Seller accepting ‘all cash offer’ seeks secure payment

Let’s go back to the mythical bag of cash. Typically, buyers will come to the closing with a bank check or they have already wired funds to the settlement agent or office. Whether they have a bank check or the cash has been wired ahead of time, the settlement agent takes these funds and disburses them to the seller, the attorney (if there is one), and anyone else who needs to get paid from the closing.

As an aside to buyers putting in cash offers, fraud is rampant in the wire transfer world. You must make sure wire transfer information is accurate, because once the funds leave your account, they end up in the recipient’s account. And, if you click on the wrong link, or send the funds to the wrong place, you could lose all of your cash.

Don’t set up a wire transfer without first double checking the account information with the settlement company. If you get an email that purports to be from the settlement or title company, call them directly to make sure you’re getting the right account number. It’s difficult to know how scammers and bad actors are able to send phishing emails to buyers who are within days of a closing, but it’s happening more frequently. Beware of any email you get that purports to give you wire transfer information for your transaction.

To our reader, don’t plan on seeing that bag of cash to the closing. Instead, plan on a wire transfer of the funds and be sure to let the professionals on your team guide you appropriately. At the end of the day, what you want are the title and the keys to your new home, not a conversation with the FBI.