price that felt comfortable to us and left room for the updates and changes we would need to make it functional for our lives.

They didn’t consider the offer. Even after the house had been on the market for more than six months and had already gone through two failed contracts.

A few days earlier—when I was still wearing my rose-colored glasses after seeing the house and walking the preserve—I probably would have been crushed by that kind of rejection.

But by the time the decision came back, we were okay with it.

Proud, even.

That house was not meant for us.

Our agent let us know we could submit a different offer. We passed.

We had offered what we believed the house was worth. The seller responded based on what they believe the house is worth.

Those two values simply didn’t align.

And that’s okay.

I share this not to ask for sympathy, and not to add to the chorus of “houses are overpriced and sellers are delusional.” The housing market has enough noise already.

Instead, I share this because I don’t hear many stories about making an offer on a house, not getting it—and being at peace with that outcome.

Over the past five or so years, I’ve heard many versions of the same story: someone briefly mentioning all the offers they didn’t win, usually as a quick prelude to the ending where they finally secured a home. The moral often being how competitive things were—how they had to stretch their budget, waive inspections, or offer more than the home was worth just to finally “win.”

But what I don’t hear much about is the quiet win of walking away.

Because while this moment could easily be framed as disappointment—something to gloss over and move past quickly in the larger story of someday finding our home—we’re choosing to treat it as a win of its own.

One win is that we learned a lot about the offer process.

But the bigger win is that we stuck to our process.

We ran the numbers and stuck to them. We didn’t rush. We slept on it. We gave ourselves space to move out of the emotional excitement of imagining life in the house and back into our logical, grounded thinking.

In the end, we made an offer based on what we valued the home at—not based on pressure, urgency, or the seller’s expectations.

And that feels like a win.

So I share this experience as a small counterpoint to the chaos of the housing market. A reminder that there are other ways to “win” in a system that can sometimes feel like a high-stakes game.

As we keep casually—and maybe occasionally less casually—looking at homes, we’ll continue to stick to our process and our home-buying rules.

Our top three are:

1. Run the numbers, and stick to them.
   These numbers include the down payment, closing costs, upfront maintenance, ongoing maintenance savings, and monthly costs.
2. If it has to be rushed, it has to be a no.
3. Buy for life and livability.
   We’re looking for a place where daily life works well—where there’s a library nearby, a coffee shop, some walkability, nature close by, and space to get outside and move. A place that fits not just the big moments, but an ordinary Tuesday.

For now, we’re celebrating this win.

Not because it felt like a victory in the moment—but because it represents something bigger: patience, clarity, and sticking to what matters to us.

And sometimes those are the most important wins of all.

Take what resonates for you and leave the rest.

Until next week, take care,

Everett