WESTON, Fla. – As the real estate market in South Florida continues to rebound, cash sales are becoming more common.
Shannon Muench told Local 10's Todd Tongen that she was excited to close on a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom home in Weston on Wednesday, but said buying it with a VA loan was extremely difficult.
Muench said she lost out on several homes because cash buyers swooped in. It took her and her husband more than six months to find the 4 bedroom home in Weston.
According to Muench's agent and other real estate experts, they are seeing a record number of cash sales in some South Florida neighborhoods .
"Over 57 percent of all our company deals are cash," said Liz Caldwell with EWM Realty.
"We are seeing Lighthouse Point, Miami Beach, Aventura, Sunny Isles are 75 to 80 percent cash," said Mike Pappas with Keyes Realty.
Now a real estate agent, Herman Goldszlager sold his business three and a half years ago and used the cash to buy twelve different properties. He said with a booming rental market, it was a no brainer.
"I have a choice. I can put it in the bank and have nothing returned but have my principle secure or I can have a ten plus net percent return," said Goldszlager.
But with the influx in cash, real estate agents said prices are going up.
"What used to cost 250 thousand dollars is now up to 350 thousand dollars," said Peter Zalewski with condoVultures.com.
Zalewski added that for home buyers with financing like Muench, they would need to sweeten the pot.
"If somebody is coming in with financing and they want to purchase a unit, they should expect to put 15 to 20 percent premium on the asking price in order to achieve that deal," he said.
Muench met her new neighbor Wednesday and hopes to have Thanksgiving dinner in her new home at the end of November.