5 Ways to Get a Cash Offer on My House

Written by: Jerry O'Reilly
Posted on: August 27
Selling Resources
Getting a Cash Offer 5 Best Ways

This guide provides five ways to find a cash offer for your house. Reviewing each helps you decide the one that best suits your situation.

Throughout my experience in the real estate industry, these are the best ways to receive a cash offer when selling your property.

Let’s start our review of cash buyers with the easiest source for cash offers — investors.

#1 Contact Investors

Real estate investors typically are cash buyers. They’re people with cash or access to cash through companies like hedge funds or investment firms.

Real estate investors make money by buying houses and reselling or converting them into rental properties. They’ll be likely interested in yours, too.

The easiest way to locate cash investors is searching online. However, it’s not the safest one. If you don’t know how to screen a company, you may come across someone aiming to take advantage of you.

To find an ethical investor, the most reliable way is asking friends and family for recommendations.

If you don’t have any recommendations there, use our directory of the best cash home buyers near you. It includes screened and vetted companies that do business legally and ethically.

Investors typically pay all closing costs for home sellers and don’t charge a flat fee for their services. There also generally aren’t any real estate commissions, unless you use a Realtor.

Usually you won’t receive your asking price from an investor, but sellers must balance that with the costs of selling by using the other options.

Investors deduct the cost of doing business from the sales offer. They also expect to make some profit from the transaction — as any business owner does.

Sellers should request and compare cash offers from at least three local investment companies to ensure they’re getting a fair deal. Look for investors with at least three years in the industry.

This gives enough time for the investor to become seasoned in the investing field.

#2 Contact iBuyers

“iBuyers” is a term used by investment companies that use the internet to find homeowners who want to sell property.

Getting a cash offer from an iBuyer is easy. Simply locate the company website, input your address and, if the company is interested in your house, you’ll have an offer from them.

Some iBuyers have a few brick-and-mortar stores across the country, but most are exclusively virtual. Your entire sale may be done virtually, including signing closing documents.

iBuyers will make a cash offer on your home and close within 14-60 days.

The downside of using iBuyers compared to selling your home to a cash investor from your local area is that they don’t operate in every state, or even in every region of a state where they do have services.

They’re also picky about the types of homes they do accept. They’re generally not interested in an ‘as is’ sale on a home that needs major repairs.

And, more importantly, there are iBuyer fees. Sellers typically pay a flat fee of 5% or more of the final sales price to the iBuyer company. That isn’t negotiable.

Sellers also pay half the closing cost fees when using most iBuyers and that’s a significant amount of cash from your sale proceeds.

#3 Contact Realtors

Local real estate agents may have clients with cash to buy your house, but there’s no guarantee that all agents have a list of cash buyers for your house.

Buyers typically only disclose their financing choices during the offer process.

Some Realtors have a cash buyer who they keep on file, so it’s worth the time to contact high-volume agents near your house to make inquiries.

Real estate agents don’t work for free. You might be on the hook to pay both a listing commission and a sales commission when working with the Realtor.

That will run 5-6% of the sale price. Even with the most favorable negotiations to reduce the commissions, the seller will be responsible for 2.5-3% of the selling price for commission fees.

You’ll also pay closing costs for the sale, unless your sales contract includes a provision for the buyer to cover these costs.

#4 Contact Lenders

This cash offer requires a buyer to purchase your house using a traditional mortgage. While the house is in escrow, the buyer then applies to a second lender for a new loan — a cash loan.

That means the second buyer puts up cash to pay you for the house. The buyer is then on the hook to complete the first loan.

If that loan fails to close, the buyer is out and the second lender owns the house. Either way, the seller ends up with cash for the sale.

This option isn’t available in all states and it also requires a buyer who is working with a real estate brokerage or a mortgage agent that’s partnered with the second lender.

If your buyer isn’t working with a partner of the second lending company, this option isn’t available.

The buyer’s fees for this cash service run 1-2% of the sales price. That fee is in addition to the regular closing costs and the mortgage broker fees the buyer must pay.

#5 List for Sale by Owner

Listing as a “for sale by owner” (FSBO) means the owner takes charge of everything from the disclosure statement through signing the closing documents. It’s all on you.

There’s no guarantee that offering your house as an FSBO will bring any offers to buy, let alone cash offers.

You can advertise that you’ll only accept cash offers, but that might scare away other prospective buyers who need mortgages.

FSBOs typically attract real estate agents hoping to list your house and investors hoping to buy your house for cash.

If you’re focused only on cash offers, it saves you time and effort to select an agent with cash buyers or an investor as your first choice.

Final Words

This article covered the ways you can sell your house for cash. Some options are easier to accomplish than others, and some have greater benefits for the seller.

While lenders, Realtors, iBuyers, and a rare buyer from an FSBO listing offer possibilities for cash sales, investors are the gold standard for a qualified cash buyer who will close escrow quickly.

Additionally, you may want to learn about the pros and cons of a cash offer on your home.

Jerry O'Reilly

Stay connected

About the Author

Jerry O'Reilly is a seasoned real estate investor known for helping homeowners sell their properties quickly, especially in challenging situations. With a deep understanding of the diverse reasons that prompt a fast sale, Jerry offers customized solutions tailored to each homeowner's unique circumstances. His empathetic and client-focused...

Related Articles
Happy home sellers

Request an Obligation-Free Cash Offer


  • Receive multiple offers in one place and save time
  • Save money on realtor commissions & closing costs
  • Sell your home in any condition fast and for cash