Anna and Kevin's Story: Navigating a Competitive Market

After moving from Tennessee in 2018, Anna and Kevin Hays weren’t sure their dream of buying a home in the San Francisco Bay Area was realistic.

In this market, competition and low inventory make for high prices, and even optimistic home shoppers often see themselves outbid several times over.

Anna, a critical care nurse, and Kevin, a battery engineer, were convinced that they would have to sacrifice their needs and settle for a smaller home, outside their preferred area of Fremont.

Then they heard about how Landed, and our down payment program, helps essentials professionals buy homes.

Intrigued but uncertain, they started looking into what partnering with Landed would mean.

“As first-time homebuyers, we had a lot of questions,” Kevin said. “I didn’t understand exactly how the financing worked and it sounded too good to be true.”

Anna, Kevin, and their dog Monty in front of her new home in Fremont, CA.

They had explored other down payment options but none matched Landed, and their income was a little too high to qualify for other assistance programs. In short, they were in a tough spot and not sure what to do. Fortunately, they talked to a former coworker, whose partner had worked with Landed a few years back.

“The process wasn’t entirely clear,” Kevin said. “So getting a past customer to vouch for Landed made a big difference.”

Soon they were shopping for homes and found Landed was able to work around their busy schedules to meet and explain everything they needed to know about homebuying, all in digestible pieces.

And their real estate agent, who is part of the Landed partner network, knew to move quickly in the competitive market.

“We could see properties at the drop of a hat, which is important given how quickly offers are accepted,” Anna said. “And all of the recommendations we received from Landed and our agent were on point.”

Even after the couple made offers on eight homes they didn’t get, they found their Landed team to be just as committed as they were to finding a place of their own.

Soon enough, they found a bright and airy home in Fremont, a short bike ride away from both of their jobs. The three-bedroom home has plenty of space for visiting family, a yard for their 6-year-old rescue dog Morty, and a workshop that Kevin has claimed for bike upkeep.

Sharing in the down payment with Landed helped them afford to buy in the location they wanted, and spared them additional costs, like waiving contingencies. Without Landed, they would have had fewer options, in fewer areas, they say.

“You don’t need to totally sacrifice on location – Landed makes it possible,” Kevin said.

Now, the couple is telling other essential professionals about Landed and is thankful they heard about us. They do warn, however, that if you are buying in a red-hot real estate market, you’ll need patience.

“The process of homebuying was exhausting at times,” Anna said. “But with Landed, it felt like we had a friend helping us with each step of the process.”