A friend connected me with the sweetest couple a few weeks ago. They had already found their next home. They were not behind on anything, nothing was wrong, they simply did not want to spend six weeks on repairs and showings while the house they actually wanted sat there waiting.
They interviewed several investors before they called me. They told me afterwards they felt like God brought us together, and honestly, He is always in the details!
For them it was never about squeezing out every last dollar. Convenience and speed mattered more, and they knew exactly what they were choosing.
Almost everything written about cash home sales assumes you are desperate. Behind on payments, facing foreclosure, inheriting something you cannot afford. I write about those situations a lot, because they are real and because people in them deserve honest information.
But that is not this article.
This one is for the person who has already found their next home. Who has a closing date on the new place and a clock running. Who looked at the list of repairs, the staging, the showings on a Saturday with three kids and a dog, and thought there has to be a simpler way to do this.
There is. It costs you something, and I am going to be completely straight with you about exactly what.
I'm Kady. I am a Realtor with Momentum Realty and an investor, which is an unusual place to stand and I think it makes me more useful rather than less. I can list your house or I can buy it, and I genuinely do not mind which. I say I save more homes than I sell, and the same honesty applies here. If listing nets you forty thousand dollars more and you have the time, I will tell you that out loud.
The short version
Selling as is for cash means no repairs, no showings, no staging, no financing contingency and no appraisal. You pick the closing date, sometimes in as little as a week or two. What you give up is price, usually somewhere in the range of ten to twenty percent below what a fully prepared listing would bring, though the honest number depends entirely on condition. Florida's AS IS contract still gives the buyer an inspection period, and it does not erase your legal duty to disclose known defects. And if you are buying another Florida home, do not forget portability, because up to $500,000 of your Save Our Homes savings can move with you.
If you only remember six things
- You are allowed to choose convenience. Netting the absolute maximum is not the only valid goal.
- As is does not mean you can stay quiet. Florida law still requires you to disclose known problems that a buyer could not see.
- Get more than one offer. That sweet couple interviewed several investors, and they were right to.
- Ask for proof of funds before you sign anything. A real buyer will hand it over without blinking.
- You can usually stay after closing if your next place is not ready. Ask for it in writing.
- Bring your tax savings with you. Portability can move up to $500,000 of Save Our Homes benefit to your new Florida home.
The Situation Nobody Writes About
Here is how it usually goes.
You were not even looking that hard. Then a house came up in the right neighbourhood, or near the grandchildren, or with the single storey layout your knees have been asking for, and suddenly you are under contract on a place you love and staring at the one you are standing in.
And the one you are standing in needs things. The roof has four or five years left but an insurance company is going to have opinions about it. The kitchen is from 2004. There is a bathroom that has needed attention since before the pandemic.
Your agent, if you have one, gives you the honest list. Paint, flooring, a few repairs, declutter the garage, stage the living room, and you could get top dollar in maybe eight to ten weeks.
Eight to ten weeks. While you are also moving. While you are also paying two mortgages, or borrowing against the new purchase, or asking the sellers of the new house to wait.
That is the moment people start looking up cash buyers. Not because anything is wrong, but because the arithmetic of time suddenly matters more than the arithmetic of price.
The two mortgage problem
This is the part that pushes most people toward a cash sale, and it is worth putting actual numbers on.
If you are carrying two payments while the old house sits on the market, every month costs you both mortgages, two sets of insurance, two tax bills accruing, utilities on an empty house, and lawn care so the neighbours do not start talking. In Florida, with what insurance costs now, that figure gets uncomfortable fast.
Two or three months of that eats a meaningful chunk of whatever extra money the listing was going to bring you. People forget to subtract it, and then they are surprised by the final number.
There is a second cost nobody writes on a spreadsheet, and I think it is the bigger one honestly. It is what those weeks do to you. Keeping a house show ready with a family in it is genuinely exhausting, and doing it while you are packing boxes for a different house is a particular kind of miserable.
The other versions of this
Not everybody arrives here the same way. The ones I see most:
- A job transfer with a start date. The date does not move, so something else has to.
- Downsizing after the kids left. Forty years of belongings in a house that needs more than you want to put into it at this stage of life.
- Moving to be near family. Usually the grandchildren. Usually with a deadline attached to a school year.
