Should I take a cash offer or list with an agent? Which leaves me more in DFW?

The same house, three ways

This is the example on our offer sheet: a 3-bed, 2-bath, 1,650 sq ft house in Garland 75041, built in 1978. It needs a roof, 8 piers and paint, about $15,000 of work. Fixed, it should sell for about $285,000. As-is, about $255,000. These are example assumptions J.D. sets, not an offer.

	Cash: we buy it	List as-is	Creative: we fix, then list
Price	$228,000 (80% of the $285,000 fixed value)	$255,000	$285,000, after repairs
Commission, 5%	$0	$12,750	$14,250
Owner’s title policy	$0	$1,546	$1,694
Escrow and fees	$0	$1,200	$1,200
Repairs	$15,000, we absorb them	$5,000 credit to the buyer	$15,000, we front them, repaid at closing
Holding costs	None	$1,500 (about 75 days at $600 a month)	$3,300 ($1,500 coordination plus 3 months at $600)
About how long	10 days once title is clear	75 days	3 months
What you’d walk away with	$213,000	$233,004	$249,556

The 5% commission is 2.5% to the listing agent and 2.5% offered toward the buyer’s agent. Yours is whatever your listing agreement says. The title premium is the same at every Texas title company, because the Texas Department of Insurance sets it (TDI FAQ). On the schedule effective March 1, 2026, a $255,000 policy is ($255,000 − $100,000) × 0.00494 + $780 = $1,546 (TDI). None of the three columns subtracts your loan payoff or the property-tax proration. The seller net sheet does, with the same math.

Here is the quiet part. Cash is $20,004 less than listing as-is and $36,556 less than fix-then-list. The first gap buys you about 65 fewer days than listing. The second buys about 80 fewer than fixing first. Both also buy no showings and no buyer’s loan that can fall through.

When each one wins

Path	It usually wins when	It loses when
Cash	The house needs work a buyer’s inspector will flag, a date is coming (a move, a foreclosure sale date, a closing on your next house), or showings are hard: tenants, belongings, heirs out of state	The house is in good shape and you can wait. Then the gap is money you give up
List as-is	The house shows well, needs little, and you can carry it for 2 to 3 months	The inspection turns up big items, or the price has to drop
Creative: fix-then-list	It needs a few weeks of known work and you don’t want to pay for it up front	There’s a hard deadline, because repairs and marketing take about 3 months

The list number assumes things go to plan. In August 2026, DFW homes took 90 days from listing to closing and closed at 94.65% of their original list price (TRERC). On this house, every $5,000 off the price takes about $4,700 off what you’d walk away with. If it sits 90 days instead of 75, add $300 of holding.

If your house is move-in ready, list it, with us or with any agent. J.D. is a licensed agent and can list it. The cash number will look bad next to the list number, and it should. Already listed and it sat? Read what to do after a listing expires. Tenants or heirs? See selling with tenants and selling an inherited house.

iBuyers and HomeLight Simple Sale

Here is what each one’s own Dallas page said on October 18, 2026.

Company	What its own page says	What it doesn’t say
Opendoor	“Service charge varies by market and property.” The offer factors in service charges, repair credits and Texas closing costs, and a walk-through, in person or by video, confirms the condition (Opendoor)	The service charge in dollars or as a percentage
Offerpad	Buys across DFW. The offer is based on condition and recent comparable Dallas sales, and you schedule an in-home assessment when you choose your closing date. Close in as few as 8 business days or pick a date up to 60 days out, and stay up to 3 days after closing (Offerpad)	Any service fee or closing costs
HomeLight Simple Sale	Matches your house to its “network of vetted cash buyers,” closes in about 7 days, and charges no fee to request an offer. It also says “an investor offer usually lands below full market value” (HomeLight)	Whether closing costs apply

The headline number on any cash offer, ours included, isn’t what you’d walk away with. Get each offer in writing and compare it line by line:

1. The price, and whether it can change after the inspection or walk-through.
2. Every fee, as a dollar amount.
3. Who pays the title policy and escrow.
4. The closing date, and how long you can stay after.
5. What you’d walk away with, on one line.

Then put the best one next to a listing estimate for the same house. That second number tells you what the cash costs.

What RESE puts in writing

Within 24 hours you get three numbers for your house: our cash offer, what it should list for and what you’d net, and the fix-then-list number. Cash closes in about 10 days once title is clear, on the date you pick, and you can stay up to 30 days after on a written leaseback. We buy as-is. When RESE buys, J.D. Thorne buys for his own account or through a company he controls, and you get that in writing before any contract (22 TAC §535.144). If we bring in a partner buyer, you get that in writing too. Earnest money goes to a Texas title company. See how the three numbers work, and how to check us out before you sign with anyone.

Questions people ask

Why is a cash offer always lower than listing?

A cash buyer pays for the repairs, carries the house, and needs room to resell it at a profit. On our example house, the buy price is 80% of the fixed value, less $15,000 of repairs we absorb. We show you the other two numbers so you can see exactly what the trade costs.

Offerpad or Opendoor: which one should I choose?

Whichever leaves you more after every fee, on the date you need. Neither one’s Dallas page gives its fee in dollars, so you only know once you have the written offer. Ask both, then compare them line by line with a listing estimate.

What is HomeLight Simple Sale?

HomeLight’s cash-offer program. Its Dallas page says it matches your house to a network of vetted cash buyers, closes in about 7 days, and charges no fee to request an offer. The same page says an investor offer usually lands below full market value, which is true of ours too.

How long does it take to sell a house in DFW?

In August 2026, DFW homes took 90 days from listing to closing (TRERC). Our example assumes about 75 days to list as-is, about 3 months to fix and list, and about 10 days for cash once title is clear.

Do I have to sign a listing agreement to get your cash number?

No. You get all three numbers first, in writing, then decide. No obligation either way.