Process of Selling Your House To a Cash Buyer

Real Estate Advice
selling a house to a cash home buyer

A cash buyer is not some multi-millionaire driving up to your open house with duffel bags stuffed with enough thousand dollar bills to pay your asking price. Sure, this scene might happen in the movies, but in reality, the cash buyer is a lot less glamorous–but not less valuable. If you’ve recently ask yourself “how do i sell my house as is fast” and get taken advantage of? You are in the right place, keep reading. One of the biggest positives of a cash house buyer is the lack of need for them to secure a mortgage, which saves you, the seller, a ton of time and a lot of money. Not duffel bags stuffed full of bills money, but enough to make a cash buyer attractive. If you have someone wanting to pay all-cash for your home, here’s a thorough look at what you’ll be facing when selling a house to a cash home buyer.

Thoroughly review the offer.

Is the offer too low? Maybe it’s ridiculously high? Both situations demand scrutiny. Your first step is to determine the value of your home using comps (recent prices of similar homes sold in your area) to see about where your house should be priced. If the cash offer is tens of thousands of dollars below this amount, you should definitely renegotiate the deal. The buyers may be trying to take advantage of you by waving this attractive cash offer in front of you. A cash home buyer coming in under your asking price is reasonable, since you will be saving some time and money by not having to deal with a mortgage loan. But if it’s too low, be wary.

If the cash buyer offers you tens of thousands over asking price, this should raise some eyebrows, too. Then again, if the housing market is ridiculously hot and inventory is incredibly low, there is a chance you will get multiple cash offers well above your asking price. Either way, be sure the buyer isn’t going to make this grandiose offer now then pull it back with demands for huge expensive repairs and upgrades. In the end, the gigantic offer might become a low-balling nightmare.

ACTION: HAVE A REAL ESTATE AGENT DO A COMPARATIVE MARKET ANALYSIS OF YOUR HOME SO YOU KNOW IT’S TRUE VALUE. OR INSTEAD, FEEL FREE TO SPEND A FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS TO HAVE AN APPRAISAL COMPLETED BY A PROFESSIONAL COMPANY.

Seal The Deal With Disclosures And Reports.

There’s nothing more exhilarating than selling your house for a great deal, especially for cash. But even after the deal is almost done, there’s still more work to be done. If you’re happy with the purchase price, deposit amount and the date of closing for the sale, it’s time to submit your disclosure report.

A seller’s disclosure report will determine any safety issues that might be prevalent for the new owners to live in the house. Most likely, there won’t be anything in that disclosure that makes or breaks the contract, but it’s always better to NOT try to hide things, no matter how small. If the buyer finds out you didn’t mention that there’s a small termite infestation in the attic, they might get leery and pull out of the deal. I mean, what else could you be hiding?

ACTION: GET A HOME INSPECTION BEFORE THE SALE AND SUBMIT THIS REPORT TO YOUR BUYERS. IF THE INSPECTOR FINDS ANYTHING SERIOUSLY WRONG, ODDS ARE YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF THE ISSUE ANYWAY, SO GET IT DONE EARLY ON, MAKE NECESSARY REPAIRS, THEN LET THE NEW BUYER SEE THAT REPORT. THAT WILL ONLY HELP SEAL THE DEAL.

Accept The Offer And Sign on The Dotted Line.

Congratulations! You’ve almost completed the cash sale of your house. The next step will be to meet at a title company (or escrow office or even with a real estate attorney) to sign all the documents to complete the sale. These documents will be items like the deed, settlement statement and disclosures about the property. By now, your title should be clear and the sale should be able to move forward without any hitches.

ACTION: BE SURE TO CONTACT A PROFESSIONAL WHO CAN HELP YOU WITH ALL THE NECESSARY PAPERWORK. THEY WILL TYPICALLY HAVE THEIR OWN NOTARY PUBLIC TO NOTARIZE SOME OF THE DOCUMENTS.

Finally, here are some advantages of dealing with a cash buyer:

  • Less paperwork – There’s no loan docs to sign!
  • Less stress – Solid offers mean less chance the sale falls through!
  • Quicker sale process – No lender means quicker turn-around!

Selling a house to a cash home buyer is one of the better ways to move your property as long as you know the ins and outs described above. With the amount of cash buyers increasing and the fact that over 75% of sellers are willing to accept up to 10% less for their homes, now you know that you’ll be the one with the advantage.