When you sell a house, you've basically got two well-known doors. Door one: take a fast cash offer from one of the "we buy houses" outfits. Door two: list it with an agent on the open market. Most people assume it's a simple trade, cash is fast but cheap, listing is slow but pays more, and pick whichever they can stomach.
That framing isn't wrong, but it hides the actual numbers. Let me walk you through what each door really nets, using a regular Pittsburgh house as the example. Then I'll show you the third door, because there's a reason this whole site exists.
Door 1: the cash offer
A cash buyer's pitch is genuinely appealing: no repairs, no showings, no agent, close in a week or two, done. For somebody with an inherited house full of stuff, a tired rental, or a place that needs more work than they've got in them, that ease is worth real money.
Here's the catch nobody on that side of the table says out loud: most cash-buyer companies pay somewhere between 30% and 70% of market value. That spread is their entire business model. They buy at a discount, do the work you didn't want to do, and resell. The discount is their profit. It's not a scam, it's just what it is, and the deeper the discount, the better their day.
Example: a $250,000 Pittsburgh house
A cash company offers around 65% of value, so roughly $162,500. No commission, no repairs, no closing prep. What you keep is close to the whole offer, call it ~$160,000 after minor costs. Fast and clean, but you just handed a stranger about $90,000 of your equity.
Door 2: the traditional listing
List it on the open market and yes, you'll likely get a higher headline price. But the sale price is not the net. A pile of costs comes out before you see a dime:
- Agent commission: typically several percent of the sale price.
- Pre-sale repairs and prep: paint, flooring, the stuff buyers flag, plus making it show well.
- Seller-paid closing costs and transfer taxes: in Pennsylvania the real estate transfer tax is usually split between buyer and seller, and it adds up around here.
- Inspection-driven concessions: the credits buyers negotiate after the inspection report.
- Carrying costs: every month it sits, you're paying the mortgage, taxes, insurance, and utilities.
Same $250,000 house, listed
Say it sells at full value. Knock off commission, a few thousand in repairs and prep, seller-side closing costs and transfer tax, and a couple months of carrying costs, and you're realistically netting somewhere in the low $220,000s, plus weeks or months of showings, strangers in your house, and the work of getting it market-ready. More money than the cash offer, clearly, but earned the hard way.
Every number here is illustrative, your actual figures depend on your home, your municipality, and the market. The point is the shape of the trade, not the exact dollars.
Want your actual numbers instead of an example?
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See if you qualify →Door 3: the ease of cash, the price of a listing
Here's what almost nobody tells you: those two doors aren't your only choices. The reason people accept a deep cash discount is to get the ease, no repairs, no showings, no waiting. The reason people grind through a listing is to get the price. But you can structure a sale to get both.
That's what I do. I buy your house for cash, exactly as it sits, no repairs, no inspections, no showings, so you get all the ease of door one. But instead of pocketing a fat discount, I put the home in front of my buyer network and the open market so cash buyers compete for it. Competition pushes the price up toward what the market would actually pay. I handle the repairs, the cleanout, the dye test, the paperwork, all of it.
On that same $250,000 house, the goal is to land you much closer to the listing net than the lowball, without the months of work and strangers walking through your living room. The ease of a cash sale with a price that reflects what your house is really worth. I call it The Smart Sale Method.
So which door is right for you?
Honestly? It depends, and I'll tell you straight even when the answer isn't me:
- Pure speed at any cost (you need cash in 7 days and price is secondary): a straight cash offer can make sense.
- Pristine house, all the time and patience in the world: a traditional listing might squeeze out the absolute top dollar.
- You want the most money for the least hassle: that's the gap door three was built for, and it's most people.
The mistake is picking a door before you've seen the real net on each one. Run your numbers first. Then decide.