Last updated October 13, 2026
A company contacts you. They want to buy your house: cash, fast, no showings, no repairs. It sounds clean. On a typical St. Louis home it usually costs you $60,000 to more than $120,000.
That isn’t an exaggeration. This page puts the cost in real numbers, shows what you get for it, and walks through the situations where taking the offer is still the right call.
Usually not, unless the offer solves a problem the open market can’t. After 13 years in St. Louis real estate, I see wholesale cash offers land around 50% of what the home would sell for on the MLS. Before you sign, compare the offer with what an as-is listing would net you.
In my experience, about 50% of market value. Sometimes a little more, rarely more than 60 to 65 cents on the dollar. On a $200,000 home, that’s $81,100 less in your pocket, even after the commission and closing costs you’d pay to list. See the gap by price ↓
The median 2026 St. Louis County sale went under contract in 10 days, and 46% went under contract within a week. Cash buyers usually close in 10 to 30 days. A financed sale usually closes 30 to 45 days after the contract.
Yes. Cash buyers watch the MLS too. A cash offer that comes through open-market competition is usually much closer to market value than an unsolicited offer from an investor looking for an off-market deal.
About half the home’s value, minus the selling costs you skip. On homes worth $150,000 to $300,000, that’s a gap of $60,100 to $123,100 in your pocket. The table compares a 50% cash offer with an MLS net after 6% commission, $1,400 in title and closing costs, $1,500 in prorated taxes and a cautious 2% repair concession. Those are the same assumptions used in What Will I Net Selling My House?
| Market Value | Cash Offer (50%) | MLS Net | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| $150,000 | $75,000 | $135,100 | $60,100 |
| $200,000 | $100,000 | $181,100 | $81,100 |
| $250,000 | $125,000 | $227,100 | $102,100 |
| $300,000 | $150,000 | $273,100 | $123,100 |
The gap grows with the price of the house, about $21,000 for every $50,000 of value. That’s the cost of the convenience. It’s real money, and whether it’s worth it depends on your situation.
Cash buyers build that number from the after-repair value, then subtract repairs, holding costs, resale costs and their profit. The common rule is 70% of after-repair value minus repairs. Many compress your value twice, once at the starting value and again by inflating the repair estimate. How cash buyers calculate offers walks through the formula.
Yes. A cash buyer usually charges no commission and pays their own closing costs. But that saving is already built into the low offer. The table above already takes the commission out of the MLS side, and the gap on a $200,000 home is still $81,100.
If listing takes about 30 days longer than a cash close, the $81,100 gap on a $200,000 home works out to roughly $2,700 for every day you save. Framed that way, the decision often looks different. Most sellers have more flexibility in their timeline than they first think.
Speed, certainty, convenience and a pass on repairs. Here’s what each one means:
These are real benefits. The question is whether they’re worth $60,000 to more than $120,000 to you. For most sellers in most situations, the answer is no.
Some don’t know the gap. Others know exactly what they’re buying: speed, certainty, privacy and relief. Some sellers take less because the house needs major repairs, because they need a reliable closing date, or because they don’t want people walking through the property. Some take it because the house is tied to grief, divorce or family conflict, or because it’s costing money every month. None of those reasons are foolish. The goal isn’t to talk anyone out of convenience. It’s to make the cost of it visible before you sign.
When the speed and certainty solve a problem that’s worth more to you than the gap. The common ones:
Sometimes, but settle who can sign first. Before you talk price, confirm who has legal authority to sell. If the property is still in probate, the personal representative may need authority from the court or the estate documents. Heirs also often receive a stepped-up cost basis, to fair market value on the date of death, so talk to a tax professional before you set a price.
Inherited homes attract cash buyers fast. There may be furniture, old repairs, sibling opinions and family in different cities, and a cash buyer offers a clean exit. In South County and Oakville, though, many inherited homes have solid locations with dated systems, and those can still draw open-market buyers. If you’re helping a parent decide what to do with the house, start with this guide for longtime homeowners.
Compare it with the MLS first. In Missouri, a written lease normally survives a sale and binds the new owner. Investors are comfortable with tenants and limited access, which is why rentals get so many cash offers. But several investors can compete for the same tenant-occupied house on the MLS. Before you accept a discount, organize the lease, the deposit records, the rent roll and the payment history. Paperwork gaps are a common reason buyers lower the price later.
Run the math first: your monthly carrying cost times the months a listing would take to close, compared with the investor’s discount. Carrying costs include the mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities, lawn care and security. Standard homeowner policies may limit or exclude claims after 30 to 60 days of vacancy, so call your insurer. In the City of St. Louis, vacant buildings fall under registration and code enforcement requirements, and skipping registration can bring violations and fines. A vacant house can also show well and draw strong as-is interest, so compare the cash offer with that.
When the house could draw competing buyers on the open market: it’s in a location with steady buyer demand, it needs mostly cosmetic work, or it sits in a price range where St. Louis buyers still compete for homes with good bones. Older brick homes, South County houses with functional layouts and affordable homes landlords still want often have more demand than an investor offer suggests.
A dated house in Oakville, Affton, Mehlville, Florissant or a stable city pocket may still have buyers if the price is right. If the cash offer is priced like a major rehab on a house the market would take as-is, the discount is paying for a problem you don’t have.
An as-is MLS listing or a traditional listing. Counting the cash offer, most sellers have three paths:
The mistake is assuming cash means easy and listing means stressful. An as-is listing is often the middle path: more competition than one buyer’s number, with less preparation than a full retail listing.
Yes. As-is tells buyers you won’t be making repairs, while the open market still sets the price. Sell as-is if you want to sell faster and are willing to take less money. Move-in-ready prices require move-in-ready condition. Should you sell as-is or fix it first?
Starting at the part most sellers find out too late — the hidden risks of accepting an investor offer before testing the open market.
Compare net outcomes, not the cash offer against a guessed retail price. Put these side by side: the cash offer, the likely as-is MLS price, the likely retail price, the repairs needed to list, commission and closing costs, a repair concession, carrying costs, time on market and the risk of renegotiation.
Then write down what the cash offer solves and what it costs. If it’s $50,000 below a realistic open-market net, would you still choose convenience? Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes seeing the number changes the decision.
Get a comparative market analysis from a licensed St. Louis agent before you sign. Most agents provide one at no cost, and you aren’t obligated to list with them. The number gives you leverage, either to negotiate the cash offer up or to decide to list.
If you’re still considering the offer, vet the buyer first: proof of funds, earnest money, due diligence periods, what happens if the buyer backs out, and the questions to ask. If the contract lets them assign it, read how assignment contracts work. And if a buyer lowers the price after you sign, see what retrading is and how to handle it.
Enter your offer and the investor’s repair claims. The Cash Offer Decoder shows you how the offer was built, and what you would net listing on the MLS instead.
Open Cash Offer Decoder →This is one piece of the St. Louis seller decision process. Keep comparing your options before you sign anything.
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Grew up in South St. Louis, lived in Dogtown for 6 years, now in South County. You'll find us at Wellspring on Lindbergh on Sundays. I'm not selling you a house — I'm showing you how to think about buying or selling a house.