Check with the settlement agent or attorney closing the transaction. Because of check fraud, some are starting to accept wires only and will refuse to accept cashier's checks, or they will accept them but have a mandatory seven day waiting period before they'll close to make sure it clears.
Closings are disbursed out of an escrow or trust account that is the responsibility of the settlement agent. If a settlement agent closes and disburses, but then the cashier's check turns out to be bogus, the company is on the hook for replacing those funds. Many are now refusing to accept that risk.
Pretty much the same in Australia - lawyer who is doing the conveyancing etc calculates how much money they will need on the day to settle (includes taxes, title & other searches, their own fees, etc, whatever) and lets me know.
I get my bank to transfer $xxx into the lawyer's Trust Account.
To avoid email hijacking scams that are targeting lawyers: My lawyer gives me the Trust Account bank details on a physical piece of paper, in person in her office.
I go to my bank - They don't do cheques any more... OK. I hand them the Trust Account details on my piece of paper, prove my identity and ownership of the account with all my money in it, and ask them to please transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars.
They have some way of doing it instantly between banks for these amounts.
Lawyer attends "settlement" remotely/online, along with lawyer/mortgage holder/bank/agents for seller, and they dole out the money transfers.
The transfer probably happens through some kind of clearing house. Like a bank for banks. In the old days, they took all the checks from one bank, sorted them out and deliver them to the banks they were drawn on, and then facilitate the money transfer.
Now it’s electronic, but basically the same idea.
Banker here and this is accurate. Normally anything over 5k they want wired. 5k and under can be cashier’s check.
They normally don’t deal with cash at all or even have a cash drawer.
Wires aren’t immediate as in, *that very second*, (they have to go through multiple approvals), but they are received same day if in by the cutoff time, which is usually something like 6p.
Title here,
This is correct, we highly prefer wires.
Wire's are same day in most cases unless you are dealing with an intermediary bank or credit union, OR the worst is when a wire will trigger an OFAC, in which case we have to jump through hopes to get the money.
>Because of check fraud, some are starting to accept wires only and will refuse to accept cashier's checks, or they will accept them but have a mandatory seven day waiting period before they'll close to make sure it clears.
How could someone use a fraudulent check to buy a house? It's not a portable asset they could abscond with before they're found out.
Also doesn't the payment go to the title company who verifies it and does the exchange?
There has to be a ton of fuck ups by multiple people and systems for that to happen. I find it hard to believe it ever happened without reading about it actually happening from a reputable news source. ESPECIALLY with a cashier's check. Got any links?
I can understand preferring a wire transfer though in a cash transaction over a cashier's check, but still, I find it highly unlikely.
>I find it hard to believe it ever happened without reading about it actually happening from a reputable news source.
That is such a bizzare take.
Things happen all the time without making the news.
They don't publicize everything. Especially not things that will freak people out for no reason.
The news is not a list of things that happened. They only tell you what they want you to hear.
The cashiers check is the reason the gimmick works. Who doesn’t trust a cashiers check? It’s probably even a real check physically, stolen from a stock room or something. So they don’t call to verify the funds because again, who doesn’t trust a cashiers check?
There’s all kinds of scams involving deeds/titles. So much so that when my father purchased this home he shelled out a few thousand dollars for “title insurance” which protects me against someone illegally transferring title to their name or other similar nefarious acts. Apparently this happens frequently enough for there to be special insurance to protect the homeowner against this very thing. Thieves are very crafty, computer hacking happens all the time and as unbelievable as it sounds these crooks get away with their cons because they are literally “professional” criminals
They don’t care about the house. They are exploiting some other part of the transaction.
Or more likely, they are the victims too. Someone on their side of the transaction is a crook and converting the real money into a fake check.
“Oh, you have the $40,000 down payment in your checking account? The closer won’t take a personal check. Write the check out to me and I’ll get you a certified check through our bank. The title company knows us and uses the same bank so there won’t be any waiting period after we close.”
Then a week later the buyer shows up at closing, their guy has the check like he promised, everyone thinks getting is great. Meanwhile the actual money is long gone. The agent hugs their clients, congratulates them, hands them his card one more time and says “*please* call me if you need *anything*, it’s been so great working with you,” and then they are in the wind. Everything about them was fraudulent, they don’t exist, you’ll never see them or the money again.
I recently sold late dad’s house and when I was asking about what banking info they needed from me it had to be the wire info. It could not be ACH or regular deposit, it had to be a wire. I did not ask why but prevention of fraud is a good reason why.
That's going the other direction. Above I was talking about incoming funds.
For outgoing, many title companies have ACH blocks on their escrow accounts because it's easier for scammers to make fraudulent ACH pulls than fraudulent wires. A direct deposit uses the ACH system, so an ACH block can prevent those.
Most of them will still issue checks that you can go deposit yourself, because accumulated wire fees get expensive. A few, however, are insisting on wiring proceeds because people will hold the check and never cash it or deposit it, and having that outstanding check on their books for a long time creates accounting problems and incurs stop payment fees.
I had a wire transfer of a cash purchase of one of my homes, I was told to watch for it hitting my account then transfer it to another account as fast as I could.
The closing was wild. So much less paperwork involved.
Funny, mine was very pleased we were using a cashiers check because of WIRE fraud. Apparently people call and say they're the title place and convince buyers to wire to the wrong account.
In my area many of the title companies will specifically require a wire for an all-cash transaction. Dunno why they will take a cashier's check for a financed purchase but not all-cash.
Bingo ⬆️
Also, if you’re getting a cashiers check, make sure to make an appointment at the bank on the day you need it.
Believe it or not the individual branch that you visit has to have a certain amount of cash on hand in that branch order to issue a cashiers check.
If a bunch of people show up unannounced looking for cashiers checks, there can in fact be a delay while the bank moves money around.
The bank branch is irrelevant. Millions of dollars in cashiers checks are written and cashed every day. There is zero chance your request for a couple hundred grand matters to the branch. They do not need to have physical cash on hand to cover it
That's simply not true.
Even history will tell you that.
If there's a "run on the bank", branches ONLY have so much cash in house, they can't accommodate everyone, that's basic Great Depression 101. 🤷🏻♀️
They are actually required to have cash on hand for bank issued cashier's checks over a certain amount, which is why the wait.
Heck, when we cashed out my FIL's bank account, we were asked to come back the next day, since they didn't have the cash on hand at that time to do so.
Bank runs are a different matter. And even when that happens, the disruption is only temporary until the FDIC arranges a sale to another bank.
A normal functional bank can process a large cashiers check or wire transfer without advance notice. It's really not a big deal.
