Cash Offer vs Listing Calculator
The two offers
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Know what this estimate is based on
- Jurisdiction
- United States — state and local practice
- Scope and limitations
- Educational estimate only. U.S. real estate costs are local: property tax rates, transfer and recording taxes, title practice, who customarily pays which closing cost, and landlord-tenant rules all change by state and often by county or city. Agent commission is negotiable and, since the 2024 NAR settlement, buyer-agent compensation is negotiated separately rather than assumed. Only a lender's Loan Estimate, a title company's fee sheet or a signed contract binds a number.
- Source links checked
- Jul 30, 2026
Built and regression-tested by Smart Tools Lab. It has not been individually reviewed by a licensed financial, tax, or legal professional.
How to use
- 01
Enter the cash offer you have been given and the price you would list at.
- 02
Enter the repair deduction the cash buyer is applying — this is the line they adjust after inspection.
- 03
Enter their service fee and the commission you would pay if you listed.
- 04
Open Advanced options for prep and staging, your monthly carrying cost, and how long you expect a sale to take.
- 05
Read which path nets more, then the cash offer that would tie — that number is your negotiating target.
Formula
The cash path nets the offer less the service fee, less the repair deduction, less seller closing costs. The listing path nets the list price less commission, less seller closing costs, less prep and staging, less the carrying cost — which is the monthly cost times the days on market divided by thirty. The difference between the two is the answer, positive when listing wins. The break-even cash offer solves the cash equation for the price that would match the listing net: the listing net plus the repair deduction, divided by one minus the service and closing percentages. That denominator is guarded — if the fees would consume the entire offer there is no break-even price and the page says so instead of printing a number. The break-even discount expresses that price as a percentage below your list price, which is directly comparable with the discount you are actually being offered.
Example
A $399,000 cash offer with a 5% service fee and a $6,000 repair deduction, against listing at $420,000 with 5% commission, $4,500 of prep, $2,600 a month of carrying cost and 45 expected days on market. Seller closing costs 1.5% either way. Cash path: $399,000 − $19,950 fee − $6,000 repairs − $5,985 closing = $367,065. Listing path: $420,000 − $21,000 commission − $6,300 closing − $4,500 prep − $3,900 carrying = $384,300. Listing nets $17,235 more. The break-even cash offer is $417,433 — a 0.6% discount to list. In other words, for the cash offer to match listing it would have to be almost the full asking price, which no iBuyer will pay. The 5% discount you were actually offered is a 5.4% cost once the fee compounds it. So the honest framing is this: the cash offer costs about $17,000 and buys roughly 75 days, certainty of closing, no showings, and no repair negotiation with a retail buyer. At $230 a day, that is expensive if you have time and cheap if you are carrying two mortgages.
Definitions
- iBuyer
- A company making algorithmic cash offers to buy homes directly, charging a service fee.
- Service fee
- The iBuyer's charge, commonly 5% to 8% of the offer. Visible, unlike the discount in the offer itself.
- Repair deduction
- An amount subtracted after inspection for work the buyer says is needed. Frequently renegotiated.
- Carrying cost
- Mortgage, tax, insurance and utilities paid while the home sits on the market.
- Days on market
- How long a listing takes to go under contract. Add 30 to 45 days to close on top.
- Net proceeds
- What actually reaches you after every cost on whichever path you take.
- Break-even offer
- The cash offer that would leave you exactly as well off as listing.
- Prep and staging
- Paint, repairs, decluttering and photography before listing. Usually pays for itself.
- Financing contingency
- A clause letting a buyer withdraw if their mortgage falls through. The main risk a cash offer removes.
- Appraisal gap
- The shortfall when a lender's appraisal comes in below the contract price. Another risk cash removes.
- Certainty premium
- What speed and a guaranteed close are worth. The whole case for accepting a lower net.
- Investor offer
- A cash offer from a rehabber, usually deeper than an iBuyer's but with no fee and no repair renegotiation.
Good to know
The discount is the product
An instant cash offer is not a lowball in the sense of a mistake — it is a priced service, and the price is the discount. Here $399,000 against a $420,000 list price is a 5.0% discount before the service fee and the repair deduction, and after all three the cash offer nets $367,065 against $384,300 from a conventional sale. The $17,235 difference is what you pay for certainty, speed and not having your house shown. Whether that is expensive depends entirely on what those things are worth in your situation, and there are situations where it is a bargain: a job starting in another state next month, an inherited property two time zones away, a divorce settlement that needs a number rather than a process, or a home that would need $40,000 of work to show well. The mistake is not taking a cash offer. It is taking one without knowing the size of the discount.
The three deductions, and which one moves after you sign
A cash offer arrives in three parts and only the headline is fixed early. The offer price is set from an automated valuation model. The service fee — typically 5% to 8%, comparable to a commission — is stated up front. The repair deduction is assessed after an inspection, and it is the line that moves. An initial offer subject to a repair adjustment can fall by several thousand dollars between acceptance and closing, and the seller's leverage at that point is weak because the alternative is restarting. Ask two questions before signing: what the maximum repair adjustment can be, and whether the offer can be withdrawn or reduced after inspection for any other reason. Getting the repair estimate capped in writing converts the most uncertain part of the deal into a known number.
