I've been prompted to turn my comments into an answer -

Disclosure - I am a Realtor. I work for an investor for whom an offer on a house he will buy describes him as a "cash buyer." This phrase most often means one of two things -

The buyer has funds that are liquid enough to either wire the cash or produce a cashier's check in some number of days, a week or two would be comment. (And not wait for another house to sell)

The other point of this is that the seller is not willing to finance the property. The flip side being that the seller will take a down payment and let the buyer pay over time.

I am nearly 54, and I'm open to the fact that language changes. Definition follows usage. In personal finance, we refer to a stock/bond/cash mix. Here, the word "cash" simply means money such as money market or short term T-bills. A 60/30/10 mix doesn't mean I have a briefcase of cash under my bed for that 10%.

To answer the OP, I'd ask the seller does "cash" mean -

• You want to leave the closing with all your money?
• You wont accept a buy who needs a mortgage contingent on selling heir home?
• You expect a very fast closing, and will not wait for me to pull money from my other houses via mortgage or HELOC?

Keep in mind, when a seller has a buyer who needs to sell their home first, there can be a chain going a few levels. When it's "turtles all the way down" it becomes too risky to the seller.

No, you are not out of luck. I'd open a dialog with the seller or their agent if any. Sales is all about understanding what each person's goal is.

I've been prompted to turn my comments into an answer -

Disclosure - I am a Realtor. I work for an investor for whom an offer on a house he will buy describes him as a "cash buyer." This phrase most often means one of two things -

The buyer has funds that are liquid enough to either wire the cash or produce a cashier's check in some number of days, a week or two would be common. (And not wait for another house to sell)

The other point of this is that the seller is not willing to finance the property. The flip side being that the seller will take a down payment and let the buyer pay over time.

I am nearly 54, and I'm open to the fact that language changes. Definition follows usage. In personal finance, we refer to a stock/bond/cash mix. Here, the word "cash" simply means money such as money market or short term T-bills. A 60/30/10 mix doesn't mean I have a briefcase of cash under my bed for that 10%.

To answer the OP, I'd ask the seller does "cash" mean -

• You want to leave the closing with all your money?
• You wont accept a buy who needs a mortgage contingent on selling heir home?
• You expect a very fast closing, and will not wait for me to pull money from my other houses via mortgage or HELOC?

Keep in mind, when a seller has a buyer who needs to sell their home first, there can be a chain going a few levels. When it's "turtles all the way down" it becomes too risky to the seller.

No, you are not out of luck. I'd open a dialog with the seller or their agent if any. Sales is all about understanding what each person's goal is.