Author Topic: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?  (Read 1401 times)

jeromedawg

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Hey guys,

So we're in the middle of offers/counteroffers on our place and a highly favorable all cash offer came in (well above asking price and beating all current competition) from an LLC/entity. The next best offer, which we've countered with highest/best price along with an agreement to pay the difference in value if the home appraises for less (they have not yet gotten around to discussing with their agent at this point), is about $10k under at this point but they were committing around 50% of a downpayment. This is an individual - not sure if they're an investor or buying for family, or a combination of both.
It seems the risk going with an all cash buyer is that the cash buyer has the leverage pull out relatively quickly if they see another home they like and want - less trouble on their side having to worry about going through appraisals.

If the second highest offer comes back either matching or beating the cash offer AND accepting the terms of paying for the difference in appraisal value IF the home appraises for less, is it *safer* going with them over the all cash offer?

Just trying to understand the options and navigate. We still need to work through it and discuss with our realtor but this is fresh (within the past 15 minutes) and he's busy today (much of this is probably discussions with other realtors/agents about our property). So just trying to get a second/third/etc opinion.


TIA!
« Last Edit: August 19, 2020, 12:50:26 PM by jeromedawg »

secondcor521

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2020, 12:57:52 PM »
There's always a risk of the buyer not performing - either by changing their mind or by not being able to complete the buying process.

There are possibly more, but there are two ways I know of to mitigate this risk.  First, by having the buyer put earnest money in escrow that is forfeited to the seller in case of nonperformance.  Second, by allowing the house to continue to be marketed and negotiate other offers.

So if you're worried about the all cash buyer (or any buyer) walking, ask them to put up a significant amount of earnest money.

In my state, earnest money and the related clauses are written into the standard real estate contract template that everyone uses, but they can be modified and negotiated.

I have no suggestions or advice on how to negotiate in your situation or which offer is better - that's highly subjective anyway I think.

Good luck.

jeromedawg

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2020, 01:03:39 PM »
There's always a risk of the buyer not performing - either by changing their mind or by not being able to complete the buying process.

There are possibly more, but there are two ways I know of to mitigate this risk.  First, by having the buyer put earnest money in escrow that is forfeited to the seller in case of nonperformance.  Second, by allowing the house to continue to be marketed and negotiate other offers.

So if you're worried about the all cash buyer (or any buyer) walking, ask them to put up a significant amount of earnest money.

In my state, earnest money and the related clauses are written into the standard real estate contract template that everyone uses, but they can be modified and negotiated.

I have no suggestions or advice on how to negotiate in your situation or which offer is better - that's highly subjective anyway I think.

Good luck.

Thanks! Forgot to mention, regarding the earnest money, the amount we have put in as a base guideline is at least 3%, which both parties have met

secondcor521

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #3 on: August 19, 2020, 01:49:38 PM »
There's always a risk of the buyer not performing - either by changing their mind or by not being able to complete the buying process.

There are possibly more, but there are two ways I know of to mitigate this risk.  First, by having the buyer put earnest money in escrow that is forfeited to the seller in case of nonperformance.  Second, by allowing the house to continue to be marketed and negotiate other offers.

So if you're worried about the all cash buyer (or any buyer) walking, ask them to put up a significant amount of earnest money.

In my state, earnest money and the related clauses are written into the standard real estate contract template that everyone uses, but they can be modified and negotiated.

I have no suggestions or advice on how to negotiate in your situation or which offer is better - that's highly subjective anyway I think.

Good luck.

Thanks! Forgot to mention, regarding the earnest money, the amount we have put in as a base guideline is at least 3%, which both parties have met

You can always ask for more, and make it tougher for them to get their money back if they fail to perform by eliminating contingencies.  Of course it's all negotiable and you can lose buyers if you push too hard.

jeromedawg

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #4 on: August 19, 2020, 01:50:08 PM »
So our realtor is planning to counter the highest offer with a home inspection period of 10 days. The offer they made was with a home inspection period of 14 days. He's not as inclined to bump up the earnest money deposit any more and thinks that shortening the home inspection will get them to put more 'skin in the game' as far as time/resources are concerned. Hopefully it works out. There's still a chance the other offer could come back higher so not sure how we would navigate it if that were to happen. Already we're above what our expected price point was so I don't want to get too much more greedy.

secondcor521

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #5 on: August 19, 2020, 01:53:53 PM »
Oh, another idea for you.

