Many years ago when the market was terrible, a cash buyer had the upper hand when buying a house. Lending was tightening up. Appraisals were coming in for less than the purchase price. Having a cash buyer made a seller feel like it was a sure thing.
Today having cash is not as impressive to most sellers. Lenders are happy to loan money. Few deals fall apart due to financing. If cash makes a deal 100% solid, a preapproval letter make it 99% solid to most sellers.
Also, having cash is fairly common. 25% of my 2018 sales were for cash. I am not making that up or rounding up or down. I was hoping the percentage would come in at a more random sounding number, but 10 of my 40 sales last year were paid for with cash. All were owner-occupant buyers. None were investors.
I had a buyer write a cash offer last week on an awesome house. There were 14 offers. My buyer’s offer and 3 other offers were cash.
In 2019, when does having cash really matter? If the house is such a fixer upper that it may not qualify for traditional financing, having cash is still King. If the seller wants a fast closing, cash is still King because a loan will usually take 3-4 weeks. A cash sale can close within days. If a seller is worried about the appraisal, then cash is still King because there is no appraisal unless the buyer just wants one. Short of these 3 situations, having cash doesn’t really tip the scales in your favor like it used to.