WESTERVILLE--Westerville residents Alex and Heather Moore are growing as a family and looking to sell their starter home and upgrade.

• Buying a new home in a competitive market can be challenging.
• The Columbus market has experienced a shortage of homes combined with increasing prices in recent months.
• In December Central Ohio saw biggest home sale decline in a decade. 

“We have a son on the way so that starter home was a good basis for, here's our first home buying experience and then I think is important as well, you learn what you like or dislike about a house.” You have to have a nice little sweet spot of what's enough house for us verses what we can afford,” says Westerville resident and prospective home buyer, Alex Moore.

To their surprise after several months of searching, the market continues to be quite aggressive for buyers.

“She'll send me a few houses that she really enjoys, that kind of meet our criteria, and then within three days they're already in contract. So for the sellers i'm sure that's a huge advantage and kind of as a buyer, you have to be really ready to pull the trigger the moment you see something that you enjoy,” says Moore.

In Central Ohio its fact there are fewer homes to chose from and lower affordability for buyers.

Last month, homes in the Columbus area saw a drop of 2.2%, the most in 10 years.

And the median home price now stands at almost $200,000.

So what are families in Central Ohio looking for?

“They want something that is in a community that offers what their family is looking for, whether its sports, whether its recreation, whether its schools, things of that nature,” says Re/Max Impact Realtor Sara Walsh.

“We're not gonna want to travel, so I think having a house where we have a larger kitchen, larger area to entertain a lot of the family I think is very crucial,” says Alex Moore.

And the long time realtor says before you schedule a home visit, make sure you have the following information in hand.

“Have your financing in order, have a pre-approval letter ready with a trusted lender and know exactly what you want so when you find that home that meets your needs, you're not shy to put that offer on the table and try to get it before all the other buyers decide to,” says Walsh.

Walsh says she anticipates an aggressive spring and summer in the housing market, especially with upcoming interest rate hikes.

And as for sellers, Walsh says to have your house well prepared when you bring it on the market...work with your Realtor and stage it properly, get rid of any clutter and fix up any kicks on the wall.

As for the Moore's, well they have a unique situation, but they're still looking forward to signing on the dotted line.

“We're fortunate to own a home already so we don't have to by any means move out quickly or anything, we're not in a rent situation where our lease is coming due but we're just looking for the right fit for us and hopefully we find it,” says Heather Moore.