How fast a house can sell, what a cash offer is worth next to a listing, and how to check a buyer before you sign.
The fastest way to sell a house is usually to sell it as-is to a cash buyer, because there's no buyer's loan or appraisal to wait on and the closing can happen once the title work is done. If your house is in good shape and you can wait a few months, listing it with an agent at a realistic price often brings more money, so compare what you'd take home from each.
List with a realtor if your house is move-in ready and you have time to wait for a buyer, because buyers with a mortgage usually pay the most for a house in good shape. Take a cash offer if the house needs work, you need a certain closing date, or you'd rather skip repairs and a buyer's loan that can fall through, and compare the two by what you'd take home, not by the price.
There's no standard discount: a cash buyer's offer starts from what the house would sell for in good condition and subtracts the repairs, the costs of owning and reselling it, and the buyer's profit, so the more work a house needs, the further below that price the offer lands. The fair way to judge an offer is by what you'd take home from it next to what you'd net from a listing after commissions, repairs and the months it takes to sell.
A legitimate cash home buyer never charges you to make an offer, puts every term in a written purchase contract you can read before you sign, and closes through a title company or closing attorney you can look up yourself. Check the company's registration with your state and its complaint history with the Better Business Bureau and your attorney general, and ask in writing whether it will buy the house itself or assign the contract to another buyer.
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