It has become more difficult to buy a home in Central Florida.Cash buyers or even big-money-backed companies are swooping in on sales.”I think it’s the American dream to have a home right now. But sometimes I feel like that has become an American nightmare,” says Byron Ruiz. Ruiz runs Bymar Shoes and Orthotics in Winter Park. He has been working hard to buy a home but keeps hitting dead ends.”I found a house that I like, and then I put an offer on it, even though it’s a few thousand more than the asking price, just to find out a few hours later, that I’ve been over bid, by another buyer — a cash offer,” according to Ruiz.And it’s not the first time.Ruiz told WESH 2 News, “it happened to me three times. I put an offer on three different homes, just to find out that later on I was overbid by a cash buyer from another place.”Real estate investors are buying homes with cash to then rent them out. This isn’t new, but it has become more noticeable with fewer houses for sale. It’s making homeownership more difficult for many first-time buyers.”I stopped looking for houses for now,” says Ruiz.The National Association of Realtors estimates that this year about 2.5 million American families won’t be able to buy their first homes.”What you’re seeing is single-family rental home companies coming into markets where the demand for single-family rental housing is the greatest. And Orlando, frankly, is at the top of that list,” said David Howard. Howard is the Executive Director of the National Rental Home Council or NRHC. He sees investors setting their sights on Central Florida. The Orlando region led the nation in job growth, according to the Orlando Economic Partnership, for each of the past four years. And the population growth in the Orlando region was the second highest of any large city in the country. Howard explains, “it’s a very vibrant, very strong market where people are moving in where people want to live, where companies want to relocate, and where current companies want to expand”The National Rental Home Council found seniors and empty nesters are looking for single-family rental homes. But Millenials are really driving this trend, particularly Millennials with young families and young children.Most of the single-family rental homes we found on websites for several companies are priced between $2,000 and $2,700 a month. A 3-bedroom 2-bath rental in Maitland was listed for rent at $2,695 a month. WESH 2 News worked with a licensed realtor and a mortgage broker to estimate this home would likely list to sell for about $399,000. The broker worked up the numbers based on a conventional fixed-rate loan for someone with good credit, including the taxes and insurance, and the payment to buy is roughly $2,780 a month. Just an $85 difference.Ruiz is ready for a consistent mortgage payment that doesn’t rise year after year like his current rent. For now, he’ll keep saving for his down payment. “I’m gonna give it another year, probably until next summer, to see how the market is going and start from there,” he says.NRHC says there’s a silver lining for existing homeowners as this current rental situation is causing property values to rise.If you are looking to buy, some lenders are offering to help individuals compete with companies with a cash-like offer, but keep in mind it will likely cost extra. That means the monthly mortgage payment will be higher. Ask your mortgage broker about this option might be right for you.LINKS:Buying Your First Home: A Step-by-Step Guide – Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association How to Compete with Cash Offers When Buying a House Tips for Beating All-Cash Home Buying Offers

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