Once we sold a house FSBO, and it was actually nicer, I thought, to deal directly with the buyers rather than have everything go through the agents.  One of the benefits that we found was that we could say to the buyers, "Hey, we're worried about this" or "We really want *this* but are flexible on *that*" and simply ask the buyers how they would address our concerns and priorities.  In some cases, they came up with ideas that were even better than what we thought of.

It sounds like you have agents in this situation, but you could still do the same sort of idea - reach out to the buyers and express your concerns and what's important to you and what you're flexible on, and see what they come up with.  Maybe you can contact them directly, maybe it has to go through the agents, but either way, it could work.

jeromedawg

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #6 on: August 19, 2020, 01:58:46 PM »
Oh, another idea for you.

Once we sold a house FSBO, and it was actually nicer, I thought, to deal directly with the buyers rather than have everything go through the agents.  One of the benefits that we found was that we could say to the buyers, "Hey, we're worried about this" or "We really want *this* but are flexible on *that*" and simply ask the buyers how they would address our concerns and priorities.  In some cases, they came up with ideas that were even better than what we thought of.

It sounds like you have agents in this situation, but you could still do the same sort of idea - reach out to the buyers and express your concerns and what's important to you and what you're flexible on, and see what they come up with.  Maybe you can contact them directly, maybe it has to go through the agents, but either way, it could work.

Good to know! This is our first time ever selling a home, so kinda just learning as we go. We have committed to our realtor/friend who is really good at what he does and puts a ton of thought and effort into it. At first it was a bit slow and discouraging but the 'hard work' is showing now. Just *crossing fingers* that it'll work out.
The current highest bidder is an LLC, so not exactly sure who we're dealing with. They may not be as "warm" approaching directly. Either way, I feel more comfortable having our realtor 'field' all those items.

But perhaps in the future, we'll consider FSBO :)

secondcor521

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #7 on: August 19, 2020, 02:15:05 PM »
Oh, another idea for you.

Once we sold a house FSBO, and it was actually nicer, I thought, to deal directly with the buyers rather than have everything go through the agents.  One of the benefits that we found was that we could say to the buyers, "Hey, we're worried about this" or "We really want *this* but are flexible on *that*" and simply ask the buyers how they would address our concerns and priorities.  In some cases, they came up with ideas that were even better than what we thought of.

It sounds like you have agents in this situation, but you could still do the same sort of idea - reach out to the buyers and express your concerns and what's important to you and what you're flexible on, and see what they come up with.  Maybe you can contact them directly, maybe it has to go through the agents, but either way, it could work.

Good to know! This is our first time ever selling a home, so kinda just learning as we go. We have committed to our realtor/friend who is really good at what he does and puts a ton of thought and effort into it. At first it was a bit slow and discouraging but the 'hard work' is showing now. Just *crossing fingers* that it'll work out.
The current highest bidder is an LLC, so not exactly sure who we're dealing with. They may not be as "warm" approaching directly. Either way, I feel more comfortable having our realtor 'field' all those items.

But perhaps in the future, we'll consider FSBO :)

Yeah, not trying to sell you on selling FSBO, but more on the idea of reaching out to the buyers and opening a dialogue with them.  Sometimes agents don't like you doing this because they're afraid you'll mess things up and they'll lose the sale.

Even if it's an LLC, there's a person there somewhere who's making the decisions.  But I'm guessing that your agent wanting to maintain control and you being OK with that is more of an obstacle to reaching out than the LLC aspect of it.

Oh, and the house we sold FSBO was the third time we had sold a home, so we were pretty familiar with the process.  We were also comfortable doing our own staging, marketing and negotiating.  For a first-timer and/or someone who prefers less DIY an agent makes a lot of sense.

jeromedawg

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #8 on: August 19, 2020, 02:43:02 PM »
Oh, another idea for you.

