What Is a Fair Cash Offer on a House?
What Is a Fair Cash Offer on a House?
If you’re thinking about selling your home to a cash buyer or an investor, one of the biggest questions that always comes up is:
“What is considered a fair cash offer?”
Cash offers almost always come in lower than a full retail MLS listing price — but that does not mean they’re automatically unfair.
A fair cash offer reflects speed, convenience, certainty, and risk being transferred from the seller to the buyer.
A Fair Cash Offer Is Usually 70%–85% of Market Value
Most professional cash buyers operate around a formula based on:
current market value (ARV = After Repair Value)
estimated repairs needed
holding & closing cost risk
how fast the seller needs to move
A typical fair offer:
70%–85% of the property’s true market value (after repairs)
The rough formula looks like:
(ARV – repairs – holding costs) = max cash offer range
Example:
ARV: $300,000
Repairs needed: $25,000
Holding + selling risk costs: $15,000
Fair cash offer range: $210,000 – $225,000
That is still fair — because the cash buyer is paying for speed, taking on repair liability, and eliminating all lender + contingency issues.
Why Cash Offers Are Lower Than Retail Listing Prices
Cash home buyers have to factor in:
Reason Why It Matters No repairs required Seller doesn’t spend time or money fixing anything Fast closing Seller gets certainty vs. waiting months No realtor commissions Net-to-seller can be close or even higher No banks / mortgages Faster closing + no financing fall-through Investor is taking risk Future market, repairs & resale are all on the buyer
When you avoid commissions, weeks of showings, overpriced repairs, staging, appraisal issues, failed escrows, etc. — the “discount” is really the fee for speed + zero hassle.
How to Know If Your Cash Offer Is Fair
Ask yourself:
Does this offer beat my cost of time?
Does this eliminate a major life stress / timeline problem?
Does this save me from paying months of mortgage, taxes, insurance & utilities while waiting?
Does this allow me to move on faster, cleanly, and with guaranteed closing?
If the answer is yes — it’s likely a fair cash offer.
Final Thought
A fair cash offer is not about matching Zillow or MLS prices — it’s about how fast you can turn your property into guaranteed money with no repairs, no realtors, no waiting, and no stress.
Speed has value.
A fair cash offer reflects that value. If you want to know what your actual fair cash offer range would be based on your home type, market, and repairs — tell me the city + condition and I’ll calculate a realistic estimate.
