The Markets We Buy In, With the Real Numbers
By Ed Brancheau, Co-founder, SunnyNest Homes. Reviewed by the SunnyNest family team. Updated October 2026.
SunnyNest Homes is a San Diego family. Outside San Diego County we buy in the metros below, working with local investors who already buy there. Each page opens with what that market is doing, because in most of them the honest advice is to list with a Realtor.
Every market, side by side
12-month averages through September 2026, Zillow Research.
| Metro | Days to a contract | Sale to list | Typical value | Last 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rochester, NY | 10 | 109.7% | $281,000 | up 4.9% |
| Milwaukee, WI | 23 | 100.3% | $384,000 | up 5.3% |
| Syracuse, NY | 10 | 101.5% | $269,000 | up 6.6% |
| Buffalo, NY | 14 | 102.8% | $287,000 | up 3.6% |
| Cleveland, OH | 12 | 99.7% | $250,000 | up 3.9% |
| Grand Rapids, MI | 11 | 99.8% | $356,000 | up 4.9% |
| Albany, NY | 12 | 100.8% | $373,000 | up 5.0% |
| New York, NY | 33 | 100.1% | $731,000 | up 4.9% |
| Manchester, NH | 9 | 100.4% | $517,000 | up 2.2% |
| Knoxville, TN | 27 | 98.5% | $363,000 | up 1.9% |
| Boston, MA | 14 | 100.0% | $726,000 | up 2.1% |
| Reno, NV | 25 | 99.3% | $570,000 | up 2.1% |
| Cincinnati, OH | 12 | 99.3% | $306,000 | up 2.2% |
| Baltimore, MD | 16 | 100.0% | $397,000 | up 0.4% |
| Augusta, GA | 32 | 98.9% | $250,000 | up 2.9% |
| Greensboro, NC | 23 | 98.6% | $261,000 | up 0.8% |
| Columbus, OH | 14 | 99.5% | $327,000 | up 1.3% |
| Detroit, MI | 18 | 99.6% | $264,000 | up 1.8% |
| Sacramento, CA | 22 | 99.7% | $573,000 | about flat |
| Fort Wayne, IN | 17 | 99.2% | $257,000 | up 3.6% |
| Toledo, OH | 12 | 99.7% | $202,000 | up 3.3% |
| Akron, OH | 12 | 99.8% | $240,000 | up 4.0% |
| Miami, FL | 58 | 96.3% | $477,000 | up 0.3% |
| Kansas City, MO | 12 | 99.9% | $325,000 | up 3.7% |
| Madison, WI | 20 | 99.9% | $446,000 | up 3.1% |
State guides: California and Arizona. More metros are added in batches as each one is written.
How did we pick these markets?
Every month we rank all of the roughly 900 metro areas in the country on the same screen: how fast homes sell, how close they sell to list price, whether prices are rising or falling, a typical value between about $250,000 and $900,000, and how many people there search for a cash buyer. States that restrict wholesaling are left out.
Speed and sale-to-list are 12-month averages, so a summer month never flatters a snowy city. We also count the share of homeowners aged 75 and up, because that is where most of the inherited houses and moves to care come from, and those are the sellers a direct sale most often helps.
A metro gets a page here only when the numbers are good for sellers as well as for us. A fast market is usually a market where you should list with a Realtor, and every page says so with that metro's own numbers.
Your city not listed? Send the address anyway. We will tell you honestly whether we can help.
Tell us about the property. Ed answers within 24 hours, and the day after he has the facts you get every way we could buy it, in writing, in dollars. No pressure, no obligation, and we will tell you if listing with an agent is your better move.