Once we sold a house FSBO, and it was actually nicer, I thought, to deal directly with the buyers rather than have everything go through the agents.  One of the benefits that we found was that we could say to the buyers, "Hey, we're worried about this" or "We really want *this* but are flexible on *that*" and simply ask the buyers how they would address our concerns and priorities.  In some cases, they came up with ideas that were even better than what we thought of.

It sounds like you have agents in this situation, but you could still do the same sort of idea - reach out to the buyers and express your concerns and what's important to you and what you're flexible on, and see what they come up with.  Maybe you can contact them directly, maybe it has to go through the agents, but either way, it could work.

Good to know! This is our first time ever selling a home, so kinda just learning as we go. We have committed to our realtor/friend who is really good at what he does and puts a ton of thought and effort into it. At first it was a bit slow and discouraging but the 'hard work' is showing now. Just *crossing fingers* that it'll work out.
The current highest bidder is an LLC, so not exactly sure who we're dealing with. They may not be as "warm" approaching directly. Either way, I feel more comfortable having our realtor 'field' all those items.

But perhaps in the future, we'll consider FSBO :)

Yeah, not trying to sell you on selling FSBO, but more on the idea of reaching out to the buyers and opening a dialogue with them.  Sometimes agents don't like you doing this because they're afraid you'll mess things up and they'll lose the sale.

Even if it's an LLC, there's a person there somewhere who's making the decisions.  But I'm guessing that your agent wanting to maintain control and you being OK with that is more of an obstacle to reaching out than the LLC aspect of it.

Oh, and the house we sold FSBO was the third time we had sold a home, so we were pretty familiar with the process.  We were also comfortable doing our own staging, marketing and negotiating.  For a first-timer and/or someone who prefers less DIY an agent makes a lot of sense.

Yea, the whole process feels daunting, especially the negotiations part. One buyer already backed out (they had a pretty decent offer) because they were getting flustered over the bidding war that ensued. Their agent claimed they were not 'accustomed' to this from where they're from but part of me wonders how you can't be in the know trying to get your foot into one of the most desirable places to live in Southern California :T

I don't intend on moving much, but if I ever do get into the landlord/RE Investing scene more, I'm sure this may come up. I wonder if it would even make sense to go for an RE License for that matter...

srad

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #9 on: August 19, 2020, 05:41:36 PM »
Every buyer can back out.  Every buyer can fade on their price.  Its how buying and selling goes.  This is a very emotional process and having a day or two to think about it changes peoples minds. 

You can increase the escrow, but if they back out prior to the end of their inspection period they get it all back anyway.  If they say no to the shortening of the inspection period i wouldn't sweat it.  You never know whats going to show up and getting people out there especially now with Covid, its going to take longer than normal.

Going with LLC vs non LLC is a mute point.  LLC money cashes the same as a person.  If you are in a more expensive area (which i think you are), LLC's are going to be a lot more common.  Shoot, I just sold my primary residence last year and the people bought it through an LLC, these buyers were rich, really rich... I looked up their house, the homes in their area start at 5 million..   They bought my house for their son to live in while he goes to college. 

Things i look for in an offer in order of importance for me:
1. Who's the highest.
2. Who has the strongest potential to close - this via all cash, strong down payment
3. Who's most likely not going to fade on the price.  But in this market if they do try to fade, all you say is pound sand (politely).
4. if all else is close, do i like one party more than another, but the offers have to be damn close for me to get down to #4

jeromedawg

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #10 on: August 19, 2020, 05:48:36 PM »
Every buyer can back out.  Every buyer can fade on their price.  Its how buying and selling goes.  This is a very emotional process and having a day or two to think about it changes peoples minds. 

You can increase the escrow, but if they back out prior to the end of their inspection period they get it all back anyway.  If they say no to the shortening of the inspection period i wouldn't sweat it.  You never know whats going to show up and getting people out there especially now with Covid, its going to take longer than normal.

Going with LLC vs non LLC is a mute point.  LLC money cashes the same as a person.  If you are in a more expensive area (which i think you are), LLC's are going to be a lot more common.  Shoot, I just sold my primary residence last year and the people bought it through an LLC, these buyers were rich, really rich... I looked up their house, the homes in their area start at 5 million..   They bought my house for their son to live in while he goes to college. 

