BOISE, Idaho — The Boise housing market is ultra-competitive. It's raising prices and frustrations, especially for young local families looking to buy a home in the same city where they grew up.
That competition is fueling the creativity of one Boise family.
Justin and Robyn Parrish have been looking to buy or rent a house for themselves and their three young kids - Kinsley, Blake and Ford.
However, their search for just the right home in Boise has not gone well. Robyn Parris said she felt compelled to make a sign in an effort to convince people to sell or rent to them.
“It's kind of a shot in the dark, I realize that,” she said. “It’s' quickly become impossible to buy here.”
The sign sits out front of the home they are renting in Boise's North End. The Parrish family loves living in the North End and they want to continue living there.
Their lease is up at the end of May and the owners want to move into the house. So, the Parrish family needs a new place to live.
The sign Parrish put up shows a picture of the family and it states they need help finding a home. It also notes that they are a native Boise family hoping to continue raising their young family in the North End, but they are struggling to compete in the current market.
“It’s been increasingly difficult to try to find a home that we can stay in long term," Parrish said. "Even rentals, when we look at those options there just is not much that is available, especially for five of us."
The frustrations of constantly being outbid for homes prompted Parrish to put up the sign, with the hopes that a kind-hearted person will see it.
“I feel like it was something God had given me and I just prayed on it for a while and I think I'm supposed to make a sign and my husband was like, ‘what?'" she said. "Our realtor was like ‘what are you going to do?’"
She thought it wouldn’t hurt to try so she decided to go for it. They're one of many families struggling to compete in the current housing market.
“One word I would use to describe our current market would be fast,” Boise Regional Realtors Jeffrey Wills said. “It’s fast but not impossible.”
Right now, existing homes average 10 days on the market in Ada County.
That's nearly 70% faster compared to last year. At the same time, the median sales price of a home in Ada County is sitting at $452,000.
“I think the big thing is just the lack of resources around housing,” Wills said.
When there is a limited supply, that can lead to more competition.
“If there's a lower supply of inventory, that very likely will see multiple offers on a home and then it comes down to what any buyer is willing to pay for any asset,” Wills said.
His advice for would-be buyers is to work with a realtor to come up with a strategy.
“I do think there are options," he said. "You might have to look outside the scope a little bit, you might have to have a two-purchase approach."
Parrish hopes her family gets a little lucky and the right person, with the right home, sees her sign - and wants to sell to someone local instead of an out-of-state buyer.
“We're just hoping to find that,” she said.
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