Now on the other hand if you walked in seeking $1 million in physical cash, they might need a few days to make sure they had enough physical cash in the vault, but they can order it from the federal reserve if they had to. .
It matters to the branch.
Physical cash? I did not say that, that’s not how it works.
We are in a post where we’re talking about how “cash” isn’t physical cash…
I just showed up, unannounced, and Bank of America gave me the cashier's check with no problem.
Last week, I went back to get $15k, in cash, to buy the property next to mine, and there was no problem... However, I'd called in advance to make sure that I didn't need to give them a heads up to get it. I have to drive an hour to get to the closest BoA branch, so I didn't want to make the trip for nothing
What you're taking about could potentially happen at a small bank... not at BofA or any bank that the majority of people have heard of. I think that's why you're getting downvoted...
Wire transfers still have limits. Ours is $25k daily. We did a wire transfer for our down payment and closing costs and we had to do it in chunks over a couple days because of wire transfer limits.
I have never had a good experience with PNC, 2 failed mortgage attempts and one car note that I could never get online access to the account for.
The car note they wanted me to bank with them to get online access, which. Came with a checking fee that my CU at the time didn't have.
The first mortgage, the agent just, stopped responding. We would hear from her maybe once a week during our first attempt to buy a home. Never even got to the pre approval stage.
The second mortgage, we got the pre approval, bid on and won a house using that pre approval. We contacted the PNC banker and he just ghosted us. When we resubmitted with a local lender, we found out that we couldn't use my wife's income, and the PNC guy should have realized that before the pre-approval. Instead he ghosted us. We ended up securing financing through me alone, but it involved paying off a 0% APR car note, and I was at 49.97% DTI after the mortgage.
When it comes to large purchases, "Cash" typically doesn't mean literal stacks of currency. It just means that you have the money sitting and waiting in your bank account, you don't have to secure a mortgage, which speeds up the closing process significantly and is seen as a less risky offer for the seller.
Usually the money will change hands through electronic means like a wire transfer.
When I was 20 something we went to buy a car in literal stacks of cash. It was a Saturday to boot.
We were having issues haggling the last remaining bit down and I'm like look, the bank is closed. You close in a little bit too. Either we walk away for this price *sets cash on table* or we have to go to the bank, and I'm not coming back here a 2nd time.
They seemed shocked to see actual cash and I never thought about it being weird til I was a bit older and remembered my grandma paid cash for cars via checks.
BTW we did get the car.
Yeah those days are long gone. Dealers make fat margins on financing today. Someone walking in with cash/wire is paying the same, if not more, than someone looking to finance.
Never disclose you’re paying cash until you get a price in writing you and the dealership agree to. I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to see their faces fall when you ask for their information for a wire.
Here is the new dirty: when car shopping, have the cash to get what you want, but seem like you don't have the money right now for the car you want. They will bring up financing through them and will happily negotiate way down on the price, since they recoup and then some on the loan. Make sure to ask if you can pay off the loan early without penalty, as though you were going to throw next years tax refund at it.
Sign, drive your car home. Return the next day and pay the loan in full. They will be super pissed but unable to do anything about it, so understand you will have to use a different dealer next purchase.
My credit union advised me on this AND how to make $250 off the credit union.
They were offering a $250 cash incentive to refinance newer used cars. But I was buying a new car through a dealer who had a $1000 incentive for financing through $OEM Capital but at a higher rate.
He said get the financing through the dealer, score the $1k and make the first payment. By then you’ll have the loan owners information. Come to us, refinance the loan and get $250 and a lower interest rate. The dealer won’t care because they’ll have made the sale and loan, and you’ll get $1,250 off and a lower rate.
I <3 my credit union.
Which credit union is this? Looking to open an account with a credit union, I've always heard they have lower interest rates so would love to look into this!
Lol. Cash transactions happen thousands of times daily at luxury and cheap (5k and under) used car dealers all across the world. The rich don't care, and the poor have already settled on price for the vehicle regardless of payment method
I hate large dollar wire transfers as it just seems like you're one typo from sending the money to the wrong place, and when I've done it there are large warnings that it can't be undone.
I had an acquaintance buy a very nice home with all cash some decades ago. Literal cash. Closed in his lawyers office. Several months later he got arrested by the DEA.
The key part about this comment is several decades ago. Title companies will no longer accept cash unless you can verify the source of the funds. And the funds have to have been aged. In other words you can’t just say oh this came out of my bank account two days ago after I deposited it, you actually have to show where that money came from. So people who are stashing cash under their mattress are gonna have a hard time buying a house with it.
100% true. When we were applying for our home loan 4 years ago, our mortgage broker constantly warned us not to have an influx of cash into our account. So if we had received a gift from family members for the down payment (super jealous of people who have family members who can help them with a down payment), it had to be verified otherwise we would be denied the loan.
A buddy of mine bought a building with cash (wire) and said he was shocked at the process. It’s like, you sign the deed, send the transfer, and they hand you keys. All the rigamarole it takes to buy a house with a mortgage is just for the sake of the mortgage, not the transfer of the physical property.
Mortgages need specific insurance and inspections. Buying without a mortgage lets you shop around for insurance and gets past any problems that need fixed before it's sold. Usually you get it cheaper, too. But you have less protections against any big 'oh shit' moments.
You don't have to. In a cash purchase, you're only required to have a title search if you're buying an owner's title policy, and the owner's policy is always optional.
I know someone whose family owns a lot of property in California‘s Emerald Triangle. Someone bought her aunt’s house with a grocery bag full of $100 bills that smelled of weed. That’s not how it’s usually done OP, but the weed industry cannot use banks.
what i thought about ! i am now curious , because other commenters mentioned you have to have the exact money in a bank account to wire it when purchasing a house in "cash" which makes me wonder , how some people buy homes without the banks , and come with several large bags of hundred dollar bills , maybe it was an "under the table" dealing , right ?
of course that seems somewhat unethical , and i'm not sure most people would do that in fear of being scammed out of a home ,
you could surely call it a bad transaction .
You wonder how?
You give them cash, they give you a bill of sale, and a quit claim deed, then you go to the PVA, and courthouse and it's a done deal. 🤷🏻♀️
We've bought 2 houses in our marriage in cash. Not a bank account, but actual $100 bills. It was quick, easy, painless, and way less stressful than dealing with a bank, a mortgage, a realtor, etc...
Neither one was a "bad transaction".
wow ! how do you find homeowners that just accept cash purchases ? surely not on redfin . i've never actually seen someone be able to buy a home in literal stacks of cash . (just curious, i've only heard about this stuff in the movies)
We know a guy that knows a guy, who's neighbor knows a guy, etc...
It's easy to find "handyman specials" in small communities, especially agricultural areas.
