The all-cash offer: this unicorn has become more common lately for those selling their home. In fact, research shows that cash sales of single-family homes and condos have represented up to 24 percent of sales in the United States over the last two years, with even higher percentages (up to 40 percent in the Carolinas and Southeast.

It’s quite a benefit for home sellers over a traditional sale, with advantages including a speedier closing, cost savings throughout the sale process, less risk, and lower stress overall.

Here is a closer look at what it is and why it is beneficial to sell a house for cash:

What exactly is a cash offer on a home?

The simple definition of a cash offer on a home is when the buyer offers the seller the full cost of the home without using financing, or a mortgage loan. The advantage of a buyer having these funds readily available skips over a few long, costly steps and contingencies, such as:

  • No financing is required, which means offers will not fall through.
  • No appraisal is required because the buyer doesn’t have to be approved for a mortgage loan; therefore there’s no need to determine the home’s value for the lender.

What are factors that usually lead to cash offers?

These scenarios are more likely to factor into a cash offer being made, including:

  • When a real estate investor wants to invest in properties in your area
  • When a potential buyer recently sold their home and now needs to invest those proceeds into another property
  • When a home buyer wants to stand out in this competitive sellers’ market
  • When a home is in need of major renovations and is a good option for a flip

Also keep these things in mind about cash offers:

  • They can take place in any home sale transaction, but more expensive homes are more likely to draw more cash offers.
  • The likelihood of cash offers also fluctuates on certain market conditions, such as how high or low interest rates are.

What are the benefits of accepting a cash offer?

1. The closing is faster. This is versus the slower mortgage lending process, which takes from 30 to 60 days. And if the buyer runs into a financial snafu, the lender may deny the loan and the offer falls through.

2. No appraisal or inspection necessary. This is because there is no mortgage lender involved that needs to find out if the house they’re possibly financing is worth at least the amount of the loan.

3. They’re less risky. Cash offers are stronger and less risky than offers backed by traditional financing – even if the cash offer is lower.

4. They reduce stress. Cash offers allow homeowners to skip over the home selling steps that can be the most stressful, such as cleaning, staging, repairing and upgrading (especially in older homes), showing, and negotiating at closing – plus, the piles of paperwork on top of that.

5. They can help you move quickly. If you’re going through a divorce and need to split the equity in a time crunch, need to relocate for a new job sooner than expected, or need to liquidate to avoid foreclosure, accepting a cash offer is a fast solution.

If you’re ready to list your home this fall, hire Paige Bird, the #1 South Carolina RE/MAX agent for the last eight years. In 2021 she: negotiated the sales price for her clients to get 1.27% more than the area’s MLS; sold 115 homes for a total of $33.9 million; sold 68 of those above sales price, with an average list to sales price of 99.08%; and sold listings ranging from $8500 to $1.495 million.

Contact Paige Bird today so she can sit down with you to get started in the home selling process at (843) 450-4773.