CASH IS KING! Especially in this market!

Emily - While 38% is a large percentage, it's most certainly not the majority.  Not sure I would say it's king.  Based on many of the local market reports I've been doing for the SFV, there are several pocket areas where the percentage of cash offers is even less, which means for every cash offer, there are two financed offers.  Once again, not sure I would say this makes cash buyers kings.  JMHO

Emily - Yes, I agree that price and terms being equal, a cash offer may be preferred because of a quicker closing.  However, it's been my experience that cash offer from investors typically aren't equal in price but rather are often lower in price.  Depending on the needs of the seller, a quicker close may be more important than a higher offer. 

For a long time though, many REO banks were infamously overlooking higher financed offers for lower cash offers simply to be able to get their toxic loans off their books.  However, for awhile now, I've been seeing a shift in that mentality (at least here in the SFV) where the banks are now rejecting the lower cash offers for the higher financed offers, of course, all other terms being equal. 

Based on many of the recent market reports I've been doing for the SFV, the sales price % vs list price % for cash offer has been increasing for much of 2011.  While the sales price vs list price for cash sales is still lower than sales price vs list price for financed offer (approx 95%-96% for cash offers to 98%-99% for financed offers), I strongly suspect that the gap will narrow even more this year.  JMHO

I agree with you, Emily.  Cash buyers have the financial flexibility to get what they want or walk away, so they are in a much better position than a financed buyer. 2 in 5 deals are done by cash buyers? Sure, 38% is less than 50%, but being in the majority isn't what makes cash buyers potent. (I'll stop at potent, as in potentate = king; omnipotent I'll reserve for future use!)

It's not how many time you play (more than 50%), it's how many times you win. Who gets a higher percentage of the deals they bid on. I think cash buyers win more often, but I don't know for sure. Still, I think that's what you are driving at, right?

I also wonder whether cash buyers walk away from more deals simply because they can. They hold a stronger hand. Again, I don't know the stats, but financed buyers sometimes have to walk away because they don't qualify for the price required. Weak hand; they don't count in what you're talking about. Take out those losing but unsatisfied bidders -- the ones who would pay more if they could, even if the value's not there and they are just buying on emotion -- and it seems to me that cash buyers are the ones who know when to fold 'em.