Things i look for in an offer in order of importance for me:
1. Who's the highest.
2. Who has the strongest potential to close - this via all cash, strong down payment
3. Who's most likely not going to fade on the price.  But in this market if they do try to fade, all you say is pound sand (politely).
4. if all else is close, do i like one party more than another, but the offers have to be damn close for me to get down to #4

We haven't countered the highest offer yet but my realtor was giving us the option to counter with
1) Highest Price/Best Offer
2) Shortening home inspection period
3) Removal of 7B2

OR

1) Shortening home inspection period
2) Removal of 7B2

Basically the second counteroffer option is telling the highest offer "we'll take your offer as long as you commit harder" - wondering if we should just go with this and not try to get them to throw more in (buyer profile seems to indicate they are wealthy Asian investors who likely will be turning this into a rental unit). Initially my thought was to try to get more because of the fact that cash buyers seem likelier to back-out in general, so why not stretch it. But I dunno... we just had another offer back-out after a counter because they didn't seem comfortable with the back and forth (my realtor was surprised at this too since it's normal in our market to have multiple bidders stacked against you)
Currently we're down to 3 strong offers.
« Last Edit: August 19, 2020, 06:19:00 PM by jeromedawg »

Cb1234567

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #11 on: August 19, 2020, 05:52:28 PM »
Every buyer can back out.  Every buyer can fade on their price.  Its how buying and selling goes.  This is a very emotional process and having a day or two to think about it changes peoples minds. 

You can increase the escrow, but if they back out prior to the end of their inspection period they get it all back anyway.  If they say no to the shortening of the inspection period i wouldn't sweat it.  You never know whats going to show up and getting people out there especially now with Covid, its going to take longer than normal.

Going with LLC vs non LLC is a mute point.  LLC money cashes the same as a person.  If you are in a more expensive area (which i think you are), LLC's are going to be a lot more common.  Shoot, I just sold my primary residence last year and the people bought it through an LLC, these buyers were rich, really rich... I looked up their house, the homes in their area start at 5 million..   They bought my house for their son to live in while he goes to college. 

Things i look for in an offer in order of importance for me:
1. Who's the highest.
2. Who has the strongest potential to close - this via all cash, strong down payment
3. Who's most likely not going to fade on the price.  But in this market if they do try to fade, all you say is pound sand (politely).
4. if all else is close, do i like one party more than another, but the offers have to be damn close for me to get down to #4

Agree with srad’s advice. Know the contract and keep your own options open so you can deal with any hiccups or delays.  In the end, you receive a check, regardless of whether they mortgaged up to their eyeballs or have cash on hand.

Go with the most money, most likely to get to the closing table with the least amount of crap. You can’t always know, but sometimes someone comes across as wispy-washy or sketchy on the finances. Avoid those people.

srad

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #12 on: August 19, 2020, 06:07:19 PM »
I don't know why you didn't just take the all cash offer, you said they were the highest.  Forget the going back and forth with the 2nd highest offer, respect the highest and work with them, get it done and move on.

Abe

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #13 on: August 19, 2020, 11:38:02 PM »
Agree with srad. Not sure what there is to negotiate. You have an above-asking offer with no financing contingency. Arguing over 10 vs 14 days for inspection during covid is not a good idea. If they gave earnest money they probably will close. Otherwise you have a backup offer and seem to have a house that people want. As a buyer if someone was quibbling with me how long inspection can take that I’d say forget it, you’re hiding some problem with the house. (Full disclosure: just paid slightly below asking price on a house).

theoverlook

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #14 on: August 20, 2020, 08:51:58 AM »
I don't know why you didn't just take the all cash offer, you said they were the highest.  Forget the going back and forth with the 2nd highest offer, respect the highest and work with them, get it done and move on.
I agree with this 100%. Just take the offer. A cash offer is great; the only limit you're facing is the buyer's willingness to complete the deal. With a financed offer you're still facing that barrier PLUS the barrier of a bank's willingness to complete the deal.

