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.