Selling a house is so much more than just putting some pictures on the web and hoping to find a buyer. Selling a home traditionally involves realtors, fees, repairs, timeframes, appraisals, risk and showings. If you want to skip all the extra work and stress, read on to see the top 15 benefits of accepting a cash offer on your house.
What is a Cash Offer on a House?
Just to be clear, a cash offer does differ from a conventional home sale. A cash offer is a sale where a buyer offers to purchase the house completely with cash — no financing needed.
As a seller you might think that this doesn’t make a difference — whether from a bank or from a cash offer, you get your money, right? Well, what if you are working on a tight timeframe? Buyers working with banks aren’t very flexible there. What if your home is in bad shape? The appraisal or home inspection report will surely scare away buyers.
The reality is, cash offers come with non-traditional buyers who are ready to make quick offers, pay cash for a house and avoid all the extra steps that come with a conventional home sale. Bottom line: There are many benefits to accepting a cash offer on a house.
1. Cash Offers are More Common Than you Think
A cash offer on a house might make you feel unsure simply because it’s different than a conventional offer. The reality is that cash sells happen more than you probably realize.
According to research by ATTOM Data Solutions, cash sales in the past have accounted for around 20% of single family home and condo sales in the United States.
2. Fewer Contingencies
Sometimes when selling a house you run into different contingencies that have to be met before a sale can go through. You might face a financing contingency, a sale contingency or an inspection contingency.
This means that the sale can only go through when certain steps are met by the seller of the property. Cash offers generally don’t come with any contingencies, if they have cash they are ready to make an offer and purchase your home without any strings attached.
3. It’s Faster to Get a Cash Offer on a Home
The average closing time for conventional homebuyers in the United States (as of February 2019) is 47 days. A cash offer from Gary Buys Houses for example, can close in as little as 7 days. If you need a fast closing there is no faster way than a cash offer.
4. No Appraisal Needed Usually
Whether it is a house buying company or an investor who flips home, non-traditional buyers don’t often require appraisals. Cash buyers will generally buy a house in its current condition, saving you hundreds of dollars in paying for an appraisal.
5. Closing is Easier
Closing on a home with a cash offer is much simpler. You sign over a statement, title and deed and then accept a cashiers check. The paperwork is reduced a ton and you avoid closing costs, a huge benefit of accepting a cash offer on your house.
6. Cash Offers on a Home are Usually by Experienced Investors
The usual homebuyers offering to buy a home for cash are investors who fix and flip properties, retirees putting money into real estate, or home buying companies like Gary Buys Houses.
This type of home buyer knows their stuff and is experienced at the simple cash offer process for buying a house and will make the process as easy as possible.
7. No Risk of Financing Falling Through
When you accept an offer on your home there is always a chance that the buyers will have their financing fall through. It is disappointing and a waste of time to have to start all over in the process of finding new buyers and hoping the financing works out.
With a cash offer there is no worry of buyer financing falling through.
8. You Walk Away with Cash, Clear and Simple
Less paperwork, time and energy goes into a cash offer. When you accept a cash offer on a house you are accepting a cashiers check for your home and signing over the title. It doesn’t get any easier than that.
9. Save Money on Repairs
If your home is in need of expensive or major repairs you usually would have to fix those problems before putting your home on the market. Cash offer buyers accept homes in as-is condition, no repairs needed.
If you are strapped for cash, expensive repairs just aren’t possible before selling your home. A cash offer means you can still sell your home, regardless of the condition it is in.
10. Save you From Foreclosure
If your home is heading into foreclosure due to financial difficulties then a cash offer could save your credit. If you haven’t been able to sell your home to a traditional buyer and you can’t make your mortgage then there aren’t many other options but a foreclosure. That’s where a cash buyer can save the day.
11. If you Need to Sell Quickly, Nothing is Faster Than a Cash Offer on a House.
Sell your home in as quick as 7 days — that’s the promise made at Gary Buys Houses. Cash offers are fast.
12. Saves Money on Closing
If you’re looking for a major benefit to accepting a cash offer on your home then think of how much money you will save. Money on closing costs, realtor fees, repairs, appraisals or home inspections — all of it. Cash offers save money.
13. Less Stress
Keeping your house sparkly and clean for showings, staging your house to look good in pictures, all of the things you do to sell a house can be stressful! When you accept a cash offer on a house you are getting rid of all the extra stress you don’t need to deal with to sell your home.
14. No Marketing or Showings Required
Putting your house on the market involves pictures and listings, showings and stagings. All of this is no longer necessary when you work with a cash buyer. It’s a big benefit of accepting a cash offer on a house when you know you can skip all the marketing and showing and just sell your house.
15. No Need for a Realtor
Skip the fees of a realtor and accept a cash offer on your home. Cash buyers don’t have fees or take money on the backend. They offer an upfront, clear, cash offer and that’s it.