Frequently Asked Questions About Selling To Quick Home Offers®

Selling a house for cash raises specific questions — about the process, the offer math, the legal requirements in California, and how to tell a serious buyer from one to walk away. The answers below cover what California homeowners ask us most. If you have a question that isn’t here, contact us directly.

How do I know if a cash buyer is legitimate?

A legitimate cash buyer can show you three things: recent proof of funds, references from past sellers you can actually call, and a track record you can verify on Google Reviews or other review platforms. Reviews on the buyer’s own website don’t count. A legitimate buyer will also welcome questions, give you time to review the contract, and use a licensed third-party escrow company — not their own internal closing service.

Is it legal to sell a house for cash in California?

Yes. Selling a property for cash is fully legal in California. In fact, over the last 2 decades, cash sales have typically accounted for 15% to 30% of transactions in California, depending on the area and year.

The transaction goes through the same escrow, title, and closing process as any other home sale — the only difference is that the buyer pays from their own funds instead of using a bank loan. The title is recorded with the county, the transfer tax is paid, and you receive proceeds through a licensed escrow company. The IRS reporting requirements are also identical to a financed sale.

Are ‘We Buy Houses’ companies a scam?

Most are legitimate businesses. Some are not. The category includes seasoned local buyers who close hundreds of deals, large national franchises, iBuyers, and a smaller layer of bad actors who use high-pressure tactics or contracts they have no intention of closing. The vetting steps laid out in this FAQ page filter out the bad actors quickly.

Foreclosure rescue scams are the most dangerous version — any buyer who promises to “take over your payments” without paying off your mortgage is committing fraud, and the California Attorney General has warned against this scheme specifically.

What documents or items should I ask a cash buyer to provide before signing an agreement?

Ask for the following:

• Proof of funds
• Earnest money deposit (EMD) of at least 1% of the contract price
• List of recent purchases
• Receipt provided by escrow showing the EMD has been deposited

Typically, buyers will send the EMD within 3 days of signing the agreement.

How does Quick Home Offers® calculate a cash offer?

Most sellers ask this as “what percentage of repaired value do you pay?” — but a flat percentage isn’t how a serious offer gets built – and companies that do this usually end up lowballing sellers.

Three properties at the same after-repair value can produce three very different offers. A vacant home with deferred maintenance and a clean title is not the same purchase as an occupied home with code violations and a lien. The offer factors after-repair value, condition, location, repair scope, holding costs, and situation complexity. Adam or Josh personally evaluates every property. We walk through the numbers with you. The full methodology is in our cash buyers’ guide.

Will I get less money selling to a cash buyer than listing with an agent?

To compare accurately, you must know your net – the amount of money you put in your pocket after the sale.

Often, the net is closer than people expect. The list price may be higher, but you have to subtract commissions (5–6%), closing costs (1–3%), repair credits negotiated after inspection (0–5%), holding costs during the listing period (mortgage, insurance, taxes), and any prep work you fund out of pocket.

Quick Home Offers® charges no fees and closes quickly, eliminating repair costs, agent fees, closing costs, and holding costs. The offer we give you is what you net before taxes and your mortgage payoff.

Can I negotiate a cash offer, or is it take-it-or-leave-it?

You can negotiate. A serious cash buyer will explain the math behind the offer, listen to specifics you raise about the property, and adjust if the new information changes the analysis.

What you cannot negotiate away is the underlying economics — repair costs and resale costs are real numbers. If a buyer refuses to explain the offer or won’t move at all on details, that’s a flag. We walk through the numbers openly and will tell you directly if your situation calls for a different path than selling to us.

Will a buyer try to lower the price after inspection?

Some will. The practice of dropping the offer mid-escrow after an inspection is called “retrading” — locking you into a contract at one number, then renegotiating down once you’re committed. It happens when a buyer offers a price they could not actually perform at, or when they planned the retrade from the start.

Quick Home Offers® does not retrade. The only time our offer changes is if something material is discovered during a walk-through that was not disclosed during our earlier conversations about the property — for example, a structural issue or condition not mentioned upfront. If everything you told us holds true, the number on your closing statement matches the number on your offer.

How does selling a house for cash actually work, step by step?

• Tell us about your property — submit details by phone, text, or online form. We’ll ask about the condition, situation, and timeline.
• Get your no-obligation cash offer — Adam or Josh personally reviews the property, often visiting in person, and presents a written offer within 24 hours.
• Choose your closing date — close in 7 days or 90+ days, whatever fits your schedule.
• Close and get paid — sign the deed at a licensed local title company and receive funds by wire or check. No agent, no listing, no showings, no commissions.

How fast can a cash sale close in California?

As fast as 7 days from contract signing. The constraint is title work, not financing. California title companies typically need 5–7 business days to run a clean title search, issue title insurance, and prepare closing documents. Some buyers advertise 3-day closings — technically possible, but in practice extremely rare because of title searches, payoff demands from mortgage companies, and waiting on records from the city or county.

If the title has complications — unresolved liens, missing heirs, probate not yet completed — the timeline extends. Our fastest deal since 2013 closed in 5 days. Our average is around 20 days, accounting for sellers who need time to move, finalize an estate, or coordinate around other obligations.

What does “as-is” actually mean when you sell to a cash buyer?

In practice with a real cash buyer, “as-is” means we evaluate the property as it stands, write the offer based on that condition, and close on it without asking you to make repairs, give credits, or fix anything before the deed transfers.

We don’t come back after a walk-through with a list of items we want you to repair or address. California law still requires you to disclose known defects even in an as-is sale — the Transfer Disclosure Statement cannot be waived. For the full legal definition and what it does and doesn’t cover, see our complete as-is guide.

Who pays closing costs in a cash sale?

