Cash buyers have a simple pitch: skip the repairs and showings, close in days, walk away with money in your pocket. If you’ve typed sell my house fast into a search bar at midnight, you already know the appeal. But when an offer sounds straightforward, your brain does the responsible thing and asks, what’s the catch? The short answer: the best cash offers are clean and transparent, but not every buyer plays by the same rules. Hidden fees are rare when you work with reputable cash home buyers, yet there are other ways costs sneak in if you’re not careful.
I’ve sat at kitchen tables with sellers facing foreclosure, probate, divorce, job relocations, and houses that need more than a weekend of paint. I’ve also seen contracts that quietly shifted thousands of dollars from seller to buyer without ever using the word “fee.” This guide walks through the real money mechanics behind we buy houses transactions and how to read what matters.
What a legitimate cash purchase looks like
A straight cash purchase has a few consistent traits. The buyer makes an as‑is offer, pays their own closing and due diligence costs, waives financing contingencies, and aims for a quick, predictable closing. You will see a purchase contract, proof of funds, and an earnest money deposit delivered to a neutral escrow company or real estate attorney. Title is checked, liens are cleared, and you get funds by wire on closing day.
In that simple version, there are no junk fees. You’re not paying the buyer a commission. You’re not footing their inspection bill. You’re not paying to market the property. The buyer builds their margin into the offer price. They win by buying at a discount, not by nickel‑and‑diming you on the settlement statement.
So why do some sellers walk away angry? Because the devil lives in a handful of clauses that most people skip over. Let’s break down the parts of a cash deal where “fees” hide in plain sight.
Where hidden costs commonly lurk
The word “fee” rarely appears. Instead, you’ll see contract language that shifts expenses or risk to you. Three areas matter most: price adjustments, closing cost allocations, and contingencies that allow the buyer to exit or retrade.
Price adjustments often hide behind phrases like “final price subject to inspection,” “subject to partner approval,” or “subject to appraisal.” On its face, that sounds reasonable, but it enables the buyer to reduce the price after a walk‑through or a third‑party review. I’ve seen a $210,000 offer turn into $195,000 after an inspector pointed out a roof at end of life. That $15,000 haircut isn’t labeled a fee, but it lands in the same place.
Closing cost allocations can be shifted with a single sentence: “Seller to pay all customary closing costs.” Customary is doing a lot of work here, and customs vary by state and even county. If you’re used to paying your share of title insurance and doc stamps, fine. If not, this language can push unexpected items onto your side of the ledger: owner’s title policy, escrow fee, recording fees, HOA transfer fees, and sometimes city or county transfer taxes. None are outrageous alone, yet together they can reach a few thousand dollars, which feels like a mystery deduction if it’s not explained early.
Contingencies that look harmless can create leverage later. Inspection outs, partner approval, resale marketing outs, and overbroad due diligence clauses allow a buyer to tie up your property for two to four weeks with little risk, then renegotiate or walk. When your moving truck is booked and utilities are scheduled, you’re not negotiating from strength. The buyer knows it. Price goes down, and those lost weeks carry their own cost.
Honest costs you may still see
Even with a reputable buyer, some expenses exist in almost every sale. It helps to name them so they don’t feel like surprises. Title searches and settlement services have fees. Municipal lien searches, HOA estoppel letters, and recording fees show up in most markets. If your home sits in a condo association, expect a range for transfer or resale certificates, sometimes a few hundred dollars, occasionally over a thousand. If you have a mortgage, you’ll pay off the principal plus the per‑diem interest accrued since your last payment, along with any lender payoff statement fee. If you owe back taxes or have a mechanics lien, closing will clear those from your proceeds.
These aren’t hidden fees. They are the plumbing that moves ownership from you to the buyer. The key difference with a strong cash buyer is they’ll tell you which items they cover and which items fall to you, and they’ll do it before you sign.
The inspection trap, and how to step around it
The most common way sellers feel squeezed is the post‑inspection retrade. Here’s how it plays out. The buyer offers an attractive number and promises a fast close. A week later, after a contractor or inspector visits, you get a list of issues and a price drop. Roof near end of life, cast iron drains, two AC units past 12 years. On paper, those are real defects. But the timing feels like a bait and switch.
This is avoidable with precise language. If your roof is 20 years old and curling, say it upfront and put it in the contract that the price already reflects a near‑term roof replacement. If the drains back up every six months, disclose it, and specify that no credits will be requested for plumbing. If a buyer still insists on a price reduction for issues you disclosed, you have a clean reason to walk. Reputable cash home buyers won’t play games when the major conditions were baked into the original offer.
