Different Terms that might make sense to agencys ?

Question

Hi,

If you offer all cash on a property to a  agency thats selling that piece of real estate ( hud, fannie mae, country wide etc ... ) will that have the same impact if you were to offer a person all cash ? Will it have that same affect ? or do these agencys come accross cash offers all of the time ?

Brooke Shepherd · Answer

Hey there-  I wouldn't say it comes accross all the time.  However, if my client was deciding between 2 offers and one was for cash and the other was getting financed, I might encourage them to lean on cash.  Because then the wouldn't have to worry about financing falling through.  Just a thought though..  SHEP

Ryan Webber · Answer

Offering cash to a represented seller is always a plus, because it takes away one of the major contingencies in a real estate contract that makes probably more deals fall through than anything else, the financing contingency.  Most realtors understand the power of any contingency, and I think that they place a strong value on the lack of contingencies in a contract.  Now how much is this worth to a seller, or put another way, how much less will they be willing to take because of a cash offer?  I think it depends more on the seller's motivation than on the agent's recommendation.

A represented seller (an agent is representing the seller) will have the advantage of having the advice of a "supposed" expert in real estate, but the final decision is always the seller's.  I would say that when a listed property initially comes on the market that the agent would be inclined to recommend to the seller to decline a lower cash offer and wait to see what else will come.  Now when the house has been listed for a couple months and the initial momentum of listing the property is gone, I think a realtor would be more inclined to recommend to a seller to take any offer.  If the realtor doesn't sell it before the listing expires they don't make a dime.

Either way, the final decision comes down to the seller.  I know atleast in Texas that if you present a written offer, a realtor is required by law to present it to the seller unless the seller has told the agent in writing to not present offers lower than a certain amount (which rarely is the case).  So if I have spotted a specific property that I am interested in and it is listed, then I make sure that I present my offer in a written contract and not just verbally.