Do Home Buyers Who Pay Cash Get Discount? .

Some level headed analysis on the benefits of offering cash to purchase a home.  Historically, cash buyers have been 15% to 22% of the market. 

Moreover, if you pay with cash, you're offering a "cleaner" deal that eliminates the contract's financing contingency. Knowing that you have a little less room to wiggle out of the deal is attractive to many sellers, who don't want to go through the hassle of remarketing their homes and worry about having a deal fall through at a time when prices are weak.

But keep in mind that at the closing table, the sellers will walk away with a check—and whether the money comes from you or the lender doesn't matter. So if the sellers aren't time pressed, you might not be able to wrangle a deal at all. In fact, especially if they have minimal equity, they may prefer someone who makes a more generous offer and fewer demands, as long as that person can come up with a large down payment and has a pre-approval letter from a bank.

And speaking of banks, having a fistful of cash isn't likely to get you a bargain for a foreclosed home, either. Although it behooves banks to get such deadweight off their books as quickly as possible, lenders are beholden to their stockholders to get the highest possible price for their properties. So being able to pay cash won't impress banks; in fact, it undercuts their reason for being.

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