- A rental you are finished with. The tenant left it rough and you do not want to be a landlord anymore.
- An inherited house that three siblings in three states are trying to agree about.
- A listing that sat and expired, often because the condition scared off financed buyers.
Different roads, same crossroads. You have a house that needs work and a reason you cannot spend three months on it.
What As Is Actually Means in Florida
There is a lot of confusion about this, and some of it comes from people who should know better.
Most Florida residential sales, cash or financed, use the Florida Realtors and Florida Bar AS IS Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase. It is the standard form across the state, and it gets used on brand new move in ready homes all the time. So as is is not a signal that something is wrong with your house.
What it actually does is two things.
It says you are not agreeing to make any repairs. The buyer takes the property in its current condition. That is the part you want.
And it gives the buyer an inspection period, during which they can cancel for any reason at all and get their deposit back. Florida Realtors describes that cancellation right as very strong, and the contract language puts it in the buyer's sole discretion. Once the inspection period expires, that unconditional right to walk is gone.
The myth that gets Florida sellers sued
As is does not mean you can keep quiet about problems you know about.
Under Johnson v. Davis, a 1985 Florida Supreme Court case that still governs every residential sale in this state, a seller who knows about facts that materially affect the value of the property, which are not readily observable and not known to the buyer, has a duty to disclose them. Florida courts have confirmed that this applies to as is sales too.
So the roof that leaks in one corner when it rains hard. The slab crack under the carpet. The flooding in 2022. The polybutylene plumbing. If you know, you say so. In writing.
I promise this protects you more than it costs you. A buyer who knows about the roof and buys anyway cannot come back about the roof. A buyer who finds out afterwards can rescind the sale or sue for damages, and Florida courts have held sellers liable years after closing.
Since October 2024 Florida also requires a completed flood disclosure form at or before the time the contract is signed on residential sales. Your agent or the title company will have it. Fill it in properly rather than guessing.
What a real investor does with the inspection period
A legitimate cash buyer will walk the property, often with a contractor, and they are pricing the work rather than looking for a reason to escape. The good ones give you a number they can stand behind and then stand behind it.
The not so good ones use that window differently, which I will come back to in section six, because it is the single most common bad experience people have with cash buyers in Florida.
The Real Math, With Nothing Hidden
Let us talk about what this actually costs, because I would rather you hear it from me than find out at closing.
A cash as is offer is lower than a fully prepared listing would bring. Anyone who tells you otherwise is not being honest with you. The gap is typically somewhere around ten to twenty percent, and where you land inside that range depends almost entirely on condition, location and how much work the buyer has to do.
But the gross price is not the comparison that matters. This is:
| Traditional listing | Cash as is sale | |
|---|---|---|
| Offer price | $340,000 | $295,000 |
| Repairs and paint before listing | minus $12,000 | $0 |
| Agent commissions | minus $17,000 | $0 |
| Seller closing costs and doc stamps | minus $4,000 | often covered by the buyer |
| Repairs renegotiated after inspection | minus $5,000 | $0 |
| Three more months of carrying costs | minus $7,500 | $0 |
| Roughly in your pocket | $294,500 | $295,000 |
| Time to closing | Eight to twelve weeks | One to three weeks |
Now, I want to be careful here, because that table is set up to make a point and real life is messier.
On a house in good condition, in a strong neighbourhood, with time to market it properly, the listing almost always wins and it is not close. That gap does not disappear.
Where the two routes converge is when the house needs real work, when carrying costs are running, and when a financed buyer's lender is going to have opinions about the roof. That is when a cash number that looked low on paper turns out to be about the same once everything is subtracted.
The honest summary: run the comparison on your actual house rather than on a blog's example. Any decent agent or buyer should be willing to sit down and do that with you, including showing you the version where you do not sell to them.
What you are actually buying with that money
It helps to name it, because people feel guilty about this choice and they should not.
You are buying a closing date you control. No financing contingency, which means no lender deciding three days before closing that the appraisal came in short or the roof is too old to insure. No showings. No strangers in your house on a Sunday afternoon. No repair negotiation after the inspection. No staging. No keeping it immaculate for six weeks.