jeromedawg

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #15 on: August 20, 2020, 12:35:30 PM »
The buyer signed our counteroffer for shorter terms so we're almost in business (need to get the escrow paperwork done then let them know they were selected... then from there it's just hoping that they don't back out). The market we're in is competitive and they know it. They're investors looking to rent I'm sure. If they were buyers who intended to live there or have a family member live there, like a couple others who already dropped out, they would have been 'offended' or they would have been more 'suspicious' but our intention with this was: "if you're serious about this offer and want to close, knowing there are multiple other offers on the table, then let's close and let's do it ASAP" - that's the narrative my realtor was conveying to these buyers, and it looks like this was reciprocated. I think we would have been more 'cautious' with other buyers/offers though.
« Last Edit: August 20, 2020, 12:54:40 PM by jeromedawg »

Abe

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #16 on: August 20, 2020, 10:24:07 PM »
Fair enough, congratulations!

Montecarlo

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #17 on: August 23, 2020, 02:12:00 PM »
I think you’re way overthinking things.  Sellers want a short close so it’s very natural to counter with one, especially since you know there is no lender involved that needs time to approve the application.  No reason for your buyer to be offended

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #18 on: August 23, 2020, 07:13:09 PM »
Huh.  I would be inclined to the all cash is better, even before you say it's also a higher number.  When we sold, we had two offers for the same amount (slightly over asking, in 2004).  For us, it was a no-brainer to take the one that was cash.  No chance of financing falling through or causing delays in closing, of an appraisal not coming in where you need it, or the other ways financing can mess up or slow a sale. 

I can't think of what would make cash *worse* than financing. Can you please explain your thinking?

(Also, did you end up moving out or are you still living in the old house?  I know there was much discussion about that decision.)

jeromedawg

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #19 on: August 23, 2020, 07:48:11 PM »
Huh.  I would be inclined to the all cash is better, even before you say it's also a higher number.  When we sold, we had two offers for the same amount (slightly over asking, in 2004).  For us, it was a no-brainer to take the one that was cash.  No chance of financing falling through or causing delays in closing, of an appraisal not coming in where you need it, or the other ways financing can mess up or slow a sale. 

I can't think of what would make cash *worse* than financing. Can you please explain your thinking?

(Also, did you end up moving out or are you still living in the old house?  I know there was much discussion about that decision.)

My realtor was saying that the downside with all-cash is that they can back-out of the deal pretty quickly if they see another property they like/want. In a sense, it's *easier* for them to back out because they don't have as much vested along the lines of dealing with financing/appraisal. The buyer who's financing is more vested in that sense, so assuming those things go through fine, there's a lesser chance of them backing out. But side by side, yea it does sound like all cash is best especially in this case because there are just no close comps in my immediate area - I figure they made the offer knowing they wanted to win it. I really think we could have called them to raise and gotten a little more but ultimately I didn't want to gamble and play that game haha. I think we would have only done that if we had offer(s) competing directly in their ballpark.

We've moved out of the place while it's for sale. I think it would have been nuts trying to reside there during all the showings - the first weekend there were probably over 30 viewings. Definitely would have made us uncomfortable in light of COVID (we're also the people who take our shoes off in the house, and I know not everyone viewing homes will respect that even if you have a sign requesting for them to wear shoe coverings). We downsized to a 2/1 apartment that's within the boundary of the school we want to get our son into. It's nice in a sense, having less to live with. All the rest of our crap is currently in the garage at the old place and setup to be moved to a storage unit (and some into the apartment) a few days after escrow closes. This was the soonest time spot I could find but need to call around to see if there's other availability otherwise we may end up paying 'rent' to the new buyers for keeping our stuff in there for a few days
« Last Edit: August 23, 2020, 08:00:48 PM by jeromedawg »

Montecarlo

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #20 on: August 23, 2020, 08:07:25 PM »

My realtor was saying that the downside with all-cash is that they can back-out of the deal pretty quickly if they see another property they like/want. In a sense, it's *easier* for them to back out because they don't have as much vested along the lines of dealing with financing/appraisal. The buyer who's financing is more vested in that sense, so assuming those things go through fine, there's a lesser chance of them backing out.

