Buyers Plan to Pay Cash For Real Estate

18.5% plan to pay in cash. Real estate investors are likely to be three times more active than other types of home-buyers in their local markets within the next two years, according to a nationwide survey from realtor.com operator Move Inc. Market research firm GFK Custom Research North America conducted the survey on behalf of Move from April 11-15, 2011. The survey included telephone interviews of 1,200 U.S. adults, of which about 200 were identified as real estate investors. Data was weighted by age, sex, education, race and geographic region. A third of real estate investors are planning to buy in the next 24 months, compared to 8.6 percent of typical home-buyers -- those planning to purchase a primary residence, vacation home or retirement property. Another 9.1 percent of typical home-buyers, and 28 percent of investors, plan to purchase between two and five years from now. Among the investors, half plan to hold their properties for five or more years while 11 percent expect to sell within a year of purchase, according to the survey.