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The cash offer timeline, from offer to funded

Most cash sales close in 7 to 21 days. Here is what happens in each stretch, how your mortgage and any second lien get paid, when you have to be out, and what can slow it down.

01Who sets the pace

With no lender, the two things that take time in a normal sale, the appraisal and loan approval, are gone. What remains is the title search, the payoff statements from whoever holds a lien on the house, and the calendar at the title company. A week is possible. Two to three weeks is normal. Past a month, something specific is in the way.

02What happens in each stretch

  1. 1

    Contract signed, escrow opened

    Day 0 to 1

    The buyer deposits earnest money with a title or escrow company, which becomes the neutral party holding everything. Ask for 1 to 2% of the price, and for a short, defined inspection period.

  2. 2

    Inspection period

    Day 1 to 10

    The buyer confirms what they saw at the walkthrough. Credits, if any, are requested now. Once the period ends, the earnest money usually becomes non-refundable, which is the point at which the deal is real.

  3. 3

    Title search

    Day 2 to 12

    The title company pulls every recorded document on the property: deeds, mortgages, liens, easements, judgments. It is looking for anything that would stop a clean transfer, such as a co-owner who has to sign, a lien from an old contractor, or a mortgage that was paid off but never released.

  4. 4

    Payoff statements

    Day 3 to 14

    Escrow requests a payoff from your mortgage servicer and from any second lienholder. Servicers take 3 to 10 business days. A home equity investment needs a settlement figure based on the sale price, which can take longer; selling with an equity investment on the house walks that part.

  5. 5

    Settlement statement

    Day 5 to 18

    Escrow lays out every dollar: price, payoffs, prorated taxes, HOA, transfer tax, title fees, credits, and the net to you. Read it line by line a day before closing, not at the table.

  6. 6

    Signing

    Day 7 to 21

    You sign the deed and the settlement statement, usually in under an hour. The buyer's funds are already in escrow or arrive the same day.

  7. 7

    Funding and recording

    Same day to next business day

    The deed records with the county, escrow wires the payoffs to your lenders, and your proceeds go out. Possession passes now, not at signing, unless the contract says otherwise.

03When you have to be out

The contract sets possession. The default is closing day, which means the house is empty and clean when you sign. If you need time, ask for a leaseback: a few days to a few weeks after closing, usually at no charge for a short stay or at a daily rate for longer. Investors are generally flexible about it. iBuyers often allow a few days. Put it in writing before you sign, because after closing you are a tenant in someone else's house.

04What slows it down

  • A title defect: an unreleased old mortgage, an estate that was never probated, a co-owner who is hard to reach. These can add weeks.
  • A slow payoff. Some servicers take two weeks and will not release a figure by phone.
  • A home equity investment settlement, which depends on the sale price and the contract's formula.
  • A tenant who will not allow access or will not leave.
  • An HOA that needs 10 to 15 days to issue an estoppel letter.
  • A buyer who was never going to close and is using the inspection period to find someone who will.

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Related

  1. Cash offer: the full guideWho cash buyers are, what they pay, how the process runs from the first call to the wire, what the speed costs you, and when a listing is the better move.
  2. Selling a house with a home equity investment on itThe investment settles at closing from the sale proceeds, after the mortgage. Here is how the sale price sets the number, what happens if the house lost value, and how the timing works.
  3. How long a HELOC takes, and what slows it downOnline lenders can fund in about a week. Banks ordering a full appraisal often take 4 to 6 weeks. Here is what happens in each stretch and how to keep it moving.

This path, in order

Cash offer: the full guide

  1. 01When a cash offer is the right call, and what it costs youA cash offer is fast and certain. You skip repairs and showings. You also net meaningfully less than a traditional sale.
  2. 02How cash offers are pricedEvery cash offer starts from what the house will be worth fixed up, then subtracts repairs, holding costs, selling costs and the buyer's margin. Here is the formula and why two offers on the same house differ by tens of thousands.
  3. 03Cash offer vs. listing: what you actually netA listing brings more, then gives some of it back in commissions, repairs, concessions and carrying costs. A cash offer brings less and gives almost nothing back. Here are the net numbers side by side.
  4. 04The cash offer timeline, from offer to fundedYou are here
  5. 05Taxes when you sell, in plain termsMost people who sell the house they live in owe no federal tax on the gain, up to a limit. Here is the shape of the rule, what basis means, and how inherited houses differ. The outline, without the advice.
  6. 06Cash offer red flagsMost cash buyers are what they say they are. The ones who are not share a few habits: contracts they can assign, long inspection periods, tiny deposits, and prices that drop after you sign. Here is what to look for.