Cash vs. Financing: What Every Chicago Seller Should Know Before Accepting an Offer
Updated: 1 day ago
If you're selling a home, there's a good chance you've heard the conventional wisdom: cash offers are better than financed offers.
No lender. No financing contingency. Fewer opportunities for the deal to hit a snag.
And there's truth to that. Cash can make a transaction simpler and give a seller more certainty. But treating every cash offer as automatically better can also mean overlooking a very strong buyer.
I got into this exact question recently with Bradley Rasof of Rate Mortgage during one of our podcast sessions. His question to me was simple: How do I really feel about cash versus financing when I'm advising a seller?
My answer hasn't changed in 25 years of doing this: cash is great, but it's not always the winner.
There's no question that cash can come with fewer financing-related hurdles, and that matters. But when a financed offer comes in with a strong down payment, meaningful earnest money, a solid pre-approval, and a lender who has already verified key financial information, that offer deserves serious consideration.
I don't discount financed buyers. A well-qualified financed offer can be a very strong offer.
Why this matters right now
Cash buyers are important, but they're not the majority of the market. In the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro area, 27.2% of home sales were all-cash purchases during the first four months of 2026, according to Realtor.com. That means the large majority of transactions involved financing. Nationally, all-cash purchases accounted for 31.4% of home sales during the same period, down from 32.3% a year earlier.
In other words, if you're selling a home in Chicago, there's a very good chance one of the strongest offers you receive will come from someone getting a mortgage.
And mortgage rates aren't exactly low. As of September 9, 2026, the national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was about 6.77%.
That doesn't mean every financed buyer is equally strong. It means sellers shouldn't automatically dismiss a buyer simply because they're financing the purchase.
What I actually look at when I'm advising you on offers
It's never just the number on the page. I'm looking at the entire offer.
How much is the buyer putting down? A substantial down payment can provide an important indication of financial strength.
How much earnest money are they putting up? The amount of earnest money and the specific terms surrounding it matter when we're evaluating how committed a buyer is to the transaction.
How strong is the pre-approval? "Pre-approved" can mean different things depending on how much information the lender has reviewed. I want to know what the lender has actually verified, not just whether the buyer has a pre-approval letter.
What contingencies are included? Financing, appraisal, inspection, and other contingencies can all affect the level of risk and certainty associated with an offer.
How does the overall offer compare? Price matters, but so do the terms, timeline, contingencies, and likelihood of getting to closing without unnecessary surprises.
That's why I don't believe in making a decision based on one word: "cash."
A cash offer may absolutely be the best offer. But a well-qualified buyer with financing can also present a very strong path to closing, particularly when the buyer is financially solid and the terms of the offer are favorable.
The goal isn't to choose the offer that looks best at first glance. The goal is to choose the offer that gives you the best overall outcome. That's where experience matters. Let's look at the whole offer together, understand the risks and advantages of each one, and make the decision based on what's actually in front of you.
Interested in talking through an offer, or thinking about listing? Let's talk.
Source: Realtor.com — Cash Buyers Pull Back Faster Than Housing Market as Cash Sales Fade, August 2026 (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro and national cash-share figures, Jan–Apr 2026).
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