By Elizabeth A. Harris | The New York Times
For a homeowner ready to sell, the all-cash buyer is the dream, a tantalizing oasis away from the strictures of bank loans and the whims of appraisers. And in markets as far-reaching as Long Island City in Queens, Greenwich Village in Manhattan and the Hollywood Hills in California, buyers with cash in hand have popped up in unusually high numbers.
Unfortunately, it turns out that the dream sometimes comes with a bit of an attitude problem.
Many buyers who are reliant on a mortgage are willing to bow and scrape a bit, happy to take a home with questionable detailing or a suspicious water spot on the ceiling, in order to give their offer a lift. But occasionally, buyers offering cash assume that status should afford certain concessions, even in a seller’s market.
They might ask that the seller rip out rows of perfectly nice cabinetry at their own expense, or throw in beloved bits of furniture at no extra cost. They might request that an aging pool cover be replaced, that new molding be added to the ceilings, or that perhaps an elderly owner, after living for 20 years in his apartment, skip the 90 days he had hoped for to pack up and instead move out immediately. Some of the demands can be unusual.
