TL;DR
- In our experience, as-is cash offers land between 70% and 85% of what a house is worth fixed up. The repair list drives most of that spread.
- A cash sale skips repairs, showings, appraisals, and financing contingencies. Most of ours close in one to three weeks instead of the two to three months a listing usually takes end to end.
- No single company is "best" for every seller. Sell Dave Your House, Sell Soon Blue Moon, M1 Home Buyers, Wise Buys Detroit, Michigan Houses for Cash, Sell Home Fast MI, and LOD Properties all work Metro Detroit, and they differ on specialty, transparency, and whether they actually close deals themselves.
- The offer number matters less than two things: whether the buyer shows you the math, and whether the price holds after the walkthrough.
- Sell Dave Your House buys in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties in any condition with no fees, no repairs, and no obligation to accept.
Every cash offer on a Troy house is the answer to the same three-part math problem. What's the house worth fixed up? What will it cost to fix? What does the buyer need to clear for taking on that job? Most companies won't put it in those terms. That's the whole calculation.
Once you know the formula, you can check anybody's number in about four minutes with a calculator.
Table of Contents
- How much will a cash buyer pay for a house?
- Is it a good idea to sell your house to a cash buyer?
- Who is the best cash buyer for homes in Metro Detroit?
- What are the risks of a cash offer on a house?
- How does the cash sale process actually work?
- How much do you lose selling for cash instead of listing traditionally?
- What's next if you want a cash offer on your Troy home?
- Frequently asked questions
How much will a cash buyer pay for a house?
Fair market value, multiplied by a percentage that covers the buyer's costs and margin, minus repairs. That's it. From the offers we write and the ones we see sellers bring us for a second opinion, that percentage usually sits between 70% and 85%, and where you land inside that band depends on how ugly the repair list is and how fast the house will resell.
Start with the fixed-up value. You can sanity-check your own starting number against a Troy housing market tracker before anybody quotes you anything.
Here's the arithmetic on a scenario we see constantly.
You've inherited a Troy colonial. Fixed up and sold retail, it's worth about $420,000. The roof has maybe two winters left in it, the kitchen hasn't been touched since the Clinton administration, and the furnace is on borrowed time. A buyer pencils $30,000 in repairs and applies 80%:
$420,000 × 0.80 = $336,000, minus $30,000 in repairs = $306,000.
That's roughly 73% of value, which is about right for a house that needs real work. A home that just needs paint, carpet, and a cleanout will come in nearer the 85% end, because the buyer's holding time is shorter and the risk of surprises behind the drywall is lower.
Run your own numbers the same way. If a buyer's offer is well under 70% of a realistic after-repair value and the repair estimate is thin, something in their math is padded.
Pro tip: Ask for all three inputs in writing: their after-repair value, their repair estimate, and the percentage. A buyer who gives you a single number and no breakdown is counting on you not asking. That's one of the patterns in our guide to 7 red flags to spot in we buy houses offers.
Is it a good idea to sell your house to a cash buyer?
Sometimes. It's the right call when speed, certainty, or skipping repairs is worth more to you than the last few percent of market value.
A cash sale usually makes sense if you're:
- Racing a sheriff's sale date. Foreclosure timelines don't pause for a listing, showings, and a 45-day mortgage approval.
- Handling an inherited house from out of state. Coordinating contractors, lockboxes, and a closing from three time zones away is miserable, especially when probate is still open and every signature needs a court's blessing.
- Done being a landlord. You can sell occupied, tenants and lease and all, without a turnover or an eviction.
- Downsizing and unwilling to renovate first. Staging a house you raised kids in, then keeping it show-ready for weeks, is more disruption than most retirees want.
- Sitting on damage a lender won't finance. Fire, water, structural, code issues. A buyer who takes houses mid-insurance-claim, or ones the city has already posted, can close where a retail buyer's underwriter would kill the loan.
When it isn't the right call: your house is move-in ready, nothing is forcing your hand, and you can wait out a normal listing. Pay the commission and list it. You'll almost always net more.
Who is the best cash buyer for homes in Metro Detroit?
There isn't one. The right buyer depends on your property type, your deadline, and how much you care about a price that doesn't move after inspection. Here's how the local names compare on things a seller can actually use.
| Company | Specialty | Service area | Price approach | What to ask them |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sell Dave Your House | Any condition: inherited, rentals, foreclosure, disrepair | Wayne, Oakland, Macomb Counties | As-is offer with the math shown, no fees or repairs | Is the number firm after the walkthrough? |
| Sell Soon Blue Moon | Fast closings | Metro Detroit | Cash offer, terms vary by deal | What's their typical offer-to-close window? |
| M1 Home Buyers | Distressed and inherited property | Southeast Michigan | Condition-based cash offer | Do they close themselves or assign the contract? |
| Wise Buys Detroit | Detroit-area houses | Detroit and inner suburbs | As-is cash offers | Any minimum value or condition they won't touch? |
| Michigan Houses for Cash | Statewide reach, Detroit focus | Southeast Michigan | Condition-based cash offers | Direct buyer, or a lead network selling your info? |
| Sell Home Fast MI | Speed-focused sales | Michigan | Cash offers | What paperwork do they need before quoting? |
| LOD Properties | Local acquisitions | Metro Detroit | Cash offers | How many closings have they done nearby this year? |
Pro tip: Ask every company the same three questions and compare the answers, not the numbers. How did you calculate this? Can the price drop after you walk through? Who signs at closing, you or somebody you sold my contract to? Lead-generation outfits fall apart on question three. They'll say something like "our investor partner" and that's your answer.
