Why Ribbon Was This Family’s Only Lifeline When Buying Their Dream Home

Waiting for the frenzied seller’s market to cool down in Houston, Texas, wasn’t an option for Michael Johnson and his girlfriend, Ericka Cantu. The arrival of their baby girl earlier that year meant the couple had outgrown the home they had once shared with their two sons. They needed a bigger space — and they needed it now. 

“A lot of people had warned us that now isn’t the right time to buy a new home as the housing market is so wild,” Michael recalls. “But, given my family’s situation, now had to be the right time — we desperately needed the extra room.”

Navigating Houston’s soaring housing market was going to be no easy feat. The supply of houses is outweighed by demand, causing prices to surge to new heights in 2021. Single-family homes, for example, climbed more than 15 percent to a record annual median of $300,000, leading many hopeful buyers to put off buying a home entirely.  

“The housing market in Texas is just crazy,” Michael explained. “A house would go on the market, and the next day it’s under contract — it was normal for people to pay $15,000 or more over the asking price.”

Knowing what they were up against, the couple took a leap of faith and put their three-bedroom home on the market in July 2021. At the same time, they began their search for their dream house: a four-bedroom home in the tree-lined Houston neighborhood of Atascocita. 

However, buying a new home was contingent on selling their three-bedroom house. And, a contingent offer is something realtor Jerry Walker of eXp Realty knew would significantly hurt the family’s chances of winning a bid on any house, let alone the home of their dreams. 

“My realtor explained to us that given how fast the market is moving, the huge number of people without contingencies, and buying homes with cash, it would be exceptionally hard for us to get an offer accepted if we have a contingency,” Michael said.

Rather than placing a contingent offer, Michael’s realtor Jerry recommended they place a powerful cash offer with Ribbon’s backing instead. 

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“When we first learned about Ribbon, it almost seemed too good to be true,” Ericka Cantu said. “Ribbon would turn us into cash buyers, which is what we desperately needed to put down a competitive offer.”

So when the couple found a house that ticked all the boxes, they were eager to place an offer knowing that Ribbon would back them with cash to win. And that they did. Just two months into their home search, their offer on a house was accepted. 

“It was just everything we were looking for: four bedrooms, a three-car garage, an open floor plan, and a lot of space for the kids to play,” Michael said. 

The couple appeared to be all set to provide Ribbon with their own financing, that was until the sale of their house fell through, leaving the family fearing the worst. 

“We were just two weeks away from closing on our dream home with our own financing and one week from closing on the sale of our previous home when the buyer backed out,” Michael said. “We knew the seller of the home we wanted wasn’t going to wait for us to sell our home so we could provide our own financing,” he continues. “It was either use Ribbon Reserve or lose out on the house.”

When they couldn’t close with their own financing on closing day, Ribbon bought the home in cash and rented the house back to the couple so they could eventually buy it back at the same price. 

“Ribbon stepped in again and really saved us,” Michael said, “Even without financing, Ribbon provided us with an all-cash offer so we could finalize the sale of our new home — the home we fell in love with.” 

Ribbon bought the home back in September 2021, and by January 2022, Michael and Ericka bought their family home back. 

“Without Ribbon, we’d probably still be looking until this day,” Ericka said. “It was assuring to know that through and through, Ribbon would be there to get us the house we really wanted.”