by. Les Christie

In hot real estate markets all over the country, homeowners are feeling stuck: They know they can get top dollar if they sell their home, but fear they will have no place to go if they leave.

The concern: An ongoing shortage of available homes for sale in cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., has made it extremely difficult for buyers to find homes they want to move into — or can afford.

“One of the things we hear all the time is, ‘I’m afraid to sell my house because I can’t find another one,” said Glenn Kelman, CEO of real estate brokerage firm Redfin.

And the competition for the homes that are available is so intense that buyers need to bring plenty of cash to the table. In fact, all-cash deals hit a record 43% of home sales in the first quarter of this year, according to RealtyTrac.

Tim Trampedach, a 36-year-old business owner who lives in San Francisco, has seen his home’s value soar from $1.2 million to $1.6 million in the past three years. He and his wife want to move into a bigger place, but there are simply no homes within their price range in their Portrero Hill neighborhood.

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