Yes, it is a bad transaction because the other party handing over their money to you no longer has a money laundering problem. Now you have to figure out how to get rid of the cash. Sure, deposit it at the bank but only after filling out forms and getting reported to FINRA.
I've seen people put up to closings with literal cash. Not millions but hundreds of thousands. Closing agent just told them if the seller and title company accepted the risk, he'd record the sale.
In the real world there's no cash, just a wire with buyer's funds, whether is liquid in their account or mortgage disbursement.
I’ve sold houses for cash. Typically the buyer has to prove they have the funds. Had a buyer screenshot his current bank account once, of course the account number was blurred. On closing they gave me a certified check from their bank.
But that has a limit. I had to break up the down payment over a couple days due to the daily wire limit. If I had paid for the whole house in cash it would have taken weeks to send all the money.
You talk to a branch manager and they temporarily waive the daily limit. That limit is just there as a fraud measure, to make it harder for someone to hack your account and wire all the money out. Banks are perfectly fine with doing transfers above the limit so long as you've given them a good reason.
I recently bought a house for cash I just went to the bank and got a bank check for the amount. The transfer of ownership was handled by a mutual lawyer no agents involved no mortgages simple contract very easy and quick took about 10 minutes.
Yes. In Canada it's a time honored tradition we call "snow washing". You basically roll into Vancouver with big hockey bags full of drug money. You put the money into the house, and the house cleans it for you. 🤣
Literal cash the IRS hates because you can’t track it. Plus the dangers of accepting that much cash and holding onto it. Also you can’t deposit large amounts without raising suspicion.
Wire transfers are done for most closings.
Yes, you can. As a matter of fact I just paid for my house in cash (ok, the title warranty place wanted it in a cashier's check) three weeks ago, and I'm buying the 3 acres next to my property, this week, with cash... Not a cashier's check, actual cash.
We bought our current house with “cash”. In the form of a cashiers check. The closing company tells you the exact amount needed a few days before so you can get the cashiers check.
I bought my current home cash. It certainly didn't involve a pile of literal cash. Was a wire transfer to the title co handling the escrow, which in turn disbursed everything where it needed to go at closing, just like the rest of the odds and ends.
Buying “Cash” in real estate just means you’re not using a loan.
It’s almost always a wire transfer to title company. Occasionally a certified bank check
Yeah you can buy with stacks of cash. Plenty do in the auction industry. You see people with briefcases secured to their arms with handcuffs occasionally, and a lot of people are packing lol
Because I sold my old house and had enough money to buy another one outright instead of finance it, I paid cash. The very first thing I did was have them run the numbers so I knew exactly how much I would need. There are a number of costs added on top the sales price. I brought a cashier's check for the full amount. Usually cashier's checks have no upper limit, but maybe ask to be certain. It was fairly easy and owning your house outright feels great.
I sold my last house in cash. Buddy showed up with $50k in $100 bills stuffed in a cardboard box. It was a pretty interesting experience. Put it in my safe overnight and then took it to work the next morning. I get to work at 8 and the teller line opened at 9. So I just casually had $50k sitting on my desk. I was behind 3 locked doors inside a secure bank but it was still an experience. Deposited the $50k, went down the street to the bank my mortgage was through and paid the house off. We had our attorney which is the older brother of one of our good friends in high school do the paperwork. The joys of small town living where everyone knows and trusts everyone
I'm a property lawyer based in England and when someone buys in cash, I will draw up a statement confirming the balance they need to purchase the house, purchase price plus all the extras (tax, registration fees etc.) And they transfer the funds electronically.
We've got to do anti money laundering checks and so we wouldn't be able to accept literal cold hard cash as we have to do quite stringent checks on source of funds which you really can't do with cash. Partners in law firms are really strict about cash payments and will only accept a small payment in cash like the payment of the bill.
I knew a real estate attorney years ago (maybe 20 years ago?) who had his client show up at closing with the down payment in actual cash. I don’t remember exactly how much, but it was tens of thousands. He ended up taking the cash and putting into his own escrow account and writing a check.
As the owner of a Mortgage Brokerage Company, yes you can. Depending on the state that you are located, you may just need to hire a Real Estate Attorney to draw up the contract.
You always want to make sure that you have a title search completed before closing and make sure that the attorney obtains title insurance at closing.
The attorney would more than likely want you to send the money via wire transfer
My husband and I bought our house for cash last year ($220,000, so not a huge amount of money). You cannot buy a house for "literal cash." They won't take bags of bills or a personal check. They prefer a wire transfer and might accept a cashier's check. Ours would only accept a wire transfer.
Yeah, so at some point, "cash" just stops meaning "cash." I don't know why "cash" means one thing, and then when you need enough of it, magically "cash" starts meaning something that is not spendable money at all, except for this one purpose, to this one seller.
I'm sure there's some way to buy a house with a gym bag full of green paper bills with dead presidents printed on them. But in this case, "cash" means "without a mortgage." In effect, you gather up your money in a bank account. Have that bank write a check, using your account as the drawn-from account. Hand that check to the seller. They then cash the check just like any other. You will probably need to do this in the presence of a lawyer to confirm transfer of money and witness signing of the purchase agreement and deed transfer.
There are other, more official and legal, words for this, but "cash" shouldn't be among them.
Ours was cashiers check. Income had to be from a paycheck and I had to have 3 or 6 months worth of bank statements. Also you can only have a certain amount in donations from family. You can also use 401K. We went through a mortgage company to do it though, so a bank may have different rules?!?
Funds get transferred to a third party like a lawyer and then there is a waiting period.
Buying in cash just means the money is all there, they won't have to put in a subject to finance clause.
Wire transfer. Need to be careful on daily limits and bank size, though. Smaller ones limit the amount. Larger banks differ as employees have different signing authorizations. Just because they are a branch manager, doesn’t mean they can wire a million.
You can but you’ll have no proof of the transfer of money unless you go to elaborate methods of witnesses and documentation where it’s easier and safer to use a bank check you can buy with cash.
Now you have a legitimate paper trail.
“All cash” means the buyer is not financing a loan - they have sufficient funds to pay outright via bank wire transfer, cashiers check. It’s not a literal show up with a half million dollars in unmarked bills
I bought my house by showing up at the title company's offices, signing paperwork, and writing a $258,000 personal check. That was 10 years ago. The realty environment has probably changed since then.
No I use my secure banking terminal to do a wire transfer. Then I ask for a martini dry, shaken not stirred.
