Get My Cash Offer

Fair Home Cash A cash offer without the math is just a number.
Here is the math, line by line.

What sellers pay (nothing), what Fair Home Cash does, and how a cash offer gets built. Fair Home Cash makes cash offers on houses nationwide, focused on Chicago and Illinois, and closes at a licensed title company. Print this page and check any offer against it, including one from Fair Home Cash.

The short version

A cash offer starts from the fixed-up value and works backward

A cash offer starts from what the house would sell for after repairs, then subtracts the repairs, the holding and closing costs, and the buyer's margin. Fair Home Cash shows that math on paper with every offer. Part 3 below walks through each line on an illustrative house, and a fair written offer includes the same breakdown.

Key takeaways

  • A cash offer starts from what the house would sell for after repairs, then subtracts repairs, holding and closing costs, and the buyer's margin.
  • Sellers pay Fair Home Cash nothing: no fees, no commissions and no percentage of the sale.
  • A licensed Illinois title company holds escrow and clears liens and back taxes out of the proceeds at closing.
  • Ask any buyer for the comparable sales and a copy of the priced repair list before you sign.
  • A well-priced house in good condition often nets more through an agent, even after commissions and costs.
Part 1

What sellers pay Fair Home Cash: nothing. Here is the proof.

"No fees" gets said by everyone and itemized by no one. So here is the item-by-item comparison for a typical $150,000 house, a cash sale to Fair Home Cash against a standard listing:

Cost
Selling to Fair Home Cash
Listing with an agent
Agent commission (5 to 6%)
$0
$7,500 to $9,000
Seller closing costs (1 to 3%)
$0, we pay them
$1,500 to $4,500
Repairs to pass a buyer's inspection
$0, sold as-is
$5,000 to $25,000+
Cleaning, hauling, staging
$0, leave what you want
$500 to $2,000
Taxes, insurance, utilities while it sits listed
$0, the closing happens on the date you pick
$300 to $700 per month
Buyer's financing falls through
No mortgage lender involved, cash
Happens, then you relist
Out of your pocket
$0
$15,000 to $40,000+

Agent figures are standard Chicago-area ranges. A well-priced house in good condition often nets more through an agent even after these costs. If that is your house, list it. This page is for the houses and timelines where it is not.

What sellers pay: Sellers pay Fair Home Cash nothing: no fees, no commissions, no percentage of your sale, and nothing is paid to Fair Home Cash out of your proceeds.
Part 2

What actually happens between your call and your check

1

You describe the house on your schedule

Tell Fair Home Cash the address and what you know about the roof, systems, foundation, and code items. No staging, no cleaning, no parade of strangers.

2

If the property is a fit in writing, with the math

You may receive a cash offer from Fair Home Cash with the math attached: the comparable sales used, the repair scope, and every cost subtracted. On paper, yours to keep either way.

3

Your decision, on your clock no expiration pressure

Take it to your attorney. Compare it against an agent's net sheet. Get other offers. The number does not change because you asked questions.

4

Title and escrow licensed title company, never Fair Home Cash holding money

If you accept, a licensed Illinois title company opens escrow, runs the title search, clears liens and back taxes out of the proceeds at closing, and handles every document. You never wire money to anyone.

5

Closing, on the date you picked the date in your written contract

Sign at the title office or with a mobile notary. The wire typically hits your account same day or next. Leave behind anything you do not want, including the garage.

Part 3

How the number gets built

Four numbers, each one broken all the way down. Every cash buyer runs some version of this math. The only difference is whether they show you the breakdown, or hide it inside a lowball. Here it is in full, worked on an illustrative house. This is an illustration of how cash buyers generally build an offer, not a Fair Home Cash quote.

