Can You Buy a House with Physical Cash? (Or Will You Need a Check?)
Can you buy a house with physical cash? Not exactly, though it’s a tricky question to answer! Here’s the rundown on paying cash for a house.
When it comes time to buying a home, the usual process involves getting preapproved for and obtaining a mortgage, which is how most of us can afford what is one of the biggest purchases we’ll ever make. But for some buyers, paying cash for a house is a viable option — whether they’ve been saving for years, built a lot of equity in their current home and plan to downsize, or happen to come into a windfall.
Even with money in the bank, however, a home purchase normally goes through a title company and involves sending the money via wire transfer or cashier’s check. People don’t bring suitcases full of cash to the closing table.
But hypothetically, what if you have real, physical cash filling up your suitcases? What if, for some reason, your aunt decided to bury her life savings in the backyard and left it all to you? Can you buy a house with it? Should you?
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The short answer is “not typically,” and except under rare circumstances, there are copious reasons why it’s not a good idea. But you can protect yourself and your investment if you choose to pay cash, and you may explore other alternatives that allow you to buy a property while not tying all your money up in one asset.
HomeLight looked at various options for paying with cash, situations where paying with physical cash could possibly work, as well as talking to experienced real estate professionals about the ins and outs of buying a house this way.
This article likewise outlines other options besides paying with all cash, when it might be better to get a mortgage, and available lending programs that allow buyers to offer cash even if you still plan to get a mortgage.
