Buying A Houe With Cash

[flipnflap]

if someone offers to buy your house entirely in cash, how wary should you be and why?

[bednobs]

why be wary at all? All house purchases are paid for with money (whether the buyers own mioney or money that's been lent to them by someone else)

[grasscarp]

Why would you be wary. If they have the money to pay outright then why not? Sometimes people inherit a bit of money or they have earned it or they have sold a property etc.

[sandyRoe]

It depends. They could have sold a property and don't need a mortgage. They'd be considered a cash buyer.
If they wanted to bring a sack of money to you, you could have grounds for suspicion.

[EcclesCake]

Assuming they will not be handing over a hold all full of notes I wouldn't be bothered at all.

[FredPuli43]

Do you mean in notes? If someone presented you with the price of a house in bank notes, you'd be entitled to suspect that the money was the proceeds of crime, of tax evasion, or of laundering of money. You could be suspected of being complicit in that activity, which would be a nuisance though it wouldn't get the authorities anywhere much. The sale of the house could not be questioned though.

[SeaJayPea]

If you mean actual cash, your solicitor will tell you to avoid it in all probability. This is because of the money laundering that goes on and they have an absolute responsibility to ensure that the funds have come from a reliable source.

If it's just that the buyers need no mortgage then, as others have said, no problem. But your solicitor, and the purchaser's, will still have to satisfy themselves that the money's from somewhere right and proper.

[Old_Geezer]

If by "cash" you mean not needing a mortgage/load (as opposed to opening up a wallet and counting out the notes) then my reaction would be that they can hardly run away with my house if the cheque or whatever bounced, so I'd be happy to take it given the right offer. On the other hand if they are literally using notes and coins one would need to wonder why such a relatively 'untracable' source of payment.

[VHG]

As has been said, if it is real "cash" in a large holdall this is almost certainly the proceeds of crime, money laundering, tax evasion etc.

If they are eventually arrested (for any reason) you may well find yourself caught up in the offence of assisting money laundering.

[murraymints]

I bought my house with cash...ie bank transfer...I'm no international crook !

[whiskeryron]

// murraymints I bought my house with cash...ie bank transfer...I'm no international crook !// So how come I've seen your mug shots on Interpol ?

WR.

[murraymints]

Whiskey...I'm the Interpol international pin up !...don't tell Mrs o...she'd be livid being the AB international super model..!.. lol

[RATTER15]

As has been pointed already, a cash buyer usually just means that the buyer does not need a mortgage so can usually proceed with the purchase quicker and is a more reliable buyer as not in a chain that can collapse.

[Canary42]

Depends whether you want to sell it.

[hammerman]

Sorry to hijack this a bit but what is needed, legally, if i was to walk in to someone's house (providing it was for sale) and throw a wedge of cash on the table and said i wanted to buy the house now.

What would you need to do ? could they just write you a receipt and it's yours ? Would you still need a survey or land search etc...i presume deed of title would have to be sorted out legally

Always wondered about this, not that i'll ever be in a position to do it.

[giveup]

My brother in law sold a house a few years ago and the buyer turned up with the cash in a suitcase!!

[EDDIE51]

Hammerman all the legal requirements still need to be sorted out, survey etc and the sale has to be registered with the authorities.

[aelmpvw]

if it was actual cash i would turn them down if only because i couldn't be bothered to count it

[DTCwordfan]

Yep - friend of my mater got nailed by the boys in blue for accepting a suitcase for her barn, some 600k's worth of notes.............it has to be done through buyee's bank to buyee's solicitor's bank to vendor's solicitor's bank and to vendor's bank usually.

[EDDIE51]

DT what did the friend get charged with?
I can see it is unusual to accept cash but not actually illegal as long as receipts are given.