How our cash offer works

What a cash offer actually is

A cash offer is an offer to buy your house without a mortgage. The buyer pays with funds they already have, rather than borrowing from a bank. For you as the seller, that changes three things: there's no lender appraisal, no loan approval process, and no financing contingency that lets the buyer walk away if their loan falls through.

"Cash" doesn't mean someone shows up with a briefcase. The money is wired or delivered through the closing attorneys at closing, exactly like any other sale. The difference is what happens before closing, and how much can go wrong along the way.

Why cash offers close more reliably

On a traditional sale, a lot has to go right after you accept an offer. The buyer has to get a formal loan approval. The lender's appraiser has to agree the house is worth the contract price. The house has to meet the lender's condition standards. The buyer's employment and finances have to stay stable until closing. If any of those things fail, the deal can fall apart, sometimes days before closing, after you've already started packing.

A cash buyer skips all of that. There's no appraisal that can come in low and force a renegotiation. There's no underwriter asking for one more document. There's no loan commitment deadline. That's the main reason cash sales tend to close on schedule.

How we calculate our offer

We don't pull a number out of the air, and we don't make a high offer to get you under contract and then lower it later. Here's exactly how we work out what we can pay.

Step 1: After-repair value

We start by estimating what the house would sell for after it's fully repaired and updated. We look at recent sales of similar houses nearby: same general size, style, lot, and location. In the Lindenhurst area, small differences matter a lot. A house south of Montauk Highway on a canal is a different market from a house north of Sunrise Highway. A legal two-family is different from a one-family with an illegal basement apartment. We adjust for all of it.

Step 2: Repair costs

Next, we estimate what it will actually cost to bring the house to that condition. That means walking through and pricing out the roof, heating system, electrical, plumbing, kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, windows, and anything else that needs work. We use real Long Island contractor pricing. We also add a cushion for the things you can't see until walls are opened, because older houses almost always have a few surprises.

Step 3: Holding and selling costs

While we own the house and the work is being done, we pay property taxes, insurance, utilities, and financing costs on our own capital. When the work is done, we pay to sell it, which can include a commission, closing costs, and transfer taxes. All of that has to be accounted for.

Step 4: Risk and margin

Finally, we leave room for risk. Renovation projects run over budget. Markets shift. Permits take longer than expected. And like any business, we need to make a profit to keep doing this.

What's left after those four steps is our offer.

Why our offer is usually lower than "market value"

If you compare our offer to what a fully renovated house down the street sold for, our number will be lower. That's expected, because the house down the street was already fixed up, and someone paid for that work.

The more useful comparison is between our offer and what you would actually net on the open market after:

• Paying for repairs before listing, or giving the buyer credits after inspection
• Paying a real estate commission
• Carrying the house for the months it takes to fix, list, and close
• Taking the risk that a deal falls through and you have to start over

For a house in great shape, the open market usually wins. For a house that needs significant work, the gap is often much smaller than people expect. Our cash vs. listing page includes a simple calculator you can use with your own numbers.

What you'll see in our written offer

• The purchase price
• Our estimate of the after-repair value, with the comparable sales we used
• Our estimate of repair costs, broken into major categories
• Who pays which closing costs
• The proposed closing date, or a range you can choose from
• Any items that need to be resolved before closing
• How long the offer is good for

If you disagree with any of our numbers, tell us why. If you know something we don't, like a roof that was replaced five years ago, it can change the offer.

Proof of funds

Before you sign a contract with any cash buyer, ask for proof of funds. That's usually a recent bank statement or a letter from a financial institution showing the buyer has the money to close. Any legitimate cash buyer should be willing to provide it. We will.

Watch out for these warning signs

Not every company that advertises cash offers operates the same way. Some red flags to watch for:

• An offer that seems far higher than anyone else's, with no explanation of the numbers
• Pressure to sign the same day
• A contract that lets the buyer back out for almost any reason
• A long "inspection period" that gets used to renegotiate the price
• A buyer who plans to assign your contract to someone else without telling you
• A request that you pay any upfront fee

None of these are how we work. Have your own attorney review any contract before you sign it, ours included.

How long does it take?

In New York, closings involve attorneys on both sides and a title search. Many of our closings happen within a few weeks of signing, depending on how quickly title work and any payoff letters come back. If you need more time, we can set a later closing date. You choose.

Is a cash offer binding?

Asking for an offer doesn't commit you to anything. You can review it, talk it over with family, have your attorney look at it, and say no. A sale only becomes binding once both sides sign a written purchase contract.

Who pays the closing costs?

In a typical New York sale, the seller pays certain costs, like their own attorney and the New York State transfer tax, while the buyer pays others, like title insurance and recording fees. Our written offer will spell out exactly who pays what in your sale, so there are no surprises.

Getting a cash offer

1. Call us or fill out the form with your address and a few details.
2. We schedule one visit to see the house.
3. We send you a written offer, with the numbers behind it.
4. You take your time and decide.

Getting more than one offer

You're welcome to get offers from other buyers and compare. We'd encourage it. When you compare, look past the headline number. Check how the buyer arrived at it, whether there's an inspection period that could lead to a price cut, who pays which closing costs, how soon they can close, and whether they've shown proof of funds. A slightly lower offer from a buyer who will actually close as agreed is often worth more than a higher offer that changes after you sign.

Cash offers on houses with problems

Cash offers are especially useful for houses that a mortgage lender won't finance in their current condition: houses with roof leaks, failed heating systems, missing kitchens, fire or flood damage, structural issues, or major permit problems. For those houses, the pool of buyers on the open market is limited to people who can pay cash or use specialized renovation loans, and a direct offer can save months of trying.

What we don't do

We don't ask you to pay us a fee to make an offer. We don't lock you into a contract and then search for another buyer to flip it to. And we don't wait until the week before closing to tell you something changed. If we find something new during title work that affects the deal, we'll tell you right away and explain why.

Questions? Just ask

If you're not sure whether a cash sale makes sense, call and ask. We'll give you an honest answer, even if that answer is that you'd do better listing.

Cash offers on houses in good condition

Cash offers aren't only for houses that need work. Some sellers with move-in-ready homes choose a cash sale for the certainty and speed, even if it means a slightly lower price. If your house is in great shape, our offer will reflect that, but we'll also tell you honestly if listing would likely bring you more.

Cash offers and the Lindenhurst market

Every neighborhood has its own pricing patterns. In the Lindenhurst area, a few factors tend to move after-repair values more than people expect: whether a house is north or south of Montauk Highway, whether it's on a canal with a usable bulkhead, whether it's inside the Village or in North Lindenhurst, how close it is to the LIRR station and downtown Wellwood Avenue, and whether a second unit is legal. Two houses a few blocks apart can have very different values.

That's why we don't use a formula or an online estimate to make offers. We look at specific recent sales that are actually comparable to your house, and we're happy to show you which ones we used.

What happens if something changes before closing

Occasionally, something new comes up after a contract is signed, like a title issue that wasn't known, or new damage from a storm before closing. If that happens, we'll tell you right away, explain what it means, and talk through options. What we won't do is use routine inspection findings to lower a price we already agreed to, because we priced condition before we made the offer.

How the sale works

Questions