What really gets up my Mum’s nose is when she sees a sign saying ‘Surcharge for debit cards #%’. Then, when she wants to pay cash, they say “Sorry, we don’t take cash”. Ironically I wrote about this recently, that tenants must now have an option to pay without extra charge. Mum would love to see this everywhere!

But it got me thinking about the value of cash and how a lot of buyers don’t realise its power in their property purchase. By ‘cash’ I don’t mean the folding kind. In residential real estate we refer to a contract without a ‘Subject to Finance’ clause as a ‘Cash Contract’ and owners love them! When presented with a ‘Cash Contract’ an owner has no anxiety waiting for their buyer to find out whether or not they can afford or complete the contract they have offered. It’s the buyer requesting a seller to take their property off the market for a period of time, so the buyer can work out if they can pay that amount. 

If you have a relationship with your broker you can gain comfort in your ability to offer without a ‘subject to finance’ clause. This doesn’t mean you’re not borrowing the money, it just means you as the buyer hold the risk.

In my experience when a seller is presented with two offers, one with a subject to finance clause and one, slightly lower with no finance clause, they will take the lower one. They will choose certainty and that is where cash is king!

Haesley Cush I This article is from the May 11th issue of The Courier Mail Digital Edition. To subscribe, visit https://www.couriermail.com.au/