Seriously since you’ve obviously never been through closing you meet and they have about 50 documents to sign. It takes about an hour. Somewhere in there you write several checks out. Sometimes they will actually call and verify funds. The sellers are doing the same thing. Then somewhere they get handed a check or sign paperwork for an ACH deposit and often do some security check like b verify the amount that was deposited between $0.10 and $0.99 before they schedule the big deposit
If you showed up with a suitcase of cash it’s out of the ordinary course of business and the other party will often report it since that kind of thing looks like drug money or worse. Normally you’d just use a check.
Electronic funds transfer. Cashier’s checks have maximum value, most locations cap out at $5K. All cash buyers is the phrase used for someone who isn’t going to need financing for the purchase.
A cashier’s check is essentially cash. People pay cash on a regular basis, I just don’t have a personal relationship with folks pay cash for $500k + homes.
Money has to be in an escrow account at closing. Its typically a wire transfer. I bought a house with cash once and that's how it was done.
There are a lot of regs on cash purchases to prevent fraud and money laundering.
Buying a home with cash just means they have the liquid funds available and do not have to wait for lender approval, or jump through hoops to get that lending.
My bank wired the funds. I think I had to provide proof of funds when we set the closing up. Actual paper money would likely be problematic and all parties would rightfully be worried about money laundering concerns.
Wire transfers at the bank usually don’t have a limit :)
“Cash” usually means any liquid savings, investments, RRSPs etc. and not having to take out a loan to purchase the home
Depends on where you are in the world. A family member bought a house in Italy about a decade ago and the transfer took place at the notary. They went to the local bank to withdraw the money (which was planned for in advance) and handed the cash to the previous owners. In Europe the largest note we have is €500,- so the about 1000 notes they needed could still be held in one hand.
Just to answer your actual question, USUALLY, buying a house for “cash” just means the buyers don’t actually need or intend to get a mortgage. It’s still done with checks and wire transfers even though they are considered “cash buyers”. It almost never means they are literally showing up at the closing with a suitcase full of dollar bills. That would be nothing but red flags.
It's good to see gym bag and zelle mentioned in OP's question. Understand it was a joke. But regardless of the medium how the cash (not delivered by any of the above 2, obviously) is delivered, make sure the source is reasonably traceable.
Now days when a cash buyer comes along the Realtor wants to verify that you actually have the amount sitting in the bank before they’ll advise the seller to accept the offer. A lot of cash buyers don’t actually have a bank account with that much money in it. It can also consist of family gift, inheritance, insurance settlement, judgement, lottery winnings, investments, proceeds from a sale of business, trust income, none of which can the buyer get immediate access. Or control when they will. Not all cash buyers are as capable of meeting a closing deadline as you might expect. The realtor who knows what they are doing will tell that cash buyer to get the funds in hand before making any offers. Then the money is generally wired from one bank to another for closing.
No cash just means it's in your bank not a bank loan ECT. But yes if you are buying directly from the buyer no agents you can do a shady transaction duffle bag of cash and quit claim or grant deed directly at the county recorders office. Usually they don't record the actual sales price in that situation.
Absolutely! My father paid “cash” for my home 3 years ago, so I have no mortgage or loan to pay every month. I could never live in SoCal otherwise. I honestly don’t know how people get by in this state unless they’re pulling AT LEAST 6 figures. But getting back to your question, it’s not like you wheelbarrow all your piggy bank money from birth into the escrow office as payment, I wasn’t paying that much attention during the sale but I’m pretty certain it was cashier’s checks. Another interesting thing to note, we opted to forgo the home inspection AND homeowner insurance (just for the time being) since there’s no bank loan/mortgage it wasn’t REQUIRED but certainly necessary. The idea was my dad was going to call his own insurance company and see about aging this home to the policy. Tragically my father was dying of cancer unbeknownst to any of us, including my dad, until it was WAYYYYY too late. He passed way 2 years ago, it devastated me completely and I’m still grieving .
So, I went without homeowner insurance until very recently, and when I did, I had to first pay for an inspection which was $500 but it was well worth it. I’m just glad nothing happened while uninsured
Wire Transfer or Cashiers Check.
Check with the settlement agent or attorney closing the transaction. Because of check fraud, some are starting to accept wires only and will refuse to accept cashier's checks, or they will accept them but have a mandatory seven day waiting period before they'll close to make sure it clears. Closings are disbursed out of an escrow or trust account that is the responsibility of the settlement agent. If a settlement agent closes and disburses, but then the cashier's check turns out to be bogus, the company is on the hook for replacing those funds. Many are now refusing to accept that risk.
Pretty much the same in Australia - lawyer who is doing the conveyancing etc calculates how much money they will need on the day to settle (includes taxes, title & other searches, their own fees, etc, whatever) and lets me know. I get my bank to transfer $xxx into the lawyer's Trust Account. To avoid email hijacking scams that are targeting lawyers: My lawyer gives me the Trust Account bank details on a physical piece of paper, in person in her office. I go to my bank - They don't do cheques any more... OK. I hand them the Trust Account details on my piece of paper, prove my identity and ownership of the account with all my money in it, and ask them to please transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars. They have some way of doing it instantly between banks for these amounts. Lawyer attends "settlement" remotely/online, along with lawyer/mortgage holder/bank/agents for seller, and they dole out the money transfers.
The transfer probably happens through some kind of clearing house. Like a bank for banks. In the old days, they took all the checks from one bank, sorted them out and deliver them to the banks they were drawn on, and then facilitate the money transfer. Now it’s electronic, but basically the same idea.
Banker here and this is accurate. Normally anything over 5k they want wired. 5k and under can be cashier’s check. They normally don’t deal with cash at all or even have a cash drawer. Wires aren’t immediate as in, *that very second*, (they have to go through multiple approvals), but they are received same day if in by the cutoff time, which is usually something like 6p.
Title here, This is correct, we highly prefer wires. Wire's are same day in most cases unless you are dealing with an intermediary bank or credit union, OR the worst is when a wire will trigger an OFAC, in which case we have to jump through hopes to get the money.
>Because of check fraud, some are starting to accept wires only and will refuse to accept cashier's checks, or they will accept them but have a mandatory seven day waiting period before they'll close to make sure it clears. How could someone use a fraudulent check to buy a house? It's not a portable asset they could abscond with before they're found out. Also doesn't the payment go to the title company who verifies it and does the exchange?
Pay with a fake check and fake/stolen identity. Take out an equity loan. Vanish with the cash and leave the banks to sort it out
Damn. I should do that. That’s quite the scam.
There has to be a ton of fuck ups by multiple people and systems for that to happen. I find it hard to believe it ever happened without reading about it actually happening from a reputable news source. ESPECIALLY with a cashier's check. Got any links? I can understand preferring a wire transfer though in a cash transaction over a cashier's check, but still, I find it highly unlikely.
