First-time homebuyers struggle in Bend’s booming real estate market

Long-time resident details struggle to purchase new home in seller's market.

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Devin Lakovics says she’s ready to buy her first home.

“At this stage in my life, it’s the next best investment for me, to build equity,” Lakovics told NewsChannel 21 on Tuesday. “I’m sure we’ve all been in a position where we’ve rented, and I don’t want to pay someone else’s mortgage.”

The problem is, she doesn’t even get the chance to make a real offer.

Lokovics said she’s already pre-qualified for a loan, and fits the bill for a good buyer, but she’s struggled for about 18 months to buy a new home in Bend.

“What I’m finding is, I’m not even having opportunities to put in offers,” she said. “I’ll try to write one up -- and before it can be submitted, a cash offer is accepted.”

Lakovics said she’s been able to get in three offers on houses across Bend. On two of them, she lost out to all-cash offers.

She said she’s put in more offers, but the houses already have sales pending by the time she can put hers in, sometimes even above the asking price.

And the pandemic, she said, is only making things worse.

“While it’s always been competitive in Bend, that’s always been the case, I've never seen anything like this, where things are pending before you can even see them online,” Lokovics said.

This is a fairly recent trend, Samantha Osborne, a broker with Fred Real Estate Group, told NewsChannel 21.

"Maybe this summer were looking at about 30 percent cash (offers), and last summer maybe 10-20 percent," she said.

It’s an unfortunate reality for a long-time Bend resident like Lakovics.

“I feel like I shouldn’t have to make the sacrifice to live somewhere I don’t want to live," she said. "This is my home -- this is where my heart is.”