Sell Dave Your House (legally Unique Homes LLC) is headquartered in Troy and buys across the tri-county area, including Detroit, Warren, Sterling Heights, Dearborn, Livonia, Royal Oak, and Southfield. You can read how the company works on its about us page or check coverage in Dearborn, Ferndale, and Detroit.
What are the risks of a cash offer on a house?
Three, mainly: a lowball dressed up as market value, contract language that lets the buyer walk or renegotiate later, and a "buyer" who has no money and is just flipping your signed contract to someone who does.
What to look for in the paperwork:
- "And/or assigns" after the buyer's name. That clause lets them sell your contract. Not always a problem, but you deserve to know before you sign, and you should ask what happens if no assignee shows up.
- Earnest money of $500 on a $300,000 purchase. A buyer risking pocket change can vanish and it costs them nothing. Serious buyers put down real money.
- A price-reduction clause tied to the walkthrough. Watch for a right to renegotiate over conditions that were plainly visible from day one. That's the classic bait: high offer, quiet trim after inspection.
- A memorandum of contract recorded against your title. Some outfits file this to lock you up. It clouds the title and makes it painful to sell to anyone else if the deal dies.
- No proof of funds and no local closing history. Ask for a bank statement and two addresses they've closed in Oakland, Wayne, or Macomb County. Then look those addresses up.
Our 7 red flags to spot in we buy houses offers breaks each one down. Read it before you sign with any company on this page, including ours.
How does the cash sale process actually work?
Four steps, and in our experience most sellers go from first call to funded in one to three weeks.
- You give the basics. Address, condition, why you're selling. Call 586-500-7161 or start on the website.
- The buyer looks at the house and the comps. Resale demand in Troy is real, which helps your number: proximity to the Somerset Collection and the Big Beaver corporate corridor keeps retail buyers competing for finished houses here.
- You get a written offer, usually inside a day or two, with no obligation.
- You close at a title company. No commission, no repair credits, no appraisal, no loan to fall apart at the last minute.
Two things that trip up Michigan sellers and nobody warns them about. First, unpaid water and sewer bills follow the property here, so the title company will hold back funds at closing to clear them. Get a final read early. Second, several tri-county cities require a point-of-sale or pre-sale inspection before the deed transfers, and the certificate can take a couple of weeks to issue. A good buyer knows which cities those are and starts the paperwork the same week you accept, instead of discovering it five days before closing.
Compare all of that to a financed sale, where appraisal gaps and underwriting conditions routinely push closings weeks past the date on the contract. Rocket Mortgage's overview of cash purchases covers why removing the loan removes most of the delay.
Pro tip: If you're selling because of a foreclosure clock, a death in the family, or a move you didn't plan, protect your own bandwidth too. FitRx connects you with licensed providers online for mental health support or primary care with prescriptions shipped to you, which helps when you're mid-move and can't sit in a waiting room.
How much do you lose selling for cash instead of listing traditionally?
Less than the headline gap suggests, once repairs, commission, and holding costs come out. Here's the same $420,000 house both ways.
| Cost factor | Traditional sale | Cash as-is sale |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price | $420,000 | $306,000 |
| Agent commission (~6%) | -$25,200 | $0 |
| Repairs before listing | -$30,000 | $0, buyer absorbs |
| Closing costs (~2%) | -$8,400 | Usually covered by buyer |
| Holding costs over a 60-90 day sale | -$4,000 (taxes, insurance, utilities) | $0 |
| Estimated net to seller | ~$352,400 | ~$306,000 |
The listing wins by about $46,400. But look at what that number assumes: full asking price, no financing hiccup, a sale inside 90 days, and $30,000 of your own cash available up front to fund the repairs.
That last one decides it for most people. If you don't have $30,000 liquid, the traditional column isn't a real option, it's a hypothetical. And if the house needs work an appraiser will flag, a bank-financed buyer can't close on it at any price.
Here's a rule of thumb: if the repair bill is more than about 10% of the after-repair value and you can't pay for it out of pocket, the cash number is usually the better real-world outcome, not the worse one.
Michigan winters push the math further. A vacant house here through January and February is a frozen-pipe claim waiting to happen, and you're heating it anyway to prevent that. We've seen a burst supply line turn a cosmetic rehab into a gut job over one long weekend.
What's next if you want a cash offer on your Troy home?
Call 586-500-7161 for a no-obligation offer, or read up first on the 70% rule real estate investors use and what seller closing costs actually look like in Detroit on the blog.
Whoever you pick from this list, do one thing before you sign: get the after-repair value, the repair estimate, and the percentage in writing. Then divide the offer by the after-repair value yourself and see what number comes out.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get a cash offer on my home if it's currently rented to tenants?
Yes. Most cash buyers, us included, will buy with tenants in place, and you don't need to wait out the lease or start an eviction. The buyer either takes the lease as-is or negotiates a move-out as part of the closing terms. Have the lease and the security deposit ledger ready, because those transfer at closing and a missing deposit record slows title down.
Do I need to clean out the house or remove belongings before selling for cash?
No. Direct buyers routinely take houses with furniture, junk, and full basements still in them, because the cleanout cost is already priced into the offer. Take what matters to you and leave the rest. On a traditional listing you'd be paying a dumpster company and a stager instead.
How do I know if a cash offer is actually competitive for my area?
Pull recent sold comps within a mile of your house, in similar condition to yours once repaired, then divide the offer by that after-repair value. Anywhere from 70% to 85% is normal, with heavier repairs pushing you toward the low end. Getting two or three offers is the fastest sanity check there is, and any buyer worth working with expects you to do it.