We are a cash home buyer, so treat this as interested advice — but it is also advice you should apply to us. The cash-buying business has a wide quality range, and the difference between a good experience and a bad one is almost entirely knowable in advance if you ask the right questions.
Ask them to show the math
Every legitimate cash offer is built the same way: estimated after-repair value, minus repair costs, minus holding and selling costs, minus margin. A buyer should be able to walk you through each of those numbers and tell you which comparable sales they used.
If a buyer will not or cannot explain how they reached their number, you have no way to judge whether it is reasonable. That alone is enough reason to walk.
Read the contract for an assignment clause
This is the single most important thing in this article. Some “buyers” are actually wholesalers: they put your property under contract, then market that contract to actual investors for a fee. There is nothing inherently illegal about this, and some wholesalers are straightforward about it.
The risk to you is real, though. If they cannot find anyone to take the contract, your sale evaporates — weeks later, with your property having been off the market the whole time. And the price you agreed may have had their assignment fee built into it.
Look for language allowing the buyer to assign the contract. Then ask directly: are you buying this house yourself, or assigning the contract? Either answer can be fine. A vague answer is not.
Ask for proof of funds
A genuine cash buyer can show you they have the money — a bank statement or a letter from their financial institution. Asking is normal and nobody legitimate is offended by it.
Watch for the late price drop
A recognized tactic: make a strong offer to win your agreement, wait until you are committed and have made plans around the sale, then reduce the price shortly before closing over something the walkthrough “found.”
A real as-is offer should not move because of what an inspection revealed — the whole point is that condition was already priced in. If an offer drops late, ask exactly what changed and why it was not known before.
Other things worth checking
- Never pay an upfront fee. Not for an offer, not for an inspection, not for processing. A cash buyer pays you, not the other way around.
- Insist on a reputable local title company. Closing should happen through a licensed title company with a full settlement statement you can read line by line.
- Be wary of urgency. A legitimate offer survives you sleeping on it or showing it to an attorney. Pressure to sign today is a warning sign, not a deal.
- Get everything in writing. Verbal assurances about who pays closing costs, who keeps insurance proceeds, or when you have to be out are worth nothing.
- Get more than one offer. Two or three offers tell you far more about whether a number is fair than any amount of research. Any serious buyer expects this.
- Check public records. Real estate purchases are public record in Oklahoma. You can look up what a buyer has actually closed.
What a good process feels like
You should leave the conversation understanding the number, knowing exactly who is buying, holding a contract you have read, with a closing date at a title company you can look up — and with no sense that you were rushed. If that is not how it feels, keep looking. There are plenty of buyers.
Landrun Home Buyers buys houses for cash across the Oklahoma City metro, in any condition, with no fees or commissions. Get a free, no-obligation offer →