Buying a House With Cash vs. Getting a Mortgage

Cash vs. Mortgage: An Overview

Everywhere you turn, you hear how bad it is to carry debt. So naturally, it’s logical to think that buying a home with cash—or sinking as much cash as possible into your home to avoid the massive debt associated with a mortgage—is the smartest choice for your financial health.

But there’s a lot to consider when contemplating purchasing a home outright versus financing it. Here are some of the major differences between using cash or a taking out a mortgage to buy a home.

Benefits of Cash

Paying cash for a home eliminates the need to pay interest on the loan and any closing costs. “There are no mortgage origination fees, appraisal fees, or other fees charged by lenders to assess buyers,” says Robert Semrad, JD, senior partner and founder of DebtStoppers Bankruptcy Law Firm of Robert J. Semrad & Associates LLC, headquartered in Chicago.

Paying with cash is usually more attractive to sellers, too. “In a competitive market, a seller is likely to take a cash offer over other offers because they don’t have to worry about a buyer backing out due to financing being denied,” says Peter Grabel, managing director, MLO Luxury Mortgage Corp in Stamford, Connecticut. A cash home purchase also has the flexibility of closing faster (if desired) than one involving loans, which could be attractive to a seller.

These benefits to the seller shouldn’t come without a price. “A cash buyer might be able to obtain the property for a lower price and receive a ‘cash discount’ of sorts,” says Grabel. A cash buyer could also purchase a home for cash and then still choose to do a cash-out refinance later after they have already closed on the home purchase. This allows them to get the best of both-worlds: an easier home-buying process in a hot housing market with multiple competing offers and the long term financial benefits of taking out a low interest mortgage while investing their money.

Is a Mortgage Better?

On the other hand, obtaining financing also has significant benefits. “Even if a buyer has the ability to pay cash for a home, it might make sense to not tie up a lot of cash to purchase real estate,” says Grabel. Doing so could limit your options if other needs arise down the road. For example, if the home turns out to need major repairs or renovations, it may be tough to obtain a home-equity loan or mortgage, as you don’t know what your credit score will look like in the future, how much the home will then be worth, or other factors that determine approval for financing. While this is definitely something to keep in mind as a possibility, getting a home equity loan or HELOC is easier the more equity you have in your home.

Selling a home bought with cash could also be a problem if the owners stretched a lot financially to buy it. “If cash buyers decide it’s time to sell, they need to make sure they will have sufficient cash reserves to put down as a deposit on the new home,” says Grabel.

In short, “cash buyers need to be sure to leave themselves plenty of liquidity,” says Grabel. By opting to go with a mortgage, you can give yourself more financial flexibility. Using a mortgage calculator is a good resource to budget some of the costs.

Paying a mortgage can also provide tax benefits for homeowners who itemize deductions versus taking the standard deduction. And while you shouldn’t opt for a mortgage just to get a deduction, a reduced tax obligation never hurts.

“In most cases, mortgage interest payments are tax-deductible,” says Semrad. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) passed in 2017, however, nearly doubled standard deductions, making it unnecessary for