" Just pay cash, darling. It's so much simpler !", in the immortal words of Gilligan's Island, Thurston Howell'the Third''s wife, a.k.a. 'Lovie'.

'Yeah, it sure would be simpler !', said my customer who was financing his first home with an FHA motgage. A cash purchase means never to have to

call your lender or submit tons of paperwork or pay points and 'vig'...For most of us, we don't have the luxury of paying cash. Instead we pay closing costs and pre paids averaging 3% to 4% of our loan balance. Cash purchases are by far the econimcial way to buy a home.. If you can afford to do so. Some folks with ability to pay cash may prefer to finance for leverage and tax purposes but the absence of substantial costs of obtaining a mortgage is one good reason to pay cash­­... Just for avoiding the time consuming process of obtaining a mortgage makes the cash option attractive, as anyone who has been through it since 2008 knows !

I always say, 'After they make you dig out every paper, statement, pay stub, deposit slip, etc,etc, under the sun then they want to know your great grandmother's blood type, too !'

If you do get a mortgage, make sure you keep copies of all documents the lender requests from you...they may ask for the same thing more than once !

For the Cash Purchaser there may be no required expenses but it would behoove them to still pay for a survey, flood elevation certificate, home inspection, W.D.O. report, H.O. insurance, and perhaps attorney representation or possibly only an atty review of your owner's title insurance policy prior to closing...these items offer a degree of protection for your imvestment...    Also remember that nowadays, the insurance companies require a 4-Point home inspection in order to acquire homeowner's insurance.

Even cash buyers need to comply with inspection & cancellation period on As Is contracts..So make sure to schedule these tasks quickly- 10-14 days dissappear in a hurry and the completion date of this inspection period is sternly abided by- Don't delay scheduling your inspections lest you find yourself past your 'cancellation' date and then realize you are now obligated to purchase the home with some defect you failed to discover when you had the chance !  

Judi Gentile and Tom Kaphingst REALTORS have a combined 50 years experience working real estate at one location in Daytona Beach Florida