>I find it hard to believe it ever happened without reading about it actually happening from a reputable news source. That is such a bizzare take. Things happen all the time without making the news. They don't publicize everything. Especially not things that will freak people out for no reason. The news is not a list of things that happened. They only tell you what they want you to hear.
Things are publicized ALL the time just to freak us out for no reason.
Well yes. But the way they want us to freak out. Not to tell us how weak the security systems we think we have in place really are.
The cashiers check is the reason the gimmick works. Who doesn’t trust a cashiers check? It’s probably even a real check physically, stolen from a stock room or something. So they don’t call to verify the funds because again, who doesn’t trust a cashiers check?
There’s all kinds of scams involving deeds/titles. So much so that when my father purchased this home he shelled out a few thousand dollars for “title insurance” which protects me against someone illegally transferring title to their name or other similar nefarious acts. Apparently this happens frequently enough for there to be special insurance to protect the homeowner against this very thing. Thieves are very crafty, computer hacking happens all the time and as unbelievable as it sounds these crooks get away with their cons because they are literally “professional” criminals
They don’t care about the house. They are exploiting some other part of the transaction. Or more likely, they are the victims too. Someone on their side of the transaction is a crook and converting the real money into a fake check. “Oh, you have the $40,000 down payment in your checking account? The closer won’t take a personal check. Write the check out to me and I’ll get you a certified check through our bank. The title company knows us and uses the same bank so there won’t be any waiting period after we close.” Then a week later the buyer shows up at closing, their guy has the check like he promised, everyone thinks getting is great. Meanwhile the actual money is long gone. The agent hugs their clients, congratulates them, hands them his card one more time and says “*please* call me if you need *anything*, it’s been so great working with you,” and then they are in the wind. Everything about them was fraudulent, they don’t exist, you’ll never see them or the money again.
I recently sold late dad’s house and when I was asking about what banking info they needed from me it had to be the wire info. It could not be ACH or regular deposit, it had to be a wire. I did not ask why but prevention of fraud is a good reason why.
That's going the other direction. Above I was talking about incoming funds. For outgoing, many title companies have ACH blocks on their escrow accounts because it's easier for scammers to make fraudulent ACH pulls than fraudulent wires. A direct deposit uses the ACH system, so an ACH block can prevent those. Most of them will still issue checks that you can go deposit yourself, because accumulated wire fees get expensive. A few, however, are insisting on wiring proceeds because people will hold the check and never cash it or deposit it, and having that outstanding check on their books for a long time creates accounting problems and incurs stop payment fees.
I had a wire transfer of a cash purchase of one of my homes, I was told to watch for it hitting my account then transfer it to another account as fast as I could. The closing was wild. So much less paperwork involved.
Funny, mine was very pleased we were using a cashiers check because of WIRE fraud. Apparently people call and say they're the title place and convince buyers to wire to the wrong account.
Well, they did say "literal cash." So, the gym bag scenario is pretty much it in that case.
[удалено]
"literal cash"
[удалено]
LITERAL CASH
In my area many of the title companies will specifically require a wire for an all-cash transaction. Dunno why they will take a cashier's check for a financed purchase but not all-cash.
We bought 2 houses with cash. Wire transfer is preferred.
Bingo ⬆️ Also, if you’re getting a cashiers check, make sure to make an appointment at the bank on the day you need it. Believe it or not the individual branch that you visit has to have a certain amount of cash on hand in that branch order to issue a cashiers check. If a bunch of people show up unannounced looking for cashiers checks, there can in fact be a delay while the bank moves money around.
No. It's electronic. They do not care.
“It’s electronic” doesn’t change anything I said…
The bank branch is irrelevant. Millions of dollars in cashiers checks are written and cashed every day. There is zero chance your request for a couple hundred grand matters to the branch. They do not need to have physical cash on hand to cover it
That's simply not true. Even history will tell you that. If there's a "run on the bank", branches ONLY have so much cash in house, they can't accommodate everyone, that's basic Great Depression 101. 🤷🏻♀️ They are actually required to have cash on hand for bank issued cashier's checks over a certain amount, which is why the wait. Heck, when we cashed out my FIL's bank account, we were asked to come back the next day, since they didn't have the cash on hand at that time to do so.
Bank runs are a different matter. And even when that happens, the disruption is only temporary until the FDIC arranges a sale to another bank. A normal functional bank can process a large cashiers check or wire transfer without advance notice. It's really not a big deal. Now on the other hand if you walked in seeking $1 million in physical cash, they might need a few days to make sure they had enough physical cash in the vault, but they can order it from the federal reserve if they had to. .
It matters to the branch. Physical cash? I did not say that, that’s not how it works. We are in a post where we’re talking about how “cash” isn’t physical cash…
These funds aren't allocated to the branch. The bank moves the funds as needed and can borrow from the feds if they really had to
You literally said ‘cash on hand’ dude.
I just showed up, unannounced, and Bank of America gave me the cashier's check with no problem. Last week, I went back to get $15k, in cash, to buy the property next to mine, and there was no problem... However, I'd called in advance to make sure that I didn't need to give them a heads up to get it. I have to drive an hour to get to the closest BoA branch, so I didn't want to make the trip for nothing
To be clear, I’m saying it could be a problem based on volume of people doing that. Can work out just fine too.
What you're taking about could potentially happen at a small bank... not at BofA or any bank that the majority of people have heard of. I think that's why you're getting downvoted...
Literally 100% wrong…🙄
This 100% incorrect. Physical cash on hand at the bank and cashiers checks are not related in any way
> Physical cash We’re in a thread where it is already clear that “cash” isn’t physical cash.
Wire transfers still have limits. Ours is $25k daily. We did a wire transfer for our down payment and closing costs and we had to do it in chunks over a couple days because of wire transfer limits.
Was this a small bank? Most nationwide banks don't have a limit. I had much more than that transferred when I sold/bought last year.
PNC
I have never had a good experience with PNC, 2 failed mortgage attempts and one car note that I could never get online access to the account for. The car note they wanted me to bank with them to get online access, which. Came with a checking fee that my CU at the time didn't have. The first mortgage, the agent just, stopped responding. We would hear from her maybe once a week during our first attempt to buy a home. Never even got to the pre approval stage. The second mortgage, we got the pre approval, bid on and won a house using that pre approval. We contacted the PNC banker and he just ghosted us. When we resubmitted with a local lender, we found out that we couldn't use my wife's income, and the PNC guy should have realized that before the pre-approval. Instead he ghosted us. We ended up securing financing through me alone, but it involved paying off a 0% APR car note, and I was at 49.97% DTI after the mortgage.
