Siblings Kristy and Jason Nemetz and their mother, Christel Nemetz, decided this spring they wanted to buy a home together. With the housing market so hot, they thought offering cash might be the only way to get one.
The Nemetzes pooled their funds, including money from the sale of homes they had previously lived in, and bid on a house near where Kristy and Christel live in South Dakota. Their real-estate agent told them there were seven other offers. The sellers picked the Nemetzes in part because they offered cash for the house, which went for more than $500,000. That meant they didn’t need to wait around for a lender to approve a mortgage.