Cash vs. Loan on Income Property
Many clients who read this blog shop for investment properties with the understanding that they will need a loan. The idea of a loan is pretty simple (for a brush up read here), but what you may not know is the actual implications on the real estate transaction, and why on earth there is so much power granted to cash buyers.
The main issues lie in
(1) time,
(2) hassle, and
(3) the value of going through only one escrow.
Off the bat, a cash transaction requires no more than a 21-day escrow, whereas a loan requires between 30-45 days or more. No deal is done until escrow is closed, so those extra weeks cause not only expediency problems, but psychological ones, as well. That’s 2-3 extra weeks that everyone has to worry about closing the deal.
The hassle is real but manageable. Here are the extra steps for closing a loan deal from the Seller’s point of view:
a) pre-approval process to determine the buyer’s ability to close
b) initial appraisal of property by bank
c) loan and appraisal contingency periods
d) fixing physical issues that the bank finds objectionable (this could be anything from exposed studs to unstrapped water heaters to chipped paint — yes, chipped paint)
e) re-inspection by appraiser to confirm those fixes are completed
f) field review by second appraiser to confirm value (this is a new one)
For example, yesterday and today I went to two different properties my clients have in escrow and personally fixed two last-minute physical issues that the Sellers weren’t willing to fix and for which my Buyers couldn’t get a handyman in time. That wouldn’t happen with a cash deal.
There are only two reasons why a loan is more likely to fall out of escrow than a cash deal. The first is that the Buyer may not qualify for the loan. The second is that the property does not qualify for the loan if those physical issues above cannot be fixed. If a deal falls out of escrow, the property may lose value because (a) its market momentum slows, (b) it’s tinged with the question of “what’s wrong with it,” or (c) the backup buyer finds another deal in the meantime.
So what is the real consequence of needing a loan? If there are enough buyers interested in the property, one or two of them are likely to be cash and they have an advantage if your offers come in around $10,000 of each other. That’s why, as a buyer using a loan, you have to be slightly more creative than cash buyers in the types of properties you buy, the terms you elect on your deal, and our approach with the listing agent.
All that said, 83% of my closed deals have used one kind of loan or another. Don’t count yourself out; just know what you’re up against.