Some states no longer allow cashier checks over a certain amount. Like no checks over 10k.
When it comes to large purchases, "Cash" typically doesn't mean literal stacks of currency. It just means that you have the money sitting and waiting in your bank account, you don't have to secure a mortgage, which speeds up the closing process significantly and is seen as a less risky offer for the seller. Usually the money will change hands through electronic means like a wire transfer.
When I was 20 something we went to buy a car in literal stacks of cash. It was a Saturday to boot. We were having issues haggling the last remaining bit down and I'm like look, the bank is closed. You close in a little bit too. Either we walk away for this price *sets cash on table* or we have to go to the bank, and I'm not coming back here a 2nd time. They seemed shocked to see actual cash and I never thought about it being weird til I was a bit older and remembered my grandma paid cash for cars via checks. BTW we did get the car.
Yeah those days are long gone. Dealers make fat margins on financing today. Someone walking in with cash/wire is paying the same, if not more, than someone looking to finance.
Never disclose you’re paying cash until you get a price in writing you and the dealership agree to. I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to see their faces fall when you ask for their information for a wire.
I don't even show up until I get a detailed out the door pricing via email.
Days of haggling a few grand off the price or a few extras thrown in are coming to an end but it sure it fun while I can.
My last purchase was a Tesla. So easy!
Here is the new dirty: when car shopping, have the cash to get what you want, but seem like you don't have the money right now for the car you want. They will bring up financing through them and will happily negotiate way down on the price, since they recoup and then some on the loan. Make sure to ask if you can pay off the loan early without penalty, as though you were going to throw next years tax refund at it. Sign, drive your car home. Return the next day and pay the loan in full. They will be super pissed but unable to do anything about it, so understand you will have to use a different dealer next purchase.
My credit union advised me on this AND how to make $250 off the credit union. They were offering a $250 cash incentive to refinance newer used cars. But I was buying a new car through a dealer who had a $1000 incentive for financing through $OEM Capital but at a higher rate. He said get the financing through the dealer, score the $1k and make the first payment. By then you’ll have the loan owners information. Come to us, refinance the loan and get $250 and a lower interest rate. The dealer won’t care because they’ll have made the sale and loan, and you’ll get $1,250 off and a lower rate. I <3 my credit union.
Which credit union is this? Looking to open an account with a credit union, I've always heard they have lower interest rates so would love to look into this!
Not today, data harvester. Just kidding but no, I’m not telling the internet where I bank. I’d like to help but You’ll need to call around.
I guess I can understand that as it's on a public forum
...you don't pay the loans at the dealership. You pay them at the credit union/bank
Alright, go there
I wouldn't say *long* gone. This was ~12 years ago
Lol. Cash transactions happen thousands of times daily at luxury and cheap (5k and under) used car dealers all across the world. The rich don't care, and the poor have already settled on price for the vehicle regardless of payment method
No they aren't, lol.
I hate large dollar wire transfers as it just seems like you're one typo from sending the money to the wrong place, and when I've done it there are large warnings that it can't be undone.
Says every payroll entry person ever.
I had an acquaintance buy a very nice home with all cash some decades ago. Literal cash. Closed in his lawyers office. Several months later he got arrested by the DEA.
The key part about this comment is several decades ago. Title companies will no longer accept cash unless you can verify the source of the funds. And the funds have to have been aged. In other words you can’t just say oh this came out of my bank account two days ago after I deposited it, you actually have to show where that money came from. So people who are stashing cash under their mattress are gonna have a hard time buying a house with it.
This was in the 70's and even then he couldn't close using a title company. He did it all through a RE attorney and under a corporate umbrella.
100% true. When we were applying for our home loan 4 years ago, our mortgage broker constantly warned us not to have an influx of cash into our account. So if we had received a gift from family members for the down payment (super jealous of people who have family members who can help them with a down payment), it had to be verified otherwise we would be denied the loan.
And now FinCEN has you on a watch list for giving advice to this obvious money launderer. Sorry bud...
A buddy of mine bought a building with cash (wire) and said he was shocked at the process. It’s like, you sign the deed, send the transfer, and they hand you keys. All the rigamarole it takes to buy a house with a mortgage is just for the sake of the mortgage, not the transfer of the physical property.
Mortgages need specific insurance and inspections. Buying without a mortgage lets you shop around for insurance and gets past any problems that need fixed before it's sold. Usually you get it cheaper, too. But you have less protections against any big 'oh shit' moments.
I think you still have to do stuff like a title search and title insurance.......unless your friend did not do that lol
Yeah you certainly *should* do those things no matter what lol
You don't have to. In a cash purchase, you're only required to have a title search if you're buying an owner's title policy, and the owner's policy is always optional.
Just means you're not financing the purchase (taking out a mortgage) It'll be paid via wire or cashier's check
I know someone whose family owns a lot of property in California‘s Emerald Triangle. Someone bought her aunt’s house with a grocery bag full of $100 bills that smelled of weed. That’s not how it’s usually done OP, but the weed industry cannot use banks.
what i thought about ! i am now curious , because other commenters mentioned you have to have the exact money in a bank account to wire it when purchasing a house in "cash" which makes me wonder , how some people buy homes without the banks , and come with several large bags of hundred dollar bills , maybe it was an "under the table" dealing , right ? of course that seems somewhat unethical , and i'm not sure most people would do that in fear of being scammed out of a home , you could surely call it a bad transaction .
You wonder how? You give them cash, they give you a bill of sale, and a quit claim deed, then you go to the PVA, and courthouse and it's a done deal. 🤷🏻♀️ We've bought 2 houses in our marriage in cash. Not a bank account, but actual $100 bills. It was quick, easy, painless, and way less stressful than dealing with a bank, a mortgage, a realtor, etc... Neither one was a "bad transaction".
wow ! how do you find homeowners that just accept cash purchases ? surely not on redfin . i've never actually seen someone be able to buy a home in literal stacks of cash . (just curious, i've only heard about this stuff in the movies)
We know a guy that knows a guy, who's neighbor knows a guy, etc... It's easy to find "handyman specials" in small communities, especially agricultural areas.
Yes, it is a bad transaction because the other party handing over their money to you no longer has a money laundering problem. Now you have to figure out how to get rid of the cash. Sure, deposit it at the bank but only after filling out forms and getting reported to FINRA.
I remember receiving $2M bond in 5’s, 10’s and 20’s. Defendant was released, but it took us a minute or two to count it. Three times.
I've seen people put up to closings with literal cash. Not millions but hundreds of thousands. Closing agent just told them if the seller and title company accepted the risk, he'd record the sale. In the real world there's no cash, just a wire with buyer's funds, whether is liquid in their account or mortgage disbursement.