You should consider a new agent for your next real estate transaction

jeromedawg

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #21 on: August 23, 2020, 08:14:08 PM »

My realtor was saying that the downside with all-cash is that they can back-out of the deal pretty quickly if they see another property they like/want. In a sense, it's *easier* for them to back out because they don't have as much vested along the lines of dealing with financing/appraisal. The buyer who's financing is more vested in that sense, so assuming those things go through fine, there's a lesser chance of them backing out.

You should consider a new agent for your next real estate transaction

Why? He advised us to go with this particular offer regardless. He was just stating that all-cash offers are 'risky' in the sense that those buyers historically have a higher tendency to back out of deals in light of finding something else. He was mostly just level-setting our expectations so that if something like that happens, we should know that it's not uncommon.  Now that said, if the deal falls through then yes we will consider a new agent.

Also, this current cash offer is above ballpark in terms of what we were hoping for, so his tactic of under-listing on price to generate views seems to have worked.

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Re: Selling home: go with all cash buyer vs buyer with high downpayment %?
« Reply #22 on: August 24, 2020, 03:05:53 PM »
Huh.  I would be inclined to the all cash is better, even before you say it's also a higher number.  When we sold, we had two offers for the same amount (slightly over asking, in 2004).  For us, it was a no-brainer to take the one that was cash.  No chance of financing falling through or causing delays in closing, of an appraisal not coming in where you need it, or the other ways financing can mess up or slow a sale. 

I can't think of what would make cash *worse* than financing. Can you please explain your thinking?

(Also, did you end up moving out or are you still living in the old house?  I know there was much discussion about that decision.)

My realtor was saying that the downside with all-cash is that they can back-out of the deal pretty quickly if they see another property they like/want. In a sense, it's *easier* for them to back out because they don't have as much vested along the lines of dealing with financing/appraisal. The buyer who's financing is more vested in that sense, so assuming those things go through fine, there's a lesser chance of them backing out. But side by side, yea it does sound like all cash is best especially in this case because there are just no close comps in my immediate area - I figure they made the offer knowing they wanted to win it. I really think we could have called them to raise and gotten a little more but ultimately I didn't want to gamble and play that game haha. I think we would have only done that if we had offer(s) competing directly in their ballpark.

We've moved out of the place while it's for sale. I think it would have been nuts trying to reside there during all the showings - the first weekend there were probably over 30 viewings. Definitely would have made us uncomfortable in light of COVID (we're also the people who take our shoes off in the house, and I know not everyone viewing homes will respect that even if you have a sign requesting for them to wear shoe coverings). We downsized to a 2/1 apartment that's within the boundary of the school we want to get our son into. It's nice in a sense, having less to live with. All the rest of our crap is currently in the garage at the old place and setup to be moved to a storage unit (and some into the apartment) a few days after escrow closes. This was the soonest time spot I could find but need to call around to see if there's other availability otherwise we may end up paying 'rent' to the new buyers for keeping our stuff in there for a few days

Your agent sounds like a moron.  Any offer is risky.  A buyer can always back out.  But if they buy can also end up not qualifying or  the appraisal comes up short, there are *more* risks, not fewer.  How do they have more invested?  Because they've gone through a pre-approval?  If they don't buy your house, they will use that for the next one so they lose nothing.  Financing isn't "vested" in your property.

That makes no sense.  Most buyers would be thrilled with an all-cash offer.  It's basically the dream, and he's spinning it as some extra risk?  It's nonsensical!  Does what you wrote even make sense to you?  If I, as a buy, have invested my time getting financing set up, how am In more invested in your specific property than a cash buy, when if your deal falls through I simply us that transaction with the finance company to buy a different house two weeks later instead?   All cash offers are "risky"?!?!    If I could figure out he might have been trying to subliminally steer you toward the other offer, I'd say he was being unethical.  (Was that buyer someone he was representing?  Or someone else in his firm was representing?)  But in lieu of that, I'll just go with the assumption that he's a moron who barely understands his own line of work.   

How long has your agent been n the business?  Does he work for a major agency?  Is it a full time job, or a side hustle?  How many houses did he sell last year, and of those, how many where in your approximate price range and the same area?