That is a real product and it has a real price. Deciding it is worth paying for is not weakness, and it is not losing. It is a trade, and plenty of sensible people make it on purpose.
Do not leave your tax savings behind!
This is the one almost everybody misses, and for a long time Florida homeowner it can be worth thousands a year.
If you are selling a Florida homestead and buying another Florida home, portability lets you carry up to $500,000 of your accumulated Save Our Homes assessment savings to the new place. You have three tax years from January 1 of the year you left the old homestead, a window that was extended from two years back in 2021.
You have to file two forms with your new county property appraiser, Form DR-501 for the homestead exemption and Form DR-501T for the transfer, and the deadline is March 1. Filing the homestead application alone does not transfer anything, which is exactly where people slip up.
Miss it and the accumulated benefit is simply gone. Please put March 1 in your phone the day you close!
How It Actually Works, Start to Finish
People picture something complicated. It is genuinely one of the simplest transactions in real estate.
A conversation, not an application
You tell somebody about the house and about your timing. Age, condition, what you know is wrong with it, when you need to be out, whether you have a date on the new place. Nobody needs your credit, your income or your bank statements. This is not a loan.
A walkthrough
Somebody comes and looks at it, usually for half an hour or so, often with a contractor. You do not clean up for this. Honestly, please do not. The whole point is that they are pricing the house as it sits, and the mess tells them nothing they have not seen before.
A written offer
In writing, with a number, a proposed closing date, and what the buyer is covering. Ask what is included and what is not. A real offer survives you taking a few days to think about it and showing it to your family or your attorney.
Proof of funds and a deposit
Ask for proof of funds. A bank letter or a statement showing the money exists. Any legitimate buyer hands this over without hesitating, and anyone who gets cagey about it has told you something important. Also ask for a meaningful earnest money deposit held by the title company.
Title work begins
The title company searches for liens, judgments, open permits, unpaid association dues and anything else attached to the property. This is where surprises turn up, usually old ones nobody remembered. Better now than later.
Their look, your disclosure
The buyer inspects if they are going to. You complete your disclosures honestly, including the flood form. Tell them what you know. It costs you nothing to be truthful and it protects you completely.
Closing
Usually at a title company, often in under an hour, sometimes remotely. Taxes are prorated to the day. You sign, funds are wired or handed over, and you are finished. One to three weeks start to finish is normal for a straightforward cash purchase.
The question everybody is too polite to ask
What if the new house is not ready yet?
Ask for a post occupancy agreement, which most people call a leaseback. You close, you get your money, and you stay in the house for an agreed number of days afterwards while the new place comes together. It needs to be in writing with the dates, any rent, the insurance arrangement and the condition of the property on handover all spelled out.
Cash buyers are often flexible about this because they are not waiting on a lender who has rules about occupancy. It is one of the quiet advantages of this route and a lot of sellers never think to ask for it.
And if the whole reason you are selling is that the two closings have to line up, say so on the very first call. That changes how the offer gets structured, and it is far easier to build in from the start than to bolt on later!
When You Should List Instead
I buy houses, so please read this section knowing that. Every person I talk out of a cash sale is one fewer house for me, and you should notice that while you read it.
But I would rather tell you the truth and have you come back to me in three years than take a house I should not have taken.
List it if the house is in good condition. If a financed buyer could walk in and get a loan on it without the lender raising questions, list it. That is the whole market bidding on your house instead of one investor, and the whole market pays more. This one is not close.
List it if you genuinely have the time. If your next closing is four months out and nobody is under pressure, use those months. Paint and flooring return more than they cost surprisingly often.
List it if the number actually matters. Not in the abstract. If the extra thirty thousand changes your retirement, or the down payment on the new place, or whether you can help one of the kids, then go and get it. Convenience is a luxury and luxuries are for when you can afford them.
List it if you are only mildly inconvenienced. Showings are annoying. They are not a crisis. If the honest answer is that you would just prefer not to bother, that preference is probably not worth thirty thousand dollars.
The myth
My house needs too much work for a normal buyer, so a cash sale is my only real option.
The truth
Houses that need work sell on the open market every day in Florida, often to buyers using renovation loans. Find out what it would list for before you assume. The answer surprises people in both directions!
The myth
Taking a cash offer means I am being taken advantage of, and I should feel bad about it.