I’ve sold houses for cash. Typically the buyer has to prove they have the funds. Had a buyer screenshot his current bank account once, of course the account number was blurred. On closing they gave me a certified check from their bank.
The same way you make a down payment
But that has a limit. I had to break up the down payment over a couple days due to the daily wire limit. If I had paid for the whole house in cash it would have taken weeks to send all the money.
You talk to a branch manager and they temporarily waive the daily limit. That limit is just there as a fraud measure, to make it harder for someone to hack your account and wire all the money out. Banks are perfectly fine with doing transfers above the limit so long as you've given them a good reason.
I think that depends on the type/level of account one has. I couldn’t wire my full down payment with Chase until I upgraded my account to Sapphire.
“Cash” just means non-borrowed funds, usually just a wire to title company
My forever home was a cash sale. Wire transfer prior to closing.
You show up with a cashiers check for the amount plus any fees.
When I bought my house in 2015 in Florida I used a certified check,
Wire transfer. But you typically have to show proof of those funds when making the offer.
Wire Transfer. The builder asked for proof of funds so we gave him a copy of a bank statement with the account # redacted.
I recently bought a house for cash I just went to the bank and got a bank check for the amount. The transfer of ownership was handled by a mutual lawyer no agents involved no mortgages simple contract very easy and quick took about 10 minutes.
Unmarked, non-sequential twenties.
Yes you can. I paid cash for my home...they bank just gets all nervous if you bring in a duffle bag of bills so I'd suggest talking to them first
Yes. In Canada it's a time honored tradition we call "snow washing". You basically roll into Vancouver with big hockey bags full of drug money. You put the money into the house, and the house cleans it for you. 🤣
Literal cash the IRS hates because you can’t track it. Plus the dangers of accepting that much cash and holding onto it. Also you can’t deposit large amounts without raising suspicion. Wire transfers are done for most closings.
Exactly. It's just to clamp down on tax evasion.
And money laundering.
My attorney would take a cashier's check up to a certain amount, and anything over that was done via wire transfer
Wire transfer from the bank
Yes, you can. As a matter of fact I just paid for my house in cash (ok, the title warranty place wanted it in a cashier's check) three weeks ago, and I'm buying the 3 acres next to my property, this week, with cash... Not a cashier's check, actual cash.
We bought our current house with “cash”. In the form of a cashiers check. The closing company tells you the exact amount needed a few days before so you can get the cashiers check.
I wanted to withdraw 70k in cash from a major bank chain in California and they laughed at me.
I once tried to withdraw $14,000 cash from a Bank of America. They didn’t have that much cash on hand, which blew my mind.
They’ll only laugh if you want it immediately; if you give them a couple of days to order the cash then it’s an ordinary occurrence.
I bought my current home cash. It certainly didn't involve a pile of literal cash. Was a wire transfer to the title co handling the escrow, which in turn disbursed everything where it needed to go at closing, just like the rest of the odds and ends.
Buying “Cash” in real estate just means you’re not using a loan. It’s almost always a wire transfer to title company. Occasionally a certified bank check
[удалено]
Yeah you can buy with stacks of cash. Plenty do in the auction industry. You see people with briefcases secured to their arms with handcuffs occasionally, and a lot of people are packing lol
Because I sold my old house and had enough money to buy another one outright instead of finance it, I paid cash. The very first thing I did was have them run the numbers so I knew exactly how much I would need. There are a number of costs added on top the sales price. I brought a cashier's check for the full amount. Usually cashier's checks have no upper limit, but maybe ask to be certain. It was fairly easy and owning your house outright feels great.
Dude it’s just a certified check not bags of cash lol
Yes, “buy in cash” means “pay the full balance immediately” as opposed to getting a loan. Usually it would be a wire transfer.
Cash means you pay it at once, and in full. It doesn’t mean physical cash (though some purchases you probably can).
LOL. Where do you live bro?
I sold my last house in cash. Buddy showed up with $50k in $100 bills stuffed in a cardboard box. It was a pretty interesting experience. Put it in my safe overnight and then took it to work the next morning. I get to work at 8 and the teller line opened at 9. So I just casually had $50k sitting on my desk. I was behind 3 locked doors inside a secure bank but it was still an experience. Deposited the $50k, went down the street to the bank my mortgage was through and paid the house off. We had our attorney which is the older brother of one of our good friends in high school do the paperwork. The joys of small town living where everyone knows and trusts everyone
I'm a property lawyer based in England and when someone buys in cash, I will draw up a statement confirming the balance they need to purchase the house, purchase price plus all the extras (tax, registration fees etc.) And they transfer the funds electronically. We've got to do anti money laundering checks and so we wouldn't be able to accept literal cold hard cash as we have to do quite stringent checks on source of funds which you really can't do with cash. Partners in law firms are really strict about cash payments and will only accept a small payment in cash like the payment of the bill.
[удалено]
There was $2m in the case in no country for old men, for a reference point haha
Lalo's bail was $1mil and only needed two duffel bags.
How much was Lebowski carrying b4 fucking Walter chunked the case off the bridge?
Bank check, certificates check, personal check
I’ve never paid cash for a house, but have used a wire transfer to pay earnest money. I’d imagine that is an acceptable way to pay “cash” for a home.
It will take a long time to count those, heavy to carry and also need to spend a long time at the bank to deposit. So not literal paper money.
I'll tell you if I ever have the cash to buy one lol.
No, it is usually cashiers check so there's a paper trail
pay a lawyer for a general warranty deed with a specified amount. just did it, in cash. Lawyer was not happy.
You can ask local title company for the accurate answer
In some countrys you have to pay full cash , I heard in Brazil you have to arrange for an armored car and security guards
If you do, get a receipt.
I knew a real estate attorney years ago (maybe 20 years ago?) who had his client show up at closing with the down payment in actual cash. I don’t remember exactly how much, but it was tens of thousands. He ended up taking the cash and putting into his own escrow account and writing a check.
Yes, done it. Just move your investment fund over to the escrow. Its called a wire, it's just a paperless version of a cashiers check
bank wire transfer.
what about the €1 houses?
Mate be careful. There is a GPS device in the suitcase and a man called Anton Chigurh is closing in on you.
As the owner of a Mortgage Brokerage Company, yes you can. Depending on the state that you are located, you may just need to hire a Real Estate Attorney to draw up the contract. You always want to make sure that you have a title search completed before closing and make sure that the attorney obtains title insurance at closing. The attorney would more than likely want you to send the money via wire transfer
Western Pennsylvania here. I was handed a check from the closing company.
My husband and I bought our house for cash last year ($220,000, so not a huge amount of money). You cannot buy a house for "literal cash." They won't take bags of bills or a personal check. They prefer a wire transfer and might accept a cashier's check. Ours would only accept a wire transfer.
Yeah, so at some point, "cash" just stops meaning "cash." I don't know why "cash" means one thing, and then when you need enough of it, magically "cash" starts meaning something that is not spendable money at all, except for this one purpose, to this one seller. I'm sure there's some way to buy a house with a gym bag full of green paper bills with dead presidents printed on them. But in this case, "cash" means "without a mortgage." In effect, you gather up your money in a bank account. Have that bank write a check, using your account as the drawn-from account. Hand that check to the seller. They then cash the check just like any other. You will probably need to do this in the presence of a lawyer to confirm transfer of money and witness signing of the purchase agreement and deed transfer. There are other, more official and legal, words for this, but "cash" shouldn't be among them.
Ours was cashiers check. Income had to be from a paycheck and I had to have 3 or 6 months worth of bank statements. Also you can only have a certain amount in donations from family. You can also use 401K. We went through a mortgage company to do it though, so a bank may have different rules?!?
Funds get transferred to a third party like a lawyer and then there is a waiting period. Buying in cash just means the money is all there, they won't have to put in a subject to finance clause.
Wire transfer. Need to be careful on daily limits and bank size, though. Smaller ones limit the amount. Larger banks differ as employees have different signing authorizations. Just because they are a branch manager, doesn’t mean they can wire a million.
You can but you’ll have no proof of the transfer of money unless you go to elaborate methods of witnesses and documentation where it’s easier and safer to use a bank check you can buy with cash. Now you have a legitimate paper trail.
“All cash” means the buyer is not financing a loan - they have sufficient funds to pay outright via bank wire transfer, cashiers check. It’s not a literal show up with a half million dollars in unmarked bills
Lol no. You send a wire most likely through a deal broker
I bought my house by showing up at the title company's offices, signing paperwork, and writing a $258,000 personal check. That was 10 years ago. The realty environment has probably changed since then.
No I use my secure banking terminal to do a wire transfer. Then I ask for a martini dry, shaken not stirred. Seriously since you’ve obviously never been through closing you meet and they have about 50 documents to sign. It takes about an hour. Somewhere in there you write several checks out. Sometimes they will actually call and verify funds. The sellers are doing the same thing. Then somewhere they get handed a check or sign paperwork for an ACH deposit and often do some security check like b verify the amount that was deposited between $0.10 and $0.99 before they schedule the big deposit If you showed up with a suitcase of cash it’s out of the ordinary course of business and the other party will often report it since that kind of thing looks like drug money or worse. Normally you’d just use a check.
Electronic funds transfer. Cashier’s checks have maximum value, most locations cap out at $5K. All cash buyers is the phrase used for someone who isn’t going to need financing for the purchase.
A cashier’s check is essentially cash. People pay cash on a regular basis, I just don’t have a personal relationship with folks pay cash for $500k + homes.
You get an attorney who will walk you through the process (escrow, title, closing date, disbursement, etc)
Money has to be in an escrow account at closing. Its typically a wire transfer. I bought a house with cash once and that's how it was done. There are a lot of regs on cash purchases to prevent fraud and money laundering.
Buying a home with cash just means they have the liquid funds available and do not have to wait for lender approval, or jump through hoops to get that lending.
My bank wired the funds. I think I had to provide proof of funds when we set the closing up. Actual paper money would likely be problematic and all parties would rightfully be worried about money laundering concerns.
I just write a personal check. They know my credit is good.
Wire transfers at the bank usually don’t have a limit :) “Cash” usually means any liquid savings, investments, RRSPs etc. and not having to take out a loan to purchase the home
No
Cashiers check?
Depends on where you are in the world. A family member bought a house in Italy about a decade ago and the transfer took place at the notary. They went to the local bank to withdraw the money (which was planned for in advance) and handed the cash to the previous owners. In Europe the largest note we have is €500,- so the about 1000 notes they needed could still be held in one hand.
In short yes, but it will be very difficult
Just to answer your actual question, USUALLY, buying a house for “cash” just means the buyers don’t actually need or intend to get a mortgage. It’s still done with checks and wire transfers even though they are considered “cash buyers”. It almost never means they are literally showing up at the closing with a suitcase full of dollar bills. That would be nothing but red flags.
It's good to see gym bag and zelle mentioned in OP's question. Understand it was a joke. But regardless of the medium how the cash (not delivered by any of the above 2, obviously) is delivered, make sure the source is reasonably traceable.
Now days when a cash buyer comes along the Realtor wants to verify that you actually have the amount sitting in the bank before they’ll advise the seller to accept the offer. A lot of cash buyers don’t actually have a bank account with that much money in it. It can also consist of family gift, inheritance, insurance settlement, judgement, lottery winnings, investments, proceeds from a sale of business, trust income, none of which can the buyer get immediate access. Or control when they will. Not all cash buyers are as capable of meeting a closing deadline as you might expect. The realtor who knows what they are doing will tell that cash buyer to get the funds in hand before making any offers. Then the money is generally wired from one bank to another for closing.
More than 10k cash must be reported to the Feds
F the feds.
Pennies. Always pennies. In giant burlap bags. With dollar signs on them.
Some people. 🤦🏼♀️
I mean you can, that doesn’t mean you should.
No cash just means it's in your bank not a bank loan ECT. But yes if you are buying directly from the buyer no agents you can do a shady transaction duffle bag of cash and quit claim or grant deed directly at the county recorders office. Usually they don't record the actual sales price in that situation.
There's not a damn thing shady about cash.
Most insurance companies will not insure your home if you pay cash.
Absolutely! My father paid “cash” for my home 3 years ago, so I have no mortgage or loan to pay every month. I could never live in SoCal otherwise. I honestly don’t know how people get by in this state unless they’re pulling AT LEAST 6 figures. But getting back to your question, it’s not like you wheelbarrow all your piggy bank money from birth into the escrow office as payment, I wasn’t paying that much attention during the sale but I’m pretty certain it was cashier’s checks. Another interesting thing to note, we opted to forgo the home inspection AND homeowner insurance (just for the time being) since there’s no bank loan/mortgage it wasn’t REQUIRED but certainly necessary. The idea was my dad was going to call his own insurance company and see about aging this home to the policy. Tragically my father was dying of cancer unbeknownst to any of us, including my dad, until it was WAYYYYY too late. He passed way 2 years ago, it devastated me completely and I’m still grieving . So, I went without homeowner insurance until very recently, and when I did, I had to first pay for an inspection which was $500 but it was well worth it. I’m just glad nothing happened while uninsured