Cash buyers only - or not?

If a property is advertised as CASH BUYERS ONLY do you skip past it or take a closer look?
If you’re in the fortunate position of having enough cash to buy properties outright you’ll know that there are some great bargains to get. Cash buyers never pay full price!
However, if your cash pot isn’t there yet, you may see properties tagged CASH BUYERS ONLY as not for you.

In a large proportion of cases a property marked CASH BUYERS ONLY, is unmortgageable. That means there is no chance you can get a mortgage because lenders are cautious and won’t invest their money in what appears to be a ‘lemon’.

The primary reason for this will be there is some problem with the property that makes it unmortgageable, at least currently until the problem is fixed.

Not every unmortgageable property is labelled CASH BUYERS ONLY. There are plenty that you cannot get a mortgage on, but the estate agent doesn’t label them like this.

When it says CASH BUYERS ONLY it usually means that the agent, the seller, or both, are fed up with tyre-kicking mortgage-dependant investors wasting their time viewing these types of properties, so they label them like this to cut down the timewasters.

Sometimes it is not the condition of the property, but the speed of sale that is required by the seller. Cash buyers are generally perceived to be able to complete quicker than a buyer who needs to apply for a mortgage. The restricts who can view the property, possible because they have had more than one mortgage-dependent buyer mess them about for over a year and now they are thoroughly fed up.

Check out the property - If it doesn’t look that bad, it may be less about the condition and more about speed. Even if it’s in really poor condition, it can be retrievable, fixed up and made mortgageable at a seriously lifted value.

If your bank account isn’t stuffed full of cash, there is a solution that puts you back into the running - even if you don’t have enough to buy for 100% cash down.

What is this workaround? Bridging finance.

Bridgers are used to working fast, they have to be because they extensively are used to finance properties bought at auction, where you only get 28 days to complete the sale. No mortgage lender is able to work that fast, certainly post-COVID they are not as many of them are still dealing with backlogs from offices being either closed or running with significantly reduced staff.

Bridge it, buy it fast, sort out any problems, increase the value, get it mortgaged and pull out most/all of your cash. Now you have a property with little or none of your own cash in it. Repeat as many times as you wish to build a portfolio.
The moral of this tale is to see CASH BUYERS ONLY properties as a big opportunity, not as beyond your reach.

You can learn more here:

• Contact Kevin Wright over on his Facebook page.
• Browse the Recycle Your Cash online training library by clicking here.
• Attend an upcoming 1-Day Property Finance Masterclass event - Book in here.