Cash Buyers at Extremes of Market
No, I don’t have any hard data backing me up.
But anecdotally, at least, it seems like the two likeliest kinds of houses to be bought for cash these days are:
One. Bank-owned foreclosures selling for bargain-basement prices — and in such tough condition no lender would accept them as collateral; and
Two. Upper, upper bracket homes, where the Buyers’ balance sheets are so large that they are effectively immune from “the recent unpleasantness.”
As a practical matter, the only way to flag a cash purchase — at least that I’m aware of — is to look for sales where the house’s “off market” date and closing date are separated by only a few days.
Or, they’re the same date.
By contrast, when the Buyer requires a mortgage, the interval is typically at least 15 business days.
That allows time for the appraisal, underwriting, re-visiting the appraisal, etc.
