The 'we buy houses' letters: what the discount really is

Families administering an estate get blitzed with cash-offer mail. The pitch is speed and simplicity; the price is the price.

Investor buyers typically target buying at 70–85% of market value, minus repair estimates that skew generous in their favor. On a $1.2M house that's $180,000–$360,000 left on the table, in exchange for closing a few weeks faster than a prepared market sale.

When a cash sale can genuinely make sense: a house with severe condition problems the family can't fund, a reverse-mortgage clock about to expire, or a family that values certainty above all and understands the cost.

How to test any cash offer: get the house valued independently first (this costs nothing), then compare the offer against value minus realistic selling costs — not against nothing. An offer that only looks good in a vacuum isn't good.

And a note about this site: we're a brokerage; we sell homes at market. But the advice above stands even if you never talk to us — no offer, from anyone, should be accepted un-compared.

General education, not advice — verify anything you’ll rely on with a CPA or estate attorney.