How a cash offer request works in Spokane and the Tri-Cities
A cash offer request asks independent buyers to make an offer on your house without putting it on the open market. I gather the facts, send the request to cash buyers in the Homexa® network, and bring back whatever comes in, set next to what a quick listing would likely leave you with. You decide from there.
What a cash offer request is, in plain terms
It is a private ask. A short description of the house goes to people who buy homes with their own money, mostly investors and landlords. No photos go online and no sign goes in the yard. They look at what you’ve shared, sometimes walk through, and decide whether to make an offer and at what price.
Because there is no mortgage lender behind the buyer, there is no appraisal to pass and no loan approval to wait on. That is the real advantage. It is also why the price is usually lower: the buyer takes on the repairs and the risk of resale, and charges for it.
Who it tends to help here
In Spokane it tends to be an older house: a 1920s bungalow in Hillyard or Emerson-Garfield that came through an estate, or a South Hill brick home with knob-and-tube wiring or a buried oil tank that would give a financed buyer pause. In the Tri-Cities it might be a rental in Pasco or Kennewick with worn floors and a tenant on a month-to-month, or a family moving for a job who can’t carry two houses.
What these have in common is that preparing for the open market would cost time or money the owner doesn’t have. If that isn’t your situation, a listing will probably serve you better, and I’ll say so.
Cash offers come from independent buyers. No offer or price is guaranteed. An offer may not come in, or may come in lower than you would accept, and you are never obligated to take one.
The request, step by step
How long each step takes depends on the house, and on who has to sign.
You tell me about the house
By phone or through the form: the address, its condition as you’d describe it to a friend, your timing, and anything complicated, such as tenants or an estate. You don’t need to share what you owe unless you want the net sheet to reflect it.
We look at the house
A walk-through, in person or by video, and a review of recent sales of similar houses nearby. For a Spokane house that means comparing like with like, so a brick Tudor is measured against other older homes in its part of town.
The request goes out
Independent cash buyers in the Homexa® network see the details privately. Nothing goes on the MLS and nothing goes up in the yard. Buyers who are interested may ask to see the house.
Offers come back, if they come
Each offer is written out the same way: price, earnest money, inspection terms, the proposed closing window, and which costs each side pays. Terms matter as much as the number.
You see the listing math beside it
Next to the offers, an estimate of what a quick listing might net: a likely sale range from comparable sales, minus commission and the other costs of selling. It is an estimate, and I’ll show you how I got there.
You choose
Accept, counter, decline, or list. If you accept, title and escrow take it from there. If you list, nothing we did is wasted.
Cash offer request or quick listing, row by row
An investor’s postcard makes cash sound simple. A neighbor’s quick sale makes listing sound easy. For your house, the answer sits in two figures after costs, and in the size of the gap between them.
A cash offer request
Sent privately to independent cash buyers
A quick listing
Priced and prepared for the open market
An independent cash buyer, usually an investor or a small company that renovates and resells or rents. They see the request privately.
Whoever the open market brings, from first-time buyers to people moving for work. Most will use a mortgage.
Sold as it stands. The buyer prices in the old furnace and whatever is still in the basement.
Condition shows up twice: in the price, and again in the buyer’s inspection. Cleaning and small repairs are usually worth doing before photos.
Usually below what the house would bring on the open market. The difference is what the buyer charges for doing the work and taking the risk.
Usually the higher of the two, because more buyers compete. It still depends on the house, the street and the month.
One walk-through, sometimes two. No sign in the yard, no listing online.
Photos and an MLS listing, then showings until the right offer arrives.
Can be quick once there is a signed offer, because there is no lender. Title work and payoffs still set the pace, and every sale is different.
Depends on how fast a buyer appears and on their loan. Appraisal and underwriting add weeks that a cash sale skips.
The house needs real work, or the timing leaves no room for showings.
The house is in fair shape and you can give it some weeks on the market in exchange for a larger check.
How cash buyers usually arrive at a number
Most investors work backward from the finished house. They estimate what the house would sell for once it’s fixed up. They subtract what the work will cost, with a cushion, because old houses hide things. They subtract what it costs to own the place while the work happens: taxes, insurance, utilities, and in Spokane, a winter of heating an empty house. Then they subtract their own costs to resell and the profit that makes the project worth doing.
Knowing that, you can read an offer. A low number on a house that needs a roof and a furnace may be fair. A low number on a house that needs paint is probably someone hoping you won’t compare.
What a cash sale still involves in Washington
Without a lender, the rest of the sale still runs the usual way. A title company checks that the title is clean and that liens are paid. An escrow officer handles the money and the recording. Washington sellers of residential property generally owe the buyer a seller disclosure statement, known as Form 17, though some sales are exempt, and a buyer can waive receiving it (except the environmental section, when any answer there would be yes). An attorney can tell you what applies to you. The state’s real estate excise tax is due at closing and is normally paid by the seller.
Most cash buyers also want an inspection period, even if they are buying as-is. That is normal. What you want to read closely is what happens if they find something, and whether their earnest money is at risk if they walk.
Questions people ask about cash offers
Will I definitely get a cash offer?
No. Cash offers come from independent buyers, and none of them is obligated to make one. No offer or price is guaranteed. Some houses draw several offers; others draw none you would accept, and you are free to turn down every offer that comes back.
Who actually makes the offer?
Independent cash buyers who see the request through the Homexa® network: usually real estate investors and small renovation companies. They are separate businesses. I don’t buy houses, and neither does Homexa®.
How do cash buyers decide what to offer?
Most start with what the house would likely sell for after repairs, then subtract the cost of the work, the carrying costs while they own it, their own selling costs, and the profit they need. That is why a cash offer on a house in good shape usually lands below what the open market would pay, and why the gap narrows on a house that needs a lot.
Do I have to clean out or repair the house first?
No. Cash buyers expect to see the house as it is, furniture and all. If there is an estate to sort through, take what matters to you and leave the rest for the buyer to handle, as long as the offer says so in writing.
How long does a cash sale take to close in Washington?
It varies. Without a lender there is no appraisal or loan approval to wait on, which removes a common source of delay. Title still has to be cleared and any loans paid off. In an estate or a divorce, the right people also have to be able to sign. Nobody can promise a date until those pieces are known.
What does a cash sale cost me?
You will still have closing costs, including Washington’s real estate excise tax and your share of escrow and title fees. Anything owed on the house is paid off from the proceeds. If I represent you, my fee is agreed in writing before anything goes out, and every cost appears on the net sheet so you can compare the offer with a listing on equal terms.
Can I request a cash offer on an inherited house or a rental with tenants?
Yes. With an inherited house, the person selling needs the legal authority to sign, which often means a personal representative appointed through probate. With tenants, their lease and Washington’s notice rules still apply, and many investors will buy with the tenant in place.
What if every offer is too low?
Then you say no. Nothing about the request commits you to sell. You can counter, or list the house on the open market, and the work we did on the numbers carries straight over to the listing.
Send me the address and I’ll start the comparison.
Before anything goes out, I’ll tell you whether I expect cash buyers to be interested and what the listing side of the sheet looks like.
206.940.0942