Cash offer, or list it? Here's the arithmetic.

I can do either one, so I have no reason to talk you into the wrong one. Put your own numbers in. It will often tell you not to sell to me — that's the point of showing it.

Your numbers

Change anything that looks wrong

Nothing here is fixed except the state transfer tax. Every other figure is an assumption you should overwrite with what you actually know about your house.

Start from a city median

Fills the value below from real recorded sales.

What it's worth fixed up

After-repair value, not what it'd fetch today as-is.

Cost to get it there

Roof, kitchen, paint — whatever it needs.

If you listed it without fixing it

What it'd fetch as-is. Defaults to value minus repair cost — buyers usually knock off more.

Total commission

Percent, both sides. Always negotiable.

Other closing costs

Title, settlement fees, prorations. Varies by county.

Monthly cost to hold it

Mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities.

Months until it closes

Listing, showings, contract, closing.

Sell to me, as-is

—

In your pocket, about two weeks from now.

Value fixed up—
Less 30% (my margin and risk)—
Less repairs—
Less assignment fee−$25,000
Commission$0
Closing costs to you$0
You net—

List it as-is, no repairs

—

As-is sale price—
Repairs you pay$0
Less commission—
Less state transfer tax (0.70%)—
Less other closing costs—
Less carrying costs—
You net—

Fix it up, then list it

—

Sale price—
Less repairs you pay up front—
Less commission—
Less state transfer tax (0.70%)—
Less other closing costs—
Less carrying costs—
You net—

—

What's an assumption and what isn't.

Fixed: Florida's documentary stamp tax on deeds is $0.70 per $100 of the price in Palm Beach and Broward (Miami-Dade single-family is $0.60). That's state law, not my estimate.
My formula, published: my cash offer is 70% of after-repair value, minus repairs, minus a $25,000 assignment fee. It's the same formula on every house. If the number looks low, that's why.
Everything else is a guess until you change it. Commission is negotiable and never fixed by law. Who pays title insurance differs by county custom — seller customarily pays in Palm Beach, buyer in Broward — and is negotiable either way. Time on market depends on the house, the price and the month.
This is not an appraisal, a broker price opinion, a CMA or an offer. It's arithmetic on numbers you typed.

Get a cash offer Talk about listing it

Straight answer

When the cash offer is genuinely the better deal

The arithmetic above usually favours listing, because it assumes the sale goes smoothly. Sometimes it doesn't, and sometimes the maths isn't what matters:

You can't fund the repairs, so listing means selling as-is anyway — for less than the figure above.
There's a deadline the market won't wait for: a foreclosure date, a probate, a divorce, a relocation.
The house isn't financeable — a bad roof or open permits will fail most lenders' conditions.
It's tenant-occupied, or you simply don't want strangers walking through it.
Certainty is worth more to you than the last few percent. A listed sale can still fall through.

If none of those describe you, list it. I'll tell you that on the phone too, and I'd rather earn the listing than talk you into a discount you didn't need.