The truth
You are being taken advantage of if you did not know what you were trading. If somebody showed you both numbers and you chose speed with your eyes open, that is just a decision. Make it and do not look back.
The myth
I should get a cash offer first and then go and find a Realtor to beat it.
The truth
Do them at the same time rather than in sequence. Get two or three cash offers and one honest listing opinion in the same week, then compare net to net. Doing it in sequence just burns the time you were trying to save.
The middle option most people never hear about
There is a third route that gets left out of this conversation entirely, and it suits a lot of people better than either extreme.
List it, but list it as is, with the condition disclosed up front and the price set accordingly. You still reach the whole market. You skip the repairs and the staging. You accept that some financed buyers will fall away and that the ones who stay know what they are walking into.
It takes longer than a cash sale and nets less than a fully prepared listing. For a house that needs moderate work and a seller with six or seven weeks rather than two, it is frequently the right answer.
I mention it because almost nobody offers it as an option. People get presented with cash sale or full listing, as though those are the only two doors, and then they pick the wrong one.
Realtors, this part is for you
If you have a listing that has been sitting, where the condition is scaring off financed buyers and your seller is getting discouraged, I would genuinely love to help you both get to the closing table!
I am a Realtor too. I am not trying to take your client, and I am happy to work it so your seller gets served properly and you get paid for the work you have already done. Sometimes a cash offer sitting alongside the listing is exactly the leverage that gets a hesitant buyer to move. Just call me.
How to Tell a Real Cash Buyer From a Bad One
That sweet couple interviewed several investors before they chose. I want to be clear that this was the smart thing to do and I would tell you to do the same about me.
Cash buying is not a licensed activity in Florida the way real estate brokerage is, so the field is genuinely mixed. Some of us are full time professionals with the funds in the bank. Some are people who watched a weekend seminar and are hoping to flip your contract to somebody else.
Here is how to tell.
Walk away from
A high offer, then a renegotiation. They lock you up at a wonderful number, go quiet, and reappear near the end of the inspection period wanting twenty thousand off because of something they could see from the driveway on day one.
Real help sounds like
A number they can explain, based on a walkthrough they already did, that does not move unless something genuinely hidden turns up. Ask directly: how often do you renegotiate after inspection? Then ask for a reference.
Walk away from
Vagueness about who is actually buying. If the contract lets them assign it to anybody and they will not show proof of funds, you may be dealing with someone who intends to sell your contract rather than buy your house.
Real help sounds like
Proof of funds handed over without fuss, a named buying entity, a real earnest money deposit at a title company, and a straight answer when you ask whether they intend to assign the contract.
Walk away from
Pressure. This offer is only good today. We need the paperwork signed this afternoon. Do not bother showing it to anyone, it is standard.
Real help sounds like
Take it to your attorney. Show your daughter. Get two more offers and call me back if mine is still the one you want. Every legitimate transaction survives a week of daylight.
The questions to ask every single one of them
Including me. Especially me.
- Are you the actual buyer, or will you be assigning this contract to someone else? Neither answer is automatically wrong, but you deserve to know which one you are dealing with.
- Can I see proof of funds? A bank letter or statement. Today.
- How much earnest money, and which title company holds it? A real deposit at a real title company is the clearest signal there is.
- Is this number final, or does it change after inspection? Listen closely to how they answer rather than just what they answer.
- Who pays what at closing? Get it in writing, not on a phone call.
- Can I stay after closing if my next place is delayed? Ask even if you think you will not need it.
- What happens if you cannot close on the date we agreed? A professional has an answer ready for this.
Anybody who gets uncomfortable with that list has told you everything you need to know, and you have not lost anything by asking.
One more piece of practical protection
Use a title company or a real estate attorney, and preferably one you chose rather than one that was chosen for you. They are the neutral party. They search the title, hold the deposit, handle the prorations and make sure the money and the deed change hands properly.
If a buyer resists using a reputable title company, or insists on one you have never heard of and cannot look up, that is reason enough to stop.
"That couple did not need rescuing. They had found their next home and they wanted a simple, as is cash sale without repairs, showings, or the stress of listing. For them it was not about netting every possible dollar. The convenience and speed mattered more, and they knew exactly what they were choosing."
