When Jacob Fuerst and his wife decided to leave North Carolina for a job opportunity in New Hampshire last year, they knew it would be hard to find something that would compare to the 3,000 square-foot home they were leaving behind. But they were confident—after all, they had already bought and sold three homes during their life together, when they moved for his career in engineering, from Chicago to Huntsville, Alabama, to Salisbury, North Carolina, and now to the Granite State. They didn't know it would be this hard, though.
The 40-year-old Fuerst—along with his wife, two kids, and their dogs—was always able to find an affordable house to buy on a reasonable timeline, using the sale of the previous home to buy the next. But this time is different, he says. “I’ve worked my entire life, I’m not asking for the moon,” Fuerst tells Fortune. “I should be able to afford a house that is big enough for my family.”
