Sell your house in Massachusetts

How a cash offer compares with listing, what a Massachusetts seller pays and signs, and what homes are listing and selling for in your town.

Cash offer or listing

“We buy houses” companies offer a quick sale for cash, often with no showings and no repairs. They make their money by paying less than a home would sell for on the open market, then fixing and reselling it, renting it out, or selling their contract to another investor. A North Carolina deputy attorney general told AARP that sellers to these buyers can end up with about 60% of market value. (AARP, “We buy houses” offers)

Many of these investors price offers with the “70% rule”: pay no more than 70% of what the home should sell for after it’s fixed up, minus the cost of the repairs. Taking the median asking price of homes for sale in Massachusetts now ($699,000) as the after-repair value, that’s at most $489,300 before any repairs come off, $209,700 under the market price. (Rocket Mortgage, the 70% rule)

Instant-offer companies (iBuyers) offer closer to market value, then take a service fee and deduct the repairs their inspection finds. A National Bureau of Economic Research study found iBuyers bought homes about 3% below market value, with Opendoor’s service fee around 6.5% in 2020; in 2022 the FTC found Opendoor’s offers had come in below market value and settled with it for $62 million. (NBER w28252, iBuyers; FTC, Opendoor settlement (2022))

Listing your home puts it in front of every buyer looking in Massachusetts. Buyers compete on price and terms, and you choose the offer. You pay the commission you agree on in your listing agreement, which is negotiable, and the deed stamps and other costs below apply however you sell.

A cash sale can make sense when speed or certainty matters more than price: a home that needs major work, an estate that has to be settled, or a deadline. Before you sign one, get a market valuation to compare it with, and read the contract closely, including who the buyer really is and when they can back out.

Cash investorInstant offer (iBuyer)Listing your home
How the price is setThe investor’s resale or rental math, often the 70% ruleThe company’s estimate of market value, about 3% under it in one studyBuyers competing for your home
What comes offRepairs, at the investor’s estimateA service fee and repairsThe commission you negotiate
On a $699K homeAt most $489K before repairsMarket estimate minus the fee and repairsWhat buyers pay, minus the commission
Showings and repairsNoneAn inspection; repairs come off the priceShowings; repairs are your choice

What’s your home worth?

Tell us about your home and we’ll send you a free, no-obligation valuation from its town’s recent sales and the homes for sale near it, and tell you plainly whether a cash sale or a listing makes more sense. Call (617) 734-5050 or email [email protected].

What selling costs in Massachusetts

Sell your house by town

Questions

How much are deed stamps in Massachusetts?

$4.56 per $1,000 of the sale price ($6.48 in Barnstable County), paid by the seller. On a $699,000 home, that’s $3,187.

Is a cash offer a good idea?

It trades price for speed and certainty. Under the 70% rule many cash investors use, the offer is at most 70% of the home’s after-repair value, minus repairs. Get a market valuation first so you can compare.

Do I need a Title 5 inspection to sell?

Only if the home has a septic system. Then it must pass a Title 5 inspection within two years before the sale (three with yearly pumping).

Also

Sources

Days listed count from when our MLS feed first listed each home. Listing information from MLS Property Information Network (MLS PIN), deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Assessed values and recorded sales are public records from municipal assessors (via MassGIS). An assessed value is set for taxation and may differ from market value; sales are those recorded at a price near the assessed value, so gifts and family transfers are left out.

Checked 2026-11-03.