iBuyer vs Local Cash Buyer in Florida: What Each One Really Pays
Last updated 2026-06-05 · Reviewed by Camilo Palacio, Licensed Florida Real Estate Professional (License #3280644, REALTOR®)
An iBuyer is a tech company that makes a quick algorithm offer and charges a service fee around 5 percent plus deductions after inspection. A local cash buyer is an investor who buys as-is at a deeper discount and pays no service fee. iBuyers fit clean, newer homes. Local cash buyers fit distressed ones. Both pay below market because both resell for profit.
| Dimension | iBuyer | Local cash buyer | Cash Flow Deals (bank-financed buyer) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who they are | Tech company buying with an algorithm | Individual investor or small flip company | A real buyer approved for bank financing |
| What they pay | Near market minus fees and repair deductions | Deep discount, often 70-80% of value | Built around the home's real value |
| Service fee | Around 5% service fee, sometimes more | No service fee | $0 to you, CFD paid as a separate closing line |
| Repairs | Sell as-is, but repairs deducted after inspection | Sell as-is, priced into the low offer | Sell as-is, price locked at signing |
| Home fit | Newer, clean, standard homes | Distressed, dated, or hard-to-sell homes | Most Florida homes in most conditions |
| Speed | Days to a few weeks | 7-21 days | Tied to the buyer's loan timeline |
| Price certainty | Offer can drop after inspection | Take-it-or-leave-it number | Price locked at signing |
What an iBuyer actually is
An iBuyer is a technology company that buys houses with software. You enter your address, the system pulls data on your home and recent sales nearby, and it spits back an offer in a day or two. The pitch is convenience: skip the showings, skip the agent, pick your own closing date. For a clean, newer Florida home in a standard neighborhood, an iBuyer can land close to market value on the headline number.
The catch is in the deductions. iBuyers charge a service fee, commonly around 5 percent of the price, and sometimes more. They also send an inspector after the offer, and whatever that inspection turns up gets subtracted from your number. So the strong first offer can shrink before you sign. iBuyers also tend to skip homes that are older, distressed, or in markets their model does not like. If your house is not a clean fit for the algorithm, you may not get an offer at all.
What a local cash buyer actually is
A local cash buyer is a person or a small company that buys your house outright to flip it or rent it. There is no software setting the price. A real person looks at the property, runs their numbers, and hands you a take-it-or-leave-it offer. They pay with their own cash, so there is no loan to clear and no lender to slow things down. That is why a local cash buyer can close in a week or two.
The price is the tradeoff. A local cash buyer is not paying what the home is worth. They estimate the resale value, subtract their profit, subtract every repair they plan to make, and subtract holding costs. Most Florida cash offers land between 70 and 80 cents on the dollar. There is usually no service fee, which sounds better than an iBuyer, but the discount is baked straight into the low price instead. Local cash buyers shine on distressed homes that an iBuyer will not touch.
iBuyer vs local cash buyer: which pays more
It depends on your house. For a newer, well-kept home in a major Florida metro, an iBuyer usually pays more on paper than a local cash buyer, even after the service fee and inspection deductions, because the algorithm starts near market value. For an older, dated, or damaged home, the local cash buyer often wins, because the iBuyer either lowballs hard or declines to make an offer at all.
Both share the same core math, though. Both buy below market because both need to resell at a profit. The iBuyer hides the discount in fees and post-inspection deductions. The local cash buyer hides it in a lower sticker price. Either way, the gap between their offer and your home's real value is the price you pay for speed and convenience. The right question is not just which one pays more, but whether you need to give up that gap at all.
A third path that often beats both
Cash Flow Deals is not an iBuyer and not a cash investor. We connect you with a buyer who is approved for real bank financing and actually wants to own your home. Because that buyer borrows from a lender instead of discounting for a flip, your number is built around what the home is truly worth, not around someone else's resale margin. There is no algorithm shaving your price and no investor profit carved out of it.
You still sell as-is, so you fix nothing. The price is locked at signing, which means it does not drift down on you later the way an iBuyer offer can after inspection. The whole transfer runs through one title company, Title Guaranty of South Florida, in a single closing. Cash Flow Deals is free to you as the seller, and our fee shows up as its own line on the closing statement, so nothing is hidden in your net. Before you accept any iBuyer or cash offer in Florida, call 786-891-9111 and compare the number a real bank-financed buyer can bring.
Common questions
What is the difference between an iBuyer and a cash buyer?
An iBuyer is a tech company that makes an algorithm-based offer and charges a service fee around 5 percent plus post-inspection deductions. A cash buyer is an investor who pays a deeper discount with no service fee. iBuyers prefer clean, newer homes. Cash buyers take distressed ones.
Do iBuyers pay more than local cash buyers in Florida?
For newer, well-kept homes, iBuyers often pay more on paper, even after fees, because they start near market value. For older or distressed homes, a local cash buyer usually pays more, because iBuyers either lowball hard or skip the property.
What fees does an iBuyer charge?
iBuyers typically charge a service fee commonly around 5 percent of the price, sometimes more. They also deduct repair costs after a post-offer inspection, which can lower the final number from the first offer you saw.
Does Cash Flow Deals charge me a fee?
No. Cash Flow Deals is free for sellers. Our fee appears as a separate line on the closing statement and does not come out of your pocket. You sell as-is with the price locked at signing.
Who handles the closing with Cash Flow Deals?
Every Cash Flow Deals sale closes through Title Guaranty of South Florida in a single title transfer. There is one clean closing instead of a flip with two separate transactions.