I am so grateful I got to help them move forward. If you need to sell as is and move forward quickly, reach out anytime! And if we talk it through and listing turns out to be the better answer for you, I will tell you that too. Call or text 904-400-2131 or email kady@helpinghandhomesfl.com.
A Few Things to Sort Out Before You Close
These come up near the end of almost every one of these sales, and dealing with them early makes the last two weeks far calmer.
The stuff in the house
Most cash buyers will take a property with belongings still in it, which is one of the genuine kindnesses of this route, especially for a downsizing move or an inherited house. Just put it in writing: what stays, what goes, and that you are not responsible for removing what remains.
Then walk through properly before you hand over the keys. Not for the buyer's benefit, for yours. Photographs get left in closets. Paperwork gets left in drawers. Things that cannot be replaced get thrown out by somebody who did not know what they were looking at.
Your homeowners insurance
Keep it active right up to closing, and do not cancel the day you move out. An empty house is when things happen, and most policies start limiting coverage once a property has been vacant for thirty or sixty days. If there is a gap between moving out and closing, call your insurer and tell them rather than hoping.
Taxes, and the one people worry about unnecessarily
Florida has no state income tax, which helps. On the federal side, if you owned and lived in the home for two of the last five years, you can generally exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly. For most people selling a primary residence, that means little or nothing is owed.
Property taxes get prorated at closing to the day, so you pay for the part of the year you owned it and no more. And there is no special rule for sellers over 55 anymore, in case somebody tells you there is. That one was repealed back in 1997.
Confirm your own situation with a CPA rather than with me. I am a Realtor and an investor, not a tax adviser.
Your association, if you have one
The title company will order an estoppel certificate showing exactly what is owed to the association. Order it early. These take time to come back, and an unexpected special assessment turning up in week two is a far better problem than one turning up the day before closing.
Choosing convenience over the absolute top dollar is not giving up. It is a decision, and for the right person in the right situation it is the correct one.
The people who regret this choice are almost never the ones who understood the trade. They are the ones nobody explained it to.
Already found your next home? Let's make this part easy.
Tell me about the house and your timing, and I will give you a fair, no obligation cash offer with no pressure and no timeline from your side. If listing would net you meaningfully more and you have the weeks to do it, I will tell you that instead. Either way you will know exactly where you stand.
Get My Cash Offer Just Talk to KadyQuestions People Ask Me
How fast can I actually close on a cash sale in Florida?
One to three weeks is normal for a straightforward cash purchase, and the main thing that sets the pace is title work rather than the buyer. If the title search turns up an old lien, an open permit or a probate issue, that adds time. You also get to pick a later date if you want one. Speed is an option, not an obligation!
How much less will I get selling as is for cash?
Typically somewhere around ten to twenty percent below what a fully prepared listing would bring, though it depends heavily on condition and location. The number that actually matters is net to net, after repairs, commissions, closing costs, post inspection renegotiation and the carrying costs of several more months. On a house needing real work those two figures often end up far closer than the headline gap suggests.
Does selling as is mean I do not have to disclose problems?
No, and this is the most expensive misunderstanding in Florida real estate. Under Johnson v. Davis, a seller must disclose known facts that materially affect the property's value and are not readily observable to the buyer, and Florida courts have confirmed this applies to as is sales. As is governs repairs, not honesty. Disclosing actually protects you, because a buyer who knew about the issue cannot come back about it later.
Can the buyer still back out if the contract says as is?
Yes, during the inspection period. Florida's AS IS contract gives the buyer the right to cancel for any reason during that window and get their deposit back, and Florida Realtors describes that right as very strong. Once the inspection period expires, the unconditional right to walk is gone. This is why the length of the inspection period is worth paying attention to when you review an offer.
Do I need a Realtor to sell to a cash buyer?
You are not required to have one. Whether you want one depends on how confident you feel reviewing a contract and comparing offers. At minimum, use a title company or real estate attorney you chose yourself, since they are the neutral party handling the title search, the deposit and the closing.
What if my new house is not ready when this one closes?
Ask for a post occupancy agreement, usually called a leaseback. You close, receive your funds, and stay in the home for an agreed period afterwards. Cash buyers are often flexible about this because no lender is imposing occupancy rules. Get the dates, any rent, insurance responsibility and handover condition in writing.