Junk fees that should be a red flag
A few line items have no business in a direct cash purchase. Assignment fees charged to you. “Transaction coordination” fees from the buyer’s company billed to the seller. Marketing or administrative fees that look like a real estate brokerage’s add‑on but in a private sale. These are not standard in we buy houses for cash deals. If you see them, ask the buyer to remove them or find a different buyer.
I’ve also seen “nonrefundable option fee paid by seller” and “processing fee” language tucked into addenda. When questioned, the representative claims it’s standard. It isn’t. The option fee should be the buyer’s cost to control the property during due diligence, not yours.
Proof of funds, assignment clauses, and who is actually buying your house
Cash offers are not all equal. Some companies are buyers with their own capital or private credit lines. Others are wholesalers who lock up a house at one price, then sell their contract to another investor for a higher price. There’s nothing inherently wrong with wholesaling. It can be a useful matchmaking role. The problem comes when a wholesaler presents as the buyer, ties up your property, then cannot find an end buyer and disappears on day 29 of a 30‑day close.
Two documents help you avoid this. Proof of funds should match the name on the contract, and the balance should comfortably cover the purchase price and closing costs. An online screenshot with half the numbers blurred and a different name is not proof. Second, assignment clauses. If you’re comfortable allowing an assignment, limit it with a consent requirement, or set a deadline and a minimum nonrefundable earnest money amount. If you’re not comfortable, strike the assignment clause entirely. A real buyer will accept it, because they actually intend to close.
The math behind a cash offer
A good way to check if an offer makes sense is to reverse engineer it. Investors usually start with the after‑repair value, subtract repairs, closing costs, carrying costs, and their target profit. On a house that would sell for $300,000 fixed up, with $45,000 in renovations, a three‑month holding period, and closing costs on both ends, an investor’s all‑in might reach $80,000 to $90,000 before profit. Add a margin of $20,000 to $35,000, and the buy price lands somewhere around $175,000 to $195,000. If your house only needs paint and a deep clean, your price should land higher. If the house needs a roof, plumbing, and foundation work, lower.
Notice that nowhere in this math do you pay a fee to the buyer. Their profit is embedded in the offer price. That’s the cleanest version of we buy houses transactions and the one you should prefer.
When paying a commission still makes sense
Some homeowners assume the choice is binary: cash buyer or listing with an agent. There’s a third path that fits many situations. Some cash home buyers will purchase with a short fuse, then allow you to remain in the property for a few weeks post‑closing at no rent, which solves a timing problem without fees. Other times, a quick market‑ready spruce up gets you a much higher net even after you pay an agent. If your house is in decent condition and you can handle showings, the open market tends to deliver the highest price. If the house needs major work, has tenants, or you’re under pressure from a timeline or legal matter, the cash discount pays for speed and simplicity.
I’ve run numbers both ways with sellers. On one probate house, the cash offer was $225,000 with the buyer paying all closing costs. A light rehab of $18,000 and 60 days on market could have yielded $290,000 gross, but the estate didn’t want to manage contractors, utilities, and insurance for two months. Net between the two paths came within a few thousand dollars after factoring time risk and carrying costs. The family chose certainty. No wrong answer. Just math plus priorities.
Clauses that keep your net safe
Two or three sentences in a contract do more to prevent hidden fees than any sales pitch. Ask for these in writing.
- Buyer pays all closing costs except property taxes prorated to the day of closing and existing liens or mortgages of record. No post‑inspection price reductions. Seller’s known conditions disclosed and reflected in the purchase price. Earnest money deposit of at least 1 percent, nonrefundable after the inspection period, held by a neutral title company or attorney.
Those three lines address 90 percent of the games I’ve seen. They assign costs clearly, remove the retrade lever, and create real stakes for the buyer.
How states and local customs change the picture
Closing cost customs vary. In Florida, the seller often pays for the owner’s title policy, but it’s negotiable by county and contract type. In Texas, who pays which title costs depends on the box checked in paragraph six of the TREC contract. In California, escrow and title fees are typically split, transfer tax might be city or county specific, and HOA documents carry their own rules. It’s worth a five‑minute call to a local title company to ask, “On a standard cash purchase in my county, what does the seller usually pay, and what does the buyer usually pay?” Use that baseline to spot anything unusual in your offer.
Red flags in the first conversation
You can learn a lot before you ever see a contract. If a buyer cannot explain who funds their purchases, how long they’ve operated, or which title company they use, slow down. If they say, “We’ll get our contractors through and then we’ll give you the final price,” ask for the price first and use the walkthrough to confirm known conditions. If they resist sending proof of funds or won’t put down meaningful earnest money, they’re not committing capital. That doesn’t make them a villain, but it means you carry the risk.
A genuine buyer is direct about condition, timelines, and numbers. You should feel like you’re working the problem together. If the call feels like theater, it probably is.
