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Accepting a cash offer for a house

A couple have put in a cash offer for the house I am selling. How does this work? What are the pros and cons?
Thank you
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  • ognum
    ognum Posts: 4,835
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    Accepting a cash offer is really no different from accepting a mortgaged offer. The buyer will, if they have any sense get a survey.
    Your estate agent should check that they do have the funds available by asking for bank statements or other evidence. At completion they will transmit their funds to their solicitor and it will be transfer through to your solicitor in the same way as if they had a mortgage.
    Solicitors due to money laundering laws cannot accept big bags of money!
    Hope this helps
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977
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    ognum wrote: »
    ...Solicitors due to money laundering laws cannot accept big bags of money!
    Hope this helps
    No, but you can. Insist on payment to yourself, in £50 notes, at the back of the local Tesco car park.
  • It is one less step out of the process as there will be no mortgage arrangements to do, and they, and only they, need to be happy with the property valuation. Apart from that, it is the same as any other house purchase.
  • Beckyy
    Beckyy Posts: 2,830
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    It can also be quicker as there is no faffing about with a mortgage company.
  • McKneff
    McKneff Posts: 38,816
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    I dont think they literally mean bags full of £20 notes.

    Its just that there is no mortgage involved and any payments will be electonically sent
    make the most of it, we are only here for the weekend.
    and we will never, ever return.
  • ognum
    ognum Posts: 4,835
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    It is one less step out of the process as there will be no mortgage arrangements to do, and they, and only they, need to be happy with the property valuation. Apart from that, it is the same as any other house purchase.

    Just remember that the buyer is not tied to a mortage so can actually pull out more easily than if they have another mortgage to arrange on another property.

    Most will get a surveyor and may renegotiate the price depending on the survey valuation in the same way as a mortgage valuation.
  • Davesnave
    Davesnave Posts: 34,741
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    ognum wrote: »
    Your estate agent should check that they do have the funds available by asking for bank statements or other evidence.

    As a cash buyer, I had no intention of letting the vendors sleazy agent look at my bank statements, especially with it being stashed in a fair number of accounts, but I remember proving funds with my solicitor, whose word was accepted by said sleazy agent. :)
  • thor
    thor Posts: 5,483
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    ognum wrote: »
    Just remember that the buyer is not tied to a mortage so can actually pull out more easily than if they have another mortgage to arrange on another property.

    Most will get a surveyor and may renegotiate the price depending on the survey valuation in the same way as a mortgage valuation.
    Is this in addition to getting a solicitor or do they provide this as part of the conveyancing service?

    If a mortgage was involved would the bank/building society get a survey done instead?
  • Yorkie1
    Yorkie1 Posts: 11,537
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    thor wrote: »
    Is this in addition to getting a solicitor or do they provide this as part of the conveyancing service?

    If a mortgage was involved would the bank/building society get a survey done instead?

    If a mortgage is involved the lender will get a valuation for its own purposes, to ensure that the property represents good security for the loan. That valuation isn't done for the benefit of the buyer (although the buyer pays for it) so the buyer should arrange their own survey. There is usually the option for the buyer to pay a bit extra for the same surveyor to carry out a survey at the same time as the valuation - that survey is for the benefit of the buyer.

    If no mortgage is involved, there is no obligatory valuation and therefore the buyer has to choose whether to get their own survey done or not. This is not done through the solicitor, it's up to the buyer to arrange.
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977
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    edited 13 August 2011 at 6:05PM
    Surveying is to do with building/construction/condition of property. Nothing to do with the legals/conveyancing.

    Mortgage lenders rarely get surveys done. They do require a 'valuation' (usually done by a surveyor who understands property value, which to some extent depends on the property condition). Most lenders offer the buyer the option of arranging to have a survey done, since sometimes it is cheaper/easier for the same surveyor to do both tasks at once.

    But the decision to have or not have a survey, is the buyers decision, not the mortgage lender's, whether a mortgage is involved or not.
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