Non-Contingent All-Cash Offers Are a Homebuyer Reality

DALLAS—Homebuying is notoriously synonymous with stress and most importantly, cash on hand. With the real estate market becoming increasingly competitive, cash buyers are beating out those who don’t have access to immediate cash.

But that is changing with Ribbon’s expansion to Texas. Now, homebuyers have the ability to make a non-contingent all-cash offer to sellers, ensuring a guaranteed close and less stress for both sellers, agents and buyers.

“With low-interest rates, many are looking to purchase a home, creating a significantly competitive market,” said Shaival Shah, CEO and co-founder of Ribbon. “Entering Texas gives us an opportunity to assist more real estate agents help homebuyers find their dream homes, giving them the ability to make cash offers when necessary so as to create an equal opportunity for all to purchase a home.”

According to the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, total Texas housing sales increased 17.1% in July 2020, exceeding pre-pandemic levels with a record-breaking 36,165 sales. The National Association of Realtors’ September 2020 data showed the median existing-home price was $311,800, almost 15% more than in September 2019. Additionally, more than 71% homes sold in September 2020 were on the market for less than a month.

Amid this demand, Ribbon aims to assist local agents in closing more deals and ultimately helping clients have a fair chance at securing a home. With Ribbon’s Cash Offers feature, pre-approvals and home valuations are completed within 24 hours.

In the event that a homebuyer cannot close on time, Ribbon will purchase the home on behalf of the buyer and lease it to them for up to six months. This gives homebuyers additional flexibility to organize financing without losing out on the opportunity of purchasing a home.

Ribbon homebuyers can secure homes in high-demand markets such as Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin. Brokers and agents can start using Ribbon immediately at no cost to begin delivering competitive cash offers to clients.

“We were experiencing difficulty with our initial lender due to pandemic limitations on appraisers and the high demand in our area. We needed things to sync up but they simply weren’t,” said the Bowman family who bought a Raleigh, NC home with Ribbon. “There was a potential for the sellers to lose their home and for us to miss out on the opportunity to buy. Ribbon stepped in to relieve the sellers of the home so they could close their other pending deal. And, it gave us the couple extra weeks we needed to wrap up the mortgage approval with a new lender.”

In addition to Texas, Ribbon operates in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee with plans to expand into several new locations in the near future. Since its founding in 2017, Ribbon has assisted more than 20,000 families achieve home ownership.

“This has been a one-of-a-kind year for everyone in the real estate ecosystem including homebuyers, sellers, agents and lenders,” Shah tells GlobeSt.com. “With competition growing, those who can afford to make cash offers typically win over others who cannot, making it an unfair playing field. To put it simply: high-demand markets don’t support high-demand equity, equality and opportunity for homebuyers. As a mission-driven company, our goal is to level the playing field for homebuyers, which is why we have created an expansion roadmap that will put us on the track to reach even more people in more markets.”