What Is a Fair Cash Offer on a House in Genesee County, MI?
The exact formula behind a legitimate cash offer, broken down line by line so you know what you’re really being offered.
“Fair” is a word that gets thrown around a lot in the cash home buying industry, and it means very little unless you understand exactly how an offer is calculated. This guide breaks down the actual formula a legitimate cash buyer uses, so you can evaluate any offer — ours included — with real numbers instead of guesswork. Genesee County Home Buyers is always willing to walk through this math directly with you.
The Formula Behind a Cash Offer
Most legitimate cash offers are built from a version of the same formula:
| Component | What It Means |
|---|---|
| After-Repair Value (ARV) | What the home would sell for on the open market once fully renovated |
| Minus: Estimated Repair Costs | What it would actually cost to bring the home to that renovated condition |
| Minus: Buyer’s Holding Costs | Taxes, insurance, utilities, and financing costs during the renovation and resale period |
| Minus: Selling Costs on Resale | Commissions and closing costs the buyer will pay when they eventually resell |
| Minus: Buyer’s Margin | The profit needed to make the deal worthwhile for the investor |
| = Cash Offer | What’s left after all of the above |
This formula is sometimes summarized as the “70% rule” in the investing world — offering roughly 70% of ARV minus repair costs — though the real percentage varies significantly by market, property type, and how competitive the local investor landscape is.
Why the Offer Isn’t Just “Market Value”
A common point of confusion is comparing a cash offer directly to a home’s estimated market value from a site like Zillow. That comparison misses the point: market value assumes a retail buyer using a mortgage, buying a home that’s already move-in ready, closing in 45-60 days, and paying a commission to their agent. A cash offer is a completely different transaction — a same-day acceptance, an as-is purchase, no financing contingency, and a close in as little as a week. The lower number reflects a different set of terms, not necessarily an unfair one.
“The question isn’t ‘is this less than my Zestimate’ — it’s ‘given what this actually costs to fix and resell, and how fast I need or want to move, is this a reasonable number.’ Those are very different questions.”
— Genesee County Home Buyers
What Makes an Offer Unfair
A cash offer becomes genuinely unfair when a buyer inflates repair cost estimates well beyond reality, lowballs based on pressure tactics rather than real numbers, or refuses to explain how they arrived at the figure at all. A legitimate buyer should be able to walk you through each line of the formula above using your home’s actual condition and recent comparable sales.
How Genesee County’s Market Affects the Math
Local factors matter here. Genesee County — and Flint in particular — has an older housing stock where repair costs on things like roofing, electrical, and plumbing can be significant, which affects the math more than it would in a market with newer homes. At the same time, ARV in Flint and parts of Burton and Mt. Morris tends to be lower than in Grand Blanc or Davison, which changes the absolute dollar gap even when the percentages are similar. Our 2025 Genesee County real estate market guide covers these city-by-city differences in more detail.
How to Know If Your Offer Is Reasonable
- Ask for the ARV estimate and the comparable sales it’s based on
- Ask for an itemized repair cost estimate, not just a lump-sum deduction
- Compare the offer against multiple cash buyers, not just one
- Compare against the realistic net proceeds of a traditional sale — see our guide on cash offer vs. listing agent for that full comparison
Vetting the Buyer Making the Offer
A fair number means little if the buyer behind it isn’t legitimate or can’t actually close. Our guide on using “We Buy Houses” investors in Genesee County covers exactly how to vet a cash buyer before signing anything.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a cash offer always lower than my home’s Zillow estimate?
Usually yes, since automated estimates assume a retail, financed sale — not an as-is, same-week cash transaction with no commissions.
Should I get more than one cash offer?
It’s reasonable to compare a few, since it gives you a clearer sense of the local range and helps confirm any single offer is reasonable.
Can I negotiate a cash offer?
Often yes — especially if you can point to specific comparable sales or dispute a repair cost estimate with your own contractor quotes.
Do repair-heavy homes always get lower offers?
Generally yes, proportional to the actual cost of the repairs needed — but a transparent buyer should be able to show you exactly how those costs were estimated.
See Your Number, With the Math Behind It
Get a fair, no-obligation cash offer — and we’ll walk you through exactly how we got there.