I'm a seller. I wouldn't take 5% less. I wouldn't even take 3% less, if I'm reasonably confident that someone will pull through in the next month or two.

In a buyer's market, cash is golden, but in a sellers... not as much, I think.

Unless you're angling to buy a house that's been sitting stale in the market for awhile. Those folks are probably no longer in the "sellers" market and they just want someone to buy their home, dammit!

As a seller, an all cash buyer would have an edge with two otherwise equal offers. I don't think it will get you a discount at all.

Anonymous wrote:We're about to buy in Bethesda/Potomac, and we're fortunate to have cash on hand to buy the house (just sold our current house ...) What is that worth to a seller in percent terms? I'm thinking maybe it gets us 4-5%?

There's one place we're looking at that I think is priced on the high side - I'm hoping we can get it for 10% below asking with a combo of it being priced high and the cash offer - is that realistic?

What does your real estate agent think is a fair price. It seems like that would be the most useful information. Get your agent to find comps and find a good price to offer. You can always come up, but I'm not sure why you think having cash makes it so much more attractive and thus the seller losing thousands for getting to sell to a cash buyer.

I'm assuming OP is shopping for a cookie cutter, conforming property. It's still pretty easy to get a mortgage on those and the market is strong enough so "all cash" is not likely to get you much of a discount. Cash and limited contingencies work on non-conforming and/or overpriced properties in very slow markets.

Let's see money is money. If I had an all cash deal and they were the same offer as a financed deal, I would probably take the cash. But it doesn't go too far with me. I would certainly NOT give you a 5% discount for having cash.

Anonymous wrote:Things that can happen:
-financing fall through
-income loss of buyer
-gift letter not hold up
-no deal is done until papers signed and money deposited so a quicker close from all cash limits exposure
-pointed out to me last week-on a new build an all cash close before cert of occupancy reduces cost of money for builder [had to figure out difference between a mortgage company kickback -"preferred lender"]

And also the house might not appraise, which would open the contract back up to negotiation if the buyers have an appraisal contingency. The seller would have to weigh the chances of that happening versus $35-$40K (5% of what's probably at least a $750,000 purchase price. And when sellers have a lot of financial information from the buyers, and the listing agent is in touch with the buyers' lender, the sellers can choose to take that small risk in this lending environment of going with an offer with a loan of $40K more.

What's most likely to happen is that the buyers with the higher offer with the loan will be encouraged to waive or shorten some contingencies, because their agent will be told that they are competing with a cash offer.

Things that can happen:
-financing fall through
-income loss of buyer
-gift letter not hold up
-no deal is done until papers signed and money deposited so a quicker close from all cash limits exposure
-pointed out to me last week-on a new build an all cash close before cert of occupancy reduces cost of money for builder [had to figure out difference between a mortgage company kickback -"preferred lender"]

It also depends on your buyer. If the house is already empty and the buyers are out of state or they need to sell quickly, then cash could persuade them to take an otherwise lower offer. But many people might need a few weeks to actually move out anyway, and so a quick close won't appeal to them, especially if you aren't offering as much money. If you offer full price, I think it puts you ahead of most other buyers, but many sellers are extremely price sensitive.

maybe in 2009

Anonymous wrote:As a seller I'd much rather sell for 5% more to someone with bank financing. Odds are that the deal will go through and 5% is a whole lot of money.

This as a seller cash really doesn't have an appeal to me.

As a seller I'd much rather sell for 5% more to someone with bank financing. Odds are that the deal will go through and 5% is a whole lot of money.

All cash is attractive, of course, because of the certainty and the fact that you can close quickly. However, it wouldn't be worth so much that I would gut my sales price. If I had a very well qualified buyer with a full price offer and an all cash at a 10% discount, I'd go with the full price offer in a heartbeat.

not really, all cash buyers are builders who swoop in and overpay and recoup costs when they sell the new build. It's not really worth anything extra except for not needing an appraisal.

It depends on the price point.
4-5% could be a lot of money, and most people would probably take their chances with a bank. I know I would.

We're about to buy in Bethesda/Potomac, and we're fortunate to have cash on hand to buy the house (just sold our current house ...) What is that worth to a seller in percent terms? I'm thinking maybe it gets us 4-5%?

There's one place we're looking at that I think is priced on the high side - I'm hoping we can get it for 10% below asking with a combo of it being priced high and the cash offer - is that realistic?