Can I leave furniture and belongings behind?
Usually yes, and many cash buyers will take the property with items still in it. Put it in writing so everyone agrees what stays and what goes, and that you are not responsible for removing the rest. Walk through carefully first, because photographs and documents get left behind far more often than people expect.
How do I know a cash buyer is legitimate?
Ask for proof of funds before signing anything, and expect it the same day without fuss. Ask whether they are the actual buyer or intend to assign the contract to somebody else. Ask for a real earnest money deposit held at a reputable title company. And ask directly how often they renegotiate the price after inspection, then ask for a reference you can call.
What is the biggest risk with a cash sale?
Getting locked into a contract at an attractive price and then being renegotiated downward near the end of the inspection period, by which point your next closing is approaching and you feel you have no choice. Protect yourself by asking about it up front, keeping your inspection period short, and taking more than one offer so you have somewhere to go.
Will I owe capital gains tax when I sell?
Often little or nothing on a primary residence. If you owned and lived in the home for two of the last five years, you can generally exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly. Florida also has no state income tax. The old exclusion for sellers over 55 was repealed in 1997, so ignore anyone who mentions it. Confirm your own position with a CPA.
Can I keep my low property taxes when I buy my next Florida home?
Part of them, yes, through portability. You can transfer up to $500,000 of your accumulated Save Our Homes assessment benefit to a new Florida homestead, and you have three tax years from January 1 of the year you left the old homestead. You must file both Form DR-501 and Form DR-501T with your new county property appraiser by March 1. Filing the homestead application alone does not transfer the benefit, which is where most people go wrong.
Should I make repairs before getting a cash offer?
No. Do not spend money on a house you are selling as is. The whole premise is that the buyer is pricing it in its current condition and handling the work themselves. Cleaning is fine if it makes you feel better, but new flooring before an investor walkthrough is money you will not get back.
Can I get a cash offer and still list the house?
Yes, and I would encourage it. Get two or three cash offers and one honest listing opinion in the same week, then compare net to net. The mistake is doing it in sequence, trying a listing for two months and then calling investors, because that burns exactly the time you were trying to protect.
What if the house has a mortgage still on it?
That is completely normal and it changes nothing. The mortgage is paid off from the proceeds at closing by the title company, and you receive whatever is left. The same applies to a second mortgage, a HELOC, or liens that turn up in the title search, which is exactly why the search happens early.
I am not in any financial trouble. Is a cash sale still appropriate?
Absolutely. Most of the cash sales I handle are not distress situations at all. They are job transfers, downsizing, moving closer to family, or people who have simply already found the house they want and do not want to spend ten weeks preparing the old one. Choosing speed and certainty is a legitimate preference and you do not need a crisis to justify it.
Where to learn more
- Florida Realtors and Florida Bar AS IS Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase
- Johnson v. Davis, 480 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 1985), the seller disclosure standard
- Florida flood disclosure requirement for residential sales, effective October 2024
- Florida Statutes section 193.155, the Save Our Homes assessment limitation
- Forms DR-501 and DR-501T, homestead exemption and transfer of homestead assessment difference
- Your county property appraiser, for portability and the March 1 deadline
- IRS Publication 523, selling your home and the primary residence exclusion
- Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, to check a real estate licence
A gentle note: I am a Florida Realtor with Momentum Realty and a home buyer, not an attorney, a CPA, or a tax adviser, and this is general information rather than advice about your property. I also buy houses, so please weigh anything I say about selling with that in mind, which is exactly why I would encourage you to get more than one offer and an independent listing opinion. Contract terms, disclosure duties and tax outcomes depend on facts specific to your situation. Figures used are illustrative rather than quotes. Statutory and contract references reflect Florida practice as of October 2026. Please confirm the specifics with a licensed Florida attorney, a CPA and your county property appraiser.
Written by Kady Andreoli, founder of Helping Hand Home Solutions FL and a Realtor with Momentum Realty. Helping Florida homeowners explore every available option, from stopping foreclosure to selling on their own terms. Guidance without judgment, and people before profit. 904-400-2131 · kady@helpinghandhomesfl.com