When you sell directly to Quick Home Offers®, we pay escrow fees, title insurance, notary costs, and the standard closing costs that would normally come out of the seller’s proceeds. You’re responsible for property taxes prorated through the closing date and your mortgage payoff if there’s an existing loan.

Most direct cash buyers operate similarly, but not all do — some pass closing costs back to the seller. Always confirm who pays what in writing before signing.

If you’ve already listed the property with an agent and received a cash offer through the MLS, closing costs are not automatic. They remain a point of negotiation in the purchase agreement, the same as any traditional sale. A cash offer through a listing speeds up the timeline by removing financing risk, but it does not, by itself, shift who covers escrow, title, or transfer fees. Read the offer terms before assuming.

The net number on your closing statement is what matters, not the headline offer.

Do I still need a Transfer Disclosure Statement if I sell as-is to a cash buyer?

Yes. California Civil Code §1102 requires sellers of residential property (one to four units) to deliver a Transfer Disclosure Statement to the buyer, and the statute explicitly states this requirement “may not be waived in an ‘as is’ sale.” You must disclose known material defects — roof leaks, foundation issues, past flooding, code violations, anything you’re aware of. Selling as-is sets expectations on repairs. It does not give you cover to hide problems.

Some cash buyers may not ask you for a Transfer Disclosure Statement. They may frame this as a convenience — “no paperwork, no hassle.” It is not a favor to you. The disclosure requirement protects the seller, not the buyer.

When you complete a TDS, and the buyer signs it, you have a written record of what was disclosed and accepted before closing. Without that record, a buyer can claim after the sale that you concealed something, and your defense is your memory of a phone call against their written complaint. Failure to deliver a TDS exposes you to civil liability that can survive the sale for years.

Quick Home Offers® will provide you with this form, and it takes about 10 minutes to fill out.

What happens to my mortgage when I sell to a cash buyer?

It gets paid off at closing from the sale proceeds. Escrow contacts your lender, requests a payoff statement, and wires the exact balance to the lender on the closing day. You keep whatever is left after the mortgage, any liens, and prorated property taxes are settled. If your mortgage balance is higher than the sale price, the gap has to be covered — either out of pocket, through a short sale negotiated with the lender, or by walking away from the deal. A legitimate cash buyer will tell you upfront whether your equity position works.

Can I sell my house for cash in California without a real estate agent?

Yes. Cash buyers like Quick Home Offers® purchase directly from the seller — no listing agent, no buyer’s agent, no commissions. You don’t need to list on the MLS. You don’t need professional photos or staging. What you do need (which is provided by Quick Home Offers®) is a licensed escrow company to handle the closing and a title company to issue title insurance. Both are standard in any California real estate transaction. Many sellers also choose to have a real estate attorney review the purchase agreement before signing, particularly if the property has complicated title or inheritance issues.

How does escrow work in a California cash sale?

After you accept the offer, escrow opens at a licensed third-party escrow company. The buyer deposits earnest money — typically 1% – 3% of the purchase price for legitimate buyers — into the escrow account. The escrow officer orders a title search, prepares closing documents, coordinates the mortgage payoff if applicable, and holds all funds neutrally until closing. On the closing day, you sign the deed, the buyer wires the purchase funds to escrow, and the escrow officer disburses proceeds to you, your lender, and any lienholders. The deed records with the county the same day or the next business day.

Will Quick Home Offers buy my house if it has tenants?

Yes. We buy properties with tenants in place — month-to-month, lease-bound, Section 8, problem tenants, paying tenants who never want to move. About 35% of the properties we purchase have some form of tenant or occupancy complication at closing. We do not require you to evict, give notice, or have a vacancy date before closing. We handle the tenant relationship after the deed transfers. For owner-occupied properties where you need time to move, we routinely offer leaseback arrangements so you can stay in the home for an agreed period after closing.

What kinds of properties or situations are actual deal-breakers for Quick Home Offers?

Very few. We’ve closed inherited properties, condemned homes, fire damage, mold, hoarding situations, code violations, properties with liens, and deals with multiple heirs. The actual deal-breakers are situations where the property legally cannot be sold: title that cannot be cleared through escrow, mortgages exceeding the property’s value with no path to a short sale, an owner who is deceased without probate completed or trust documentation in place, or a co-owner who refuses to sign. We can also walk through partial-equity situations to see if a deal still makes sense. If your situation is unusual, ask — we’ll tell you honestly whether we can close.

What’s the difference between a cash buyer and an iBuyer like Opendoor?

iBuyers (Opendoor, Offerpad, and similar) use algorithms to generate offers on homes that fit narrow criteria — typically newer, mid-market, move-in-ready, or close to move-in-ready properties in specific metros. They charge service fees of 5–15% and decline most properties with major repairs, complicated title issues, occupancy issues, or non-standard situations.

Independent cash buyers like Quick Home Offers® handle a wider array of situations and properties. We charge no fees and handle the situations iBuyers reject. Quick Home Offers® also does not use a standard algorithm to give you an offer. This is because complicated situations and properties cannot easily fit into an algorithm. If your property qualifies for an iBuyer offer, compare both. If it doesn’t, an independent buyer is your best path.

What happens if a lien or title issue is discovered during escrow?

Roughly 1 in 4 of the properties we buy have some kind of lien on title — tax liens, judgment liens, HOA liens, mechanic’s liens, code violation liens, etc. In nearly every case, the lien is paid from the sale proceeds at closing. You don’t need to bring cash to clear it. Escrow handles the payoff with the lienholder, the title company confirms the lien is released, and what remains after all payoffs comes to you. If the liens exceed the property value, the deal becomes a short sale negotiation — sometimes possible, sometimes not. Adam or Josh will tell you which category your situation falls into.

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