A New Place To Call Your Own That’s Also a Great Investment: Buying a Gig Harbor Home in a Competitive Market

Step aside, California and Oregon, Gig Harbor is the Pacific Coast’s new Black. Washington state’s little maritime gem on the Puget Sound is having to fight off prospective home buyers with a stick. Such is the demand for homes in the area that this is almost permanently a seller’s market.

If you’re on the prowl for a great piece of real estate, haul out your old-fashioned pen and notebook, and start taking notes.

Why is a Gig Harbor home in such demand?

In a nutshell:

• Proximity to Seattle and related opportunities
• Picturesque and quaint - quality of life
• Demand has outstripped supply

In detail:

Arguably, the most visible reason is the proximity to the Seattle-Tacoma metro area. A small community that allows people to get away but is also close enough for creature comforts is a trend often seen in petite boutique communities with a nearby city. Gig Harbor is filled with old-world maritime charm, in a great setting - not too near, not too far from the convenience and bustle of the big city.

This offers a myriad of opportunities: far less traffic, hybrid work-from-home/shuttle-to-the-Seattle-office dynamics, proximity to some of the Pacific Northwest's mover-and-shaker companies, all of it neatly wrapped in an investment that’s unlikely to depreciate in the coming decades.

This has led to the growth of bedroom communities that the local government calls ‘suburban-style development’ on the town's periphery, driving up demand. The challenge is balancing growth with maintaining the historic nature of the town’s maritime past, and this cautious approach means that demand continues to outstrip supply.

Of course, the unintended consequence of this is a marketing trend as old as the hills: the covetous nature of humans to desire and pursue that which we cannot have. If an area is in high demand and short supply, the scarcity principle kicks in, driving up demand and price.

Snap it up before it’s gone.

According to data analysed over time, a home in Pierce County (where Gig Harbor is located) can sell in as little as two weeks or as long as two months. Either way, that’s much shorter than the national average, which can be between four and six months.

This means you won’t have much time for hand-wringing and long-haul decisions. Pretty much, by the time you’ve seen the pad, you need to be almost ready to buy it, before it gets snapped up by someone else.

Now, that doesn’t mean good sense should just fly out of the window. Astute locals who know their homes are desirable and that prices are buoyant will naturally want you to commit quickly.

This leads us to our next point:

Do your homework

Unless you have a million dollars lying around (which you might), chances are fair that buying a home, second home, holiday, investment, or otherwise, is still a significant life decision, with major life-altering consequences. It could eat up a substantial portion of your cash reserves, put you in over your head with escrow or a mortgage, or cause tension in the family.

As they say, buying a home has the same levels of stress as the 4Ds - death (especially someone close to you), divorce (for obvious reasons), disease (think of the financial or health implications), and/or departure (changing jobs, moving cities).

Knowing what you want, what you can afford, and where you are in the period of your life - these are all essential things to think over, but in a market where you might only have 60 days to do it, that can be a stretch.

Here are some homework essentials to consider:

• What can or can’t you live without? Number of bedrooms, bathrooms, pool, patio, fireplace, ocean view, quiet neighbours, big lawn, parking garage, kitchen size, and so forth.
• Have you seen something that you get a good sense of? Did you see a photo that did it for you? Did you drive through the neighborhood or down the road past the actual house? Were you able to picture you and yours in that space?
• Will you have access to your faves: food, groceries, gym, other activities? Does the weather agree with you?

Being prepared will give you a quiet confidence over the other bidders in the market. Sellers will subtly pick up on it and be drawn to your relative certainty and decisiveness. Obviously, fears and doubts remain, but they occur on both sides.

There’s always an asking price and a selling price.

Of course, you never want to go into negotiations wasting anyone’s time, but in many cases, there’s always a bit of leeway between what the seller wants and what the buyer is willing to offer. Building rapport with the seller, being friendly and courteous, and respecting their time and space when you view all go a long way toward making you a memorable buyer.

As they say, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. We’re reminded of the time in the TV series when Will and Grace went to view Sandra Bernhardt’s apartment (just because they wanted to meet her), and they put on such a charm offensive that she then offered it to them because she liked them. Of course, who can forget the hilarious consequences of her realizing they were fraudsters!

Shimmy up to a local

Communities filled with cliques and NIMBY-naysayers who don’t like the ‘foreign’ invasion of their undiscovered gem may not take an instant liking to you. Fear not, o ye of real estate faith: you can always find someone to connect to, who can help you with Gig Harbor homes for sale.

A like-minded soccer mom, the local priest, the gas station attendant who likes striking up conversations, the waitress in the diner - build connections as you go, and get the scoop on what’s going down. Of course, this means taking a trip or five to Gig Harbor - or loving a local who can keep an eye out for you and give you the skinny on what’s going down :).

When it comes to buying a little pied-a-terre in Gig Harbor, be ready to do battle. But remember, as in all cases, persistent intent wins the day.