You made an offer on your third home, and your agent said the sellers liked your offer, but a cash offer was the winning offer. With a little more investigation your realtor learns that the offer that won was from an out-of-town buyer.
Like many realtors my phone rings weekly with people from the west and east coast looking to purchase a home in the Midwest. The reasoning is that the average home cost here in Indiana is much lower than the coastal regions. This influx of out of towners is contributing to the rise in home prices.
These deep pocketers are slowly pushing local home prices up, and thus making it more difficult for first time home buyers to get their foot into the door of their first home.
Many of the out-of-town buyers I speak with can purchase and move here due to their modified working conditions. Many of these buyers are working remotely from home due to the pandemic. The last buyer I met with from California said, “I can move here purchase a home and my company doesn’t care where I’m located, just as long as I can do my work”. A smaller portion of these buyers are retirees. One woman said, “I could sale my home, buy a home in Indy, and still have a large sum for my retirement”.
This influx of buyers from out of town seems to be mostly from the west coast. When these buyers see how affordable homes are in this part of the country they begin to salivate. They wet their chops, and dive in headfirst looking to buy.
I understand how frustrating it is to lose out when you are so close to getting into the home of your dreams. It’s difficult for local buyers, and especially first-timers to compete! Talk with your agent about how you can be as competitive as possible when coming up against these buyers.
By. R. Jones
