The process
How selling your house for cash actually works
Six steps, roughly seven to twenty-one days end to end, and you are not committed to anything until step five.
Selling a San Diego house for cash takes about 7 to 21 days from first contact to funds in your account. You send the address, we walk the property within a day or two, you get a written offer within 24 hours of that visit, and if you accept, escrow closes on a date you choose. There is no cost, no repair work and no obligation before you sign a purchase agreement.
Step by step
You reach out
The form or the phone, whichever you prefer. All we need to begin is the address, the rough condition, and whether anything unusual is going on — tenants, probate, a sale date, damage, liens. Nothing you say here commits you to anything.
We do our homework
Before we ever come out we pull the closed comparable sales, the tax record, the permit history and the title profile. Occasionally that first pass tells us the house is worth more to you on the open market than it is to us, and if so we will call and tell you that instead of coming out.
We walk the property
One visit, usually within 24 to 48 hours. Nothing needs to be cleaned, staged, or emptied. We look at the roof, the systems, the foundation, the kitchen and baths, and we take a few photos for our own estimate. If the property is occupied by tenants we can often price it from the exterior plus the rent roll.
You get the offer in writing
Not a range shouted over the phone. A written offer with the three comparable sales it rests on, the itemised repair scope, and the arithmetic that connects them. Read it, sit on it, show it to your attorney or your kids, take it to another buyer for comparison. There is no expiry pressure.
We open escrow
At an established local title and escrow company. We deposit earnest money, order the preliminary title report and send you the disclosure package. This is when the sale becomes real, and it is the first point at which you are committed to anything.
You close and get paid
Escrow pays off your loan, any liens and prorated taxes, and wires you the balance. Sign electronically or with a mobile notary anywhere in the world. Take what you want from the house and leave the rest — clearing it is our job.
What we need from you
Far less than a listing requires. To make an offer: the property address, and whatever you can tell us about condition and circumstances. That is genuinely it to get started.
To close, escrow will want the usual: your identification, your loan information so a payoff demand can be ordered, and — if applicable — trust or probate documents, a death certificate, a divorce judgment, the leases and deposit ledger for a rental, or lien information. If you do not have some of these, say so; escrow can usually obtain them.
What we do not ask for
- Repairs, credits or a pre-listing inspection
- Cleaning, staging, decluttering or a cleanout
- Showings, open houses or a lockbox on your door
- An appraisal, because there is no lender to satisfy
- A commission, a listing agreement or an exclusivity period
- Money at closing — the costs come out of proceeds
How long each stage really takes
- First contact to walkthroughUsually 24–48 hours
- Walkthrough to written offerWithin 24 hours
- Offer to escrow openingSame day you accept
- Escrow to closing7–21 days typical; longer if you want
- The usual bottleneckYour lender producing a payoff demand, or a lien that needs clearing
What could slow it down
Honest answer: title. A clouded title, an old lien nobody knew about, a deceased co-owner still on the deed, an unrecorded transfer, or a probate that has not yet granted authority to sell. None of these are dealbreakers and all of them are solvable — they just take days or weeks that a clean title does not. The preliminary title report usually surfaces them in the first 48 hours of escrow, which is exactly why we open escrow immediately rather than waiting.
When we will tell you not to sell to us
It happens regularly enough to be worth stating plainly. If your house is in good condition, in a strong neighbourhood, you have sixty to ninety days of patience and no complicating circumstances, the open market will almost certainly net you more than we can pay. In that case we will say so, and if it is useful we will introduce you to a local agent who works your area. We take nothing for that introduction. We would rather be the buyer you trusted than the buyer you regret.
Ready to see a real number?
No cost, no obligation, and no pressure if you decide to list instead.