Straight answers to the questions sellers ask most: what a cash buyer pays, how to check any buyer, what the first call and the walkthrough involve, what selling as-is means, the Washington rules that come up, and what closing costs a seller pays. Each topic names the law or source behind it.
Before you sell: the questions, answered
What sellers ask most, with the Washington rules behind each answer and where they come from.
How much will a cash buyer pay for a house?
A cash buyer usually pays less than the house would bring on the open market after repairs, because the offer has to cover the repairs, the costs of buying and selling it again, the months the work takes, and a margin for the risk. How far below depends on the house.
Why is a cash offer lower than a listing price?
Because a cash offer prices the house as it stands today, and a listing price assumes a house that is ready for buyers. The gap is the work and the money the buyer takes on: a roof, a furnace, new flooring, a full clean-out, closing costs on both the purchase and the resale, and the property tax, insurance and utilities while the work gets done. A house that needs a lot gets a lower offer than one that only needs paint and carpet. A house in move-in condition often nets more on the open market, which is why the fair test is to set the cash number next to what a listing would leave you after commission, prep, excise tax and closing costs. I'm a Washington broker, and the company I'm part of buys houses, so I can show you both numbers, and when the listing number is clearly higher and you have the time, I'll tell you to list.
A cash offer weighs four things, and here is what each of them means.
After-repair value
What the house would likely sell for after the work is done, judged from recent sales of similar houses nearby. In the Seattle area that can change from one neighborhood to the next, so the comparison sales have to be close and recent.
Repairs
The work the house needs, priced the way a contractor would price it: roof, paint, flooring, the furnace, whatever the walkthrough turns up. Older Puget Sound houses often add moss-damaged roofs, crawlspace moisture or an old heating oil tank.
Buying and selling costs
Closing costs on the purchase and the resale, the excise tax when the house sells again, and the months of property tax, insurance, utilities and loan interest while the work gets done.
Margin
What we need to make for the risk and the time the house takes. Repairs can run over, and prices can move while the work is going on.
Are companies that buy houses for cash legitimate?
Many are, and you can check any of them before you sign. Ask who you'll deal with from the first call to the closing, look up their Washington real estate license, and find out which title and escrow company will close the sale. A buyer who won't answer those plainly is telling you something.
How do you check a cash home buyer?
Start with the license: Washington's Department of Licensing has a public lookup, and a broker's record shows the name, the firm and whether the license is active. With Ideal Home Sale you deal with me, Jason Bryant, and you can look my license up the same way. Next comes the escrow company, which holds the earnest money and the sale money until every condition in the contract is met, then pays everyone out, so the buyer never holds your money. Then read the purchase contract all the way through: the price, the closing date, the earnest money amount, and how many days any inspection period runs. Be wary of an offer that shrinks after an inspection nobody mentioned, or of anyone who wants money from you up front. Take the contract home if you want to. A buyer who is serious will still be there tomorrow.
Three warning signs
Someone asks you for money up front, for an application, an inspection or anything else.
The offer only holds if you sign today.
The earnest money would go to the buyer's own company instead of a title or escrow company.
Before you sign with any cash home buyer, ask who you will deal with, whether they hold a real estate license, which title company closes the sale, what comes out of your proceeds, and whether the offer depends on an inspection. Get each answer in writing.
Put these to any buyer, including me
Who will you deal with, and which title company closes it?
Are they licensed? In Washington you can look up any real estate broker's license with the Department of Licensing.
What comes out of your proceeds: commission, fees, closing costs, and who pays each one?
Does the offer depend on an inspection or a loan, and for how many days?
What earnest money goes into escrow, and when?
Is the closing date written into the contract?
If the title report turns up a lien, can they still close, and who pays to clear it?
Will they put the offer in writing before they ask you to sign anything?
What happens when you call?
When you call, we ask a handful of plain questions about the house and what you need, then we schedule a walkthrough for a day and time that work for you. You don't need paperwork ready, and nothing you say commits you to selling.
The address, and whether you live there, rent it out, or it's empty.
Who is on the title, since everyone on it signs the sale.
Whether anyone else has to agree to the sale, like a co-owner, an heir or an ex-spouse.
What the house needs, as best you know: roof, plumbing, the furnace, anything that leaks.
Roughly what's owed on it, including any second mortgage, liens or back taxes.
When you'd like to be out, and whether a cash sale, a listing or both are worth pricing.
What happens at the walkthrough?
Illustration: a walkthrough starts on the porch, with the homeowner telling the house's story.
At the walkthrough we go through the house with you, room by room and outside, checking the big-ticket items, asking what you need and when, and writing down what we see. You don't clean, fix or stage anything first, and you're under no obligation afterward.
What I look at
The roof and gutters, where Puget Sound moss shortens a roof's life.
The crawlspace or basement: water, the foundation, any old repairs.
The furnace or heat pump, and how old it is.
On older houses, whether a heating oil tank is still in the ground.
The side sewer, which the owner owns all the way to the public main in Seattle.
Permits for any addition, remodel or garage conversion.
A walkthrough isn't a licensed home inspection, and I don't ask you to pay for one. If a buyer on a listing wants an inspection, that happens later, on their side of the sale.
What does selling a house as-is mean?
Selling as-is means the buyer takes the house in its current condition and doesn't ask you to fix anything before closing. It doesn't mean hiding problems: in most Washington home sales the seller still fills out the state's disclosure statement about what they know.
Washington's seller disclosure law, chapter 64.06 RCW, requires the disclosure statement in most residential sales. It goes to the buyer within five business days after the contract is signed unless the contract says otherwise, and the buyer then has three business days to back out. Some sales are exempt, including sales by the personal representative of an estate and foreclosures (RCW 64.06.010).
What as-is covers: the repairs, the cleaning, the old appliances and whatever is left in the garage. What it doesn't cover: problems you know about and leave off the disclosure, liens on the title, and the loan payoff, all of which still come up at closing.
An as-is price reflects the condition. The more work the house needs, the more the price comes down, which is why I show you what a listing after repairs would net next to the cash number.
Four parts of Washington law come up most when a sale has to happen soon: who can sign for an estate, what happens to unpaid property tax, how much notice a tenant gets, and who signs when a married couple sells. Each note gives the basic rule and the statute. None of it is legal advice.
Selling an inherited house in Washington
A personal representative who holds nonintervention powers can sell the estate's house without a court order (RCW 11.68.090). The personal representative signs the sale papers, usually with the estate's attorney advising. When the personal representative publishes a notice to creditors, most claims must be presented within four months of the first publication; with no notice, creditors generally have 24 months from the date of death (RCW 11.40.051). That window affects when the estate can pay out the proceeds.
Unpaid property taxes stay attached to the house. Once taxes have been delinquent for three years, the county treasurer issues a certificate of delinquency and the county can start a tax foreclosure (RCW 84.64.050). In a sale, back taxes and other liens are normally paid from the proceeds at closing, and the title report shows every one of them before you sign.
A landlord who is selling a single-family house must give the tenant at least 90 days' written notice to end the tenancy (RCW 59.18.650). Seattle has notice rules of its own as well, so check the city's before you give notice.
Washington is a community property state, and community real estate can't be sold unless both spouses sign the deed (RCW 26.16.030). In a divorce, that means both of you sign the sale, or the court's decree says who can. Escrow can pay each of you your share directly.
How much are closing costs for a seller in Seattle?
A Washington seller usually pays the real estate excise tax, the standard owner's title policy for the buyer, half the escrow fee, the loan payoff and prorated property taxes, plus a listing commission if an agent lists the house. A cash sale removes the commission and the repairs, not the tax.
What a Washington seller usually pays
Cost
Rate or amount
Who usually pays
State real estate excise tax
Graduated by price (brackets below), plus the local rate
The seller, paid from the sale at closing
Local real estate excise tax
0.5% across our service area
The seller
Owner's title policy for the buyer
Set by the title company's rate filing
The seller, by Washington custom
Escrow fee
Set by the escrow company
Split between buyer and seller, by custom
Listing commission
The rate you agree with your agent
The seller, when an agent lists the house
Mortgage payoff, liens, prorated property tax
What is owed on the closing date
The seller, paid from the proceeds
State excise tax brackets, sales from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2026
Up to $525,0001.1%
$525,000 to $1,525,0001.28%
$1,525,000 to $3,025,0002.75%
Above $3,025,0003%
From January 1, 2027 the thresholds become $551,000, $1,551,000, $3,051,000 at the same rates. Each rate applies only to the part of the price inside its bracket.
After you accept an offer, the sale moves to a title and escrow company. Escrow opens, the title company checks the ownership record and orders your loan payoff, both sides sign, and the deed is recorded with the county. Your proceeds come from escrow once the sale records.
1
Escrow opens
The signed contract and the earnest money go to the escrow company, which becomes the neutral party for the rest of the sale.
2
Title report
The title company pulls the ownership record and lists anything that has to be cleared, such as a mortgage, a lien or unpaid property tax.
3
Payoffs
Escrow asks your lender and any lienholders for exact payoff figures, so those get paid straight from the sale.
4
Signing
You sign the deed and closing papers with the escrow officer or a mobile notary, and you see the settlement statement before you sign.
5
Recording and funds
The deed is recorded with the county, and escrow sends your proceeds by wire or check.
The number of days from offer to closing depends on the title work and what you need. With a clean title it can close in as little as 7 days, though most sales take longer.