The timing tax: how delays become a hidden cost
Even when the contract is clean, delays can quietly cost you. If you’re paying $2,200 a month in mortgage, taxes, and utilities, a two‑week slip adds roughly $1,100 in carrying cost. If you have an HOA violation at $50 per day, every day counts. Some buyers promise a two‑week close, then reset expectations once they have the contract. Protect yourself with clear dates and modest extensions tied to nonrefundable consideration, for example, an extra $500 credited to you for each week of delay caused by the buyer.
Situations where cash shines, and where it doesn’t
I’ve bought houses with tarps flapping on the roof, cat‑damaged subfloors, and foundation piers sticking out of the flower bed. Those sellers needed a sure thing, not the stress of inspections from retail buyers who will ask for repairs anyway. Cash worked beautifully.
On the other hand, I’ve walked into tidy three‑bedroom homes where an as‑is retail sale with light staging would have fetched an extra $20,000 to $35,000 in 30 days. In those cases, I told the owners to list, even if it meant I didn’t get the deal. If your timeline allows and your home shows well, the open market usually wins. If your priority is to sell my house fast, cash may net slightly less on paper but save you weeks of work and uncertainty. The question is which cost matters more to you: time or dollars.
Why some cash buyers advertise “no fees” and still take money off your net
Marketing is blunt. “No fees” is accurate when they don’t charge you an explicit line item. Your net still depends on two levers: the price and who pays closing costs. Some companies pay everything but prorated property taxes and liens. Others shift title costs and municipal fees to you. Read the purchase agreement and ask for a draft settlement statement before you commit. A two‑page summary of the math will reveal more truth than any slogan.
How to compare cash offers apples to apples
Here’s a simple way I teach sellers to compare offers: convert each offer to a net number and a certainty score. Net number equals contract price minus your costs that the buyer is not paying. Certainty score is subjective, but start with proof of funds, earnest money amount, contingency length, and reputation. A $5,000 higher price from a buyer with light earnest money and a 20‑day inspection window is not better than a slightly lower price with strong earnest money and a seven‑day inspection. The first offer might fall apart and cost you a month. The second likely closes.
A quick checklist before you sign
- Ask for proof of funds that matches the buyer’s name on the contract. Get a one‑page net sheet showing price, credits, and which party pays what. Limit or remove assignment and retrade language; tie extensions to nonrefundable consideration. Confirm earnest money amount, who holds it, and when it goes hard. Verify the title company or attorney is local and independent, then call to confirm they’re actually opening file for your address.
Five minutes on each item can save you thousands and a lot of headache.
Real numbers from the closing table
A widow in her seventies called me after she signed with a “national buyer” who promised a 14‑day close. The price was $310,000. Two weeks in, the buyer asked for a $20,000 reduction for roof and electrical, both issues she had disclosed. The contract had a broad partner approval clause. She felt trapped. We reviewed the contract together. I suggested she request release if they wouldn’t honor the original price. They agreed to cancel. She received a smaller earnest money refund than she expected because it hadn’t gone nonrefundable yet.
She was exhausted. We got two new cash offers with proof of funds https://claude.ai/public/artifacts/da84b3df-89bc-45ab-8d69-a6c63680abc0 and a seven‑day inspection. Both buyers accepted nonrefundable earnest money after the inspection. She chose $302,000 with the buyer paying all closing costs except taxes. The net difference from the first headline price was only a few thousand dollars, but she closed in 18 days without the retrade drama. The lesson wasn’t that cash is bad or good. It was that contract terms and buyer quality matter as much as the number.
What about selling to an iBuyer or investor who uses financing?
Some well‑known companies make offers that look like cash but rely on institutional funding or delayed closings. They’re professional and transparent about fees, and they’ll show service charges on the line. Those are not hidden. You’re paying for a managed, predictable process. In other cases, a local investor may use a hard money loan. That’s still effectively cash to you if the financing contingency is waived. What you care about is the absence of a financing out and the buyer’s track record of closing with that lender. If a “cash” buyer insists on a loan contingency, treat the offer like a financed one, with the time risk that entails.
Bottom line on hidden fees
Reputable we buy houses companies do not charge sellers junk fees. They profit by buying at a discount, renovating, and reselling or holding as rentals. Where sellers get burned is vague language that allows price reductions after inspections, assignment to unvetted third parties, or shifting of closing costs that weren’t discussed. The fix is clarity. Get the deal terms in writing, ask for a draft net sheet, and choose the buyer whose number and behavior both make sense.
There’s a reason the we buy houses for cash signs never come down on some corners. Speed and certainty are valuable. If you need to move a property now, a clean cash offer can be the right tool. If you have time, retail exposure usually extracts the last dollar from the market. Either way, you shouldn’t be paying hidden fees. Read the few lines that matter, and you’ll keep your net where it belongs: in your pocket.