A worked example: a 3-bed South Side bungalow (illustrative numbers)
What it sells for fully renovated$150,000
Comp 1: renovated bungalow, same block$148,000
Comp 2: renovated bungalow, two streets over$152,500
Comp 3: similar bungalow, same neighborhood$149,900
Illustrative comps, typical for a South Side bungalow. A fair offer comes with the actual recorded sales for your block attached, not the zip-code average a lowballer hides behind.
Renovation to get it there− $38,000
Roof, full tear-off and replace$11,000
Electrical panel and partial rewire$7,500
Kitchen: cabinets, counters, appliances$12,000
Two code items: porch and plumbing$5,000
Flooring, paint, and full cleanout$2,500
Priced from a written repair scope. You keep a copy of every line.
The buyer's costs to resell it− $16,500
Agent commission when the buyer resells (5%)$7,500
Closing costs on the resale$3,000
Taxes, insurance, utilities (~5 months)$4,500
Title and legal$1,500
The carrying costs while the renovated house sits on the market for a buyer.
The buyer's margin for taking the risk− $20,500
About 14% of the resale price in this illustration. This is how a buyer stays in business, after carrying every cost above and absorbing whatever surprises are behind the walls. A fair buyer puts it on the page instead of hiding it inside a lower number. If it ever looks too high to you, say so.
The cash offer$75,000
Why the margin line is printed out loud: every cash buyer has one, including the one whose flyer is on your porch. The only difference is whether they will say it to your face or bury it in a lower number. If a cash offer loses to your other options after you run this math, take the better one, even when the offer is from Fair Home Cash.

One more table, because the agent is not the only alternative: the cash buyer whose flyer is on your porch is another. Same bungalow, same numbers from above, all three ways out, itemized down to what actually lands in your pocket:

Line item
Selling to Fair Home Cash
Listing with an agent
Other cash investors
The number you start from
A written number with every line of the math above attached
$150,000 asking — but only after you fund the $38,000 renovation
Often close to this; it is the same math. The question is whether they show it to you
Agent commission
$0
$7,500 to $9,000
$0, same model
Seller closing costs
$0, we pay them
$1,500 to $4,500
Usually covered too; get it in writing
Repairs before closing
$0, as-is
$38,000 on this house
$0, as-is
Taxes, insurance, utilities while you wait
$0, the closing happens on the date in your contract
$300 to $700 per month
$0 if they close on schedule; pin the date down in the contract
The math, shown to you
Every line, on paper, yours to keep
Your agent's net sheet
Sometimes never — one low number, no breakdown
The price after an inspection
The written offer stands unless you both agree in writing that a material fact changed
Buyers ask for credits; deals get renegotiated
This is where the cut can come. That move has a name, and it works because by then you are committed
What you walk away with
The price in your contract, with no fees taken out, on the closing date you pick
Often more than a cash sale; if the house is in shape, you can fund the work, and you can wait months
Whatever survives the second look. If it is not in writing, it is not promised

We cannot tell you what any investor will offer, only what to make them put in writing before you sign. The three questions in the next section are how you do that.

Part 4

Three questions that expose a bad buyer in two minutes

1. "What did you use for the fixed-up value, and can I see those sales?"

A fair buyer hands you addresses. A lowballer changes the subject.

2. "Can I keep a copy of the repair list you priced?"

If the repair number cannot survive being written down, it was invented.

3. "What happens to this offer if I get my own inspection first?"

The right answer is "nothing changes." Watch for buyers who cut the price after you are emotionally committed. That move has a name in this business, and the Fair Offer Standard below rules it out; if any buyer does it, walk.

Part 5

Straight answers

Who actually ends up owning the house?

Fair Home Cash is the buyer on the contract it signs with you. Your price and closing date are the ones in that written contract.

Is the offer negotiable?

The inputs are. If you think the repair number is high, show Fair Home Cash a contractor bid and ask for the math to be rerun with you. The rest is facts you can check together.

What if I am behind on taxes or there is a lien?

Both get paid out of the sale proceeds at closing by the title company. If the price covers everything you owe, you do not bring money to closing. You walk away with whatever is left over, clean.

Part 6

The Fair Offer Standard

Everything this page explains, packaged into three commitments Fair Home Cash makes to sellers:

The Fair Offer Standard: what Fair Home Cash commits to

1. The math attached

Fair Home Cash puts the number in writing with the work shown: the comparable sales used, the repair scope priced, and every cost subtracted. On paper, yours to keep either way.

2. No re-trades after you commit

Fair Home Cash does not change the written offer after your inspection unless you both agree in writing that a material fact changed. The price does not move because you are already committed.

3. Walk away any time before you sign

Until you sign a purchase contract, nothing binds you: no fee, no obligation, no argument. Take the offer to your attorney, shop it against other options, or ignore it entirely.

The full ten rights behind this standard are published in our Seller's Bill of Rights. If Fair Home Cash ever falls short of a line on it, read that line back to us, and until you have signed, you can simply walk.

Want your number, with the math attached?

If the property is a fit, you may receive a cash offer from Fair Home Cash, with every line explained. The standard is published on this page. No fees to you, no obligation.

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