Should I Take a Cash Offer on My House?

By: Jan Hajek | Date Posted: November 11, 2021

Selling your home can be a stressful process filled with open house events and arduous negotiations. There are mountains of paperwork to manage, while also keeping an eye on the market value of your home.

The best thing that can happen is for a buyer to make a cash offer on a house. That would be because real estate is in the perfect place right now where you just think to yourself “I need to sell my house fast.

If they do this, then all that stress and hardship disappear. Instead of working with agencies and organizations, you are just working with a person who has a lot of cash. Making cash offers is also becoming more common as the housing market gets more competitive.

Keep reading below to learn more about the benefits of cash offers on homes!
By HomeLight

Most Home Sellers Prefer a Cash Offer On a House

Usually, home sellers prefer potential buyers to make cash offers on homes. Of course, most people don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars lying around to spend on a new home. So, most people need to go through a lender to buy their house.

Lenders usually have all kinds of stipulations associated with the home-buying process. They may want the home to be appraised and inspected before it is purchased. They may even want mortgage insurance on the loan, complicating the process.

With cash offers, sellers and buyers don’t need to bother with the hassle mortgages can bring. Instead, they can just hand over the money and receive the deed. There is still a home-buying process to exchange the property, but it goes a lot faster.

Using Cash Makes Selling a Home Simple

When getting a mortgage, the bank it’s coming from becomes a part of the selling process. They usually have their own policies when it comes to handing a seller the money. They may require the seller to follow protocols, and it can take weeks before sellers ever see any funds from the sale.

They also usually appear at the actual transaction, when papers are signed and the property is formally handed off. But with a cash transaction, there are no middlemen to deal with. The buyer and seller just need to sign the paperwork and the deal is done.

More People Are Using Cash In Today’s Market

Cash In

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. housing market has fundamentally changed. Federal programs benefitting first-time homebuyers created a surge of people flooding the market. Meanwhile, supply chain issues created a shortage of materials to build new homes.

As a result, sellers of existing houses saw huge price increases as people raced to buy them. Many people were offering cash as a way to incentivize sellers to pick them over other buyers. Cash transactions became a tool in bidding wars, helping people win out over others.

As a result, sellers now are in a place where they can weigh more than just the actual profit they stand to make by selling a house. They can also decide if they want the process to be fast or slow. They can even choose how much responsibility they want over the closing process.

The COVID-19 Pandemic Changed Everything About Real Estate

COVID-19 Pandemic

The real estate market has fundamentally shifted in the U.S. because of the pandemic. Prices are starting to settle after the sudden surge as more people looked for homes. But those prices are settling in unexpected areas of the world.

More homes are being bought up in Appalachia and in the outskirts of cities. Traditionally, homes in huge metropolises like New York City have seen the highest demand. But now, areas like Knoxville and Chattanooga are seeing a huge spike in demand.

This means that if you’re not in a huge metropolitan area, you can still make a massive profit on your home. More buyers are flocking to suburban areas outside of cities, and your town could be next to be hit by the wave.

There Are Two Kinds of Buyers Who Use Cash

Cash is not the typical kind of exchange when buying a home. Typically, buyers rely on mortgage lenders to provide the funds they need to purchase a new home. But when people make a cash offer on the house, it usually means they’re serious about buying it.

It means they have the resources to buy the home, and it means they want it.

Some Professional Home Flippers Buy Homes With Cash

One type of person who makes a cash offer is the professional home flipper. This kind of person is constantly on the lookout for cheap homes with obvious issues that they can repair. Often, they look for homes that mortgage lenders may not even allow buyers to purchase.

By making a cash offer on the home, they’re not interested in living in it. They usually expect to make a bunch of repairs and upgrades to the structure. Then, when the market increases in demand and prices rise, they may sell it.

This way, they can sell it for a higher price than they bought it for. Most of the time, they end up recouping the money they spent buying it and making the repairs. And if the market heats up as it has recently, home buyers can make thousands of dollars in profit.

Why Get a Mortgage If You’re Wealthy?

The other type of person who offers cash to buy a home is usually insanely wealthy. These are people who may have been born into a wealthy family and therefore have lots of resources just lying around. Their credit is likely impeccable, and they probably have personal reasons for buying your home.

And since they don’t need to work with a mortgage lender, their offers are usually more appealing to sellers. They pose less of a risk and can offer immediate profit.

Closing Becomes A Lot More Simple With Cash Offers

Closing Property

Closing on a home is usually a weeks-long process involving mountains and paperwork and tons of people in suits. Sellers and buyers need to agree on the terms of the sale before sellers provide title documents. Then, an escrow agent needs to sign off on the exchange of funds and the transfer of the property.

Usually, they also need to look over all the requirements that come with the mortgage lender. This can include requirements to provide proof of home insurance, appraisals, and other paperwork. But all those requirements disappear if a person makes a cash offer.

Instead of taking weeks, closing on a house can take a matter of days.

If Someone Offers Cash on Your Home It’s a Good Sign

Making a cash offer on a house is a sign that a person has the resources to buy the home and genuinely wants it. They may want to resell it later or they may be interested in purchasing their fourth home. But none of that matters to sellers — they’re just interested in the money.

And cash offers are the best kinds of money you can get when it comes to selling a home. And to learn more about what it’s like to sell your home, just keep reading our website!

Thank you for reading!

Jan Hajek
 

I am an experienced writer. I write about home improvement topics such as construction, electrical work, plumbing, security and safety, interior design, exterior design, tools and woodworking, gardening, and garage organization. I love helping people improve their homes and make them more enjoyable places to live.

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