Carrying cost is what makes speed worth paying for
Forty-five days on market is not free. Mortgage payments, property tax, insurance, utilities and maintenance run $2,600 a month here — about $3,900 over the listing period, and considerably more if the home is already vacant while you pay for somewhere else to live. That is the honest cost of the slower path, and it belongs in the comparison rather than being waved at. It also scales with time in a way that changes the answer: at 45 days the conventional sale wins by $17,235, and a listing that sits for six months narrows that gap substantially. In a slow market, or on a property with a limited buyer pool, the cash offer's advantage grows quietly while the seller waits. The days-on-market input is the one worth setting honestly from local data rather than optimistically.
The break-even offer is the number to negotiate against
The most useful output here is not the winner but the tie: a cash offer of $417,433 would leave you exactly where listing does. That single figure converts a vague sense that an offer is low into a specific counter, and it is the number to put in front of the buyer. It also reframes the decision cleanly — at $399,000 you are being asked to accept about 4.4% below the break-even in exchange for closing in days instead of months with no showings, no repairs and no financing contingency. Some sellers will take that trade happily and some will not, but both are now making an informed choice. Getting a second cash offer is usually worth the hour it takes; the spread between iBuyers and local cash buyers on the same property is routinely several percent.
What a conventional sale risks that a cash sale does not
The listing figure here is a projection, and three things can break it. Financing falls through on a meaningful share of contracts — a buyer's loan denial after weeks under contract puts the property back on the market with a stigma. Appraisals come in below the contract price in tightening markets, forcing a renegotiation or a cash gap. And inspection findings produce repair credits that are not in this model. A cash offer eliminates all three: no appraisal contingency, no financing contingency, and typically an as-is purchase. That certainty has genuine value, and the right way to weigh it is against the probability of the specific failure modes in your market rather than in the abstract. A well-priced home in a fast market rarely encounters them. A unique property with a small buyer pool encounters at least one regularly.
Frequently asked questions
How much do iBuyers actually discount?
Offers commonly land 5% to 12% below what the home would fetch on the open market once the service fee and repair deductions are counted. Opendoor and similar firms are transparent about the fee and much less so about how the offer price compares with market.
Is the service fee the whole cost?
No, and this is where comparisons go wrong. The fee is visible; the discount embedded in the offer price is not. A 5% fee on an offer already 5% under market is a 10% cost, and only half of it appears on the settlement statement.
What is the repair deduction?
An amount subtracted after the buyer's inspection, for work they say the home needs. It is the line that moves after you have mentally committed, and it is where an offer that looked competitive frequently stops being one. Ask whether the initial offer is subject to it.
What are carrying costs?
Everything you pay to own the home while it sits on the market — mortgage, property tax, insurance, utilities, lawn care. On a $420,000 home that is commonly $2,000 to $3,000 a month, and it is the cost of the listing path that no comparison includes.
How long does a listing actually take?
Median days on market has ranged from under three weeks in hot markets to well over two months in slow ones, and that is to contract — add 30 to 45 days to close. Forty-five days total is an optimistic default; check your own market before trusting it.
When does a cash offer genuinely win?
When speed has a value the arithmetic cannot see: a job relocation, a divorce, an inherited house in another state, a property needing work you cannot fund, or carrying two mortgages. In those cases paying 8% for certainty in ten days is a rational trade.
Can I negotiate with an iBuyer?
On the repair deduction, often. On the offer price and the fee, rarely — those are set by the model. Getting a competing offer from a second cash buyer is more effective than arguing with the first.
Should I get a cash offer even if I plan to list?
It is a useful floor. Knowing that a guaranteed $399,000 exists changes how you negotiate a $410,000 offer from a conventional buyer with a financing contingency. Just be clear it is a floor, not a valuation.
What about a cash offer from an investor rather than an iBuyer?
Usually a steeper discount — investors commonly target 70% of after-repair value minus repairs — but faster, with no fee and no repair renegotiation. For a house needing real work, an investor offer and an iBuyer offer are different products.
Does the listing path really need prep and staging?
In most markets, yes, and skipping it costs more than doing it. Paint, decluttering, minor repairs and professional photography routinely pay back several times over. Budget it honestly rather than assuming the house shows well as it is.
What risks does the listing path carry?
A buyer whose financing fails, an appraisal below the contract price, inspection renegotiation, and the possibility of no offer at all. Each is survivable and each costs time — which, at your carrying cost, is money.
How should I read the break-even number?
As your target. If listing nets $384,300 and the break-even cash offer is $417,433, then any cash offer below that is you paying for speed. Whether the difference is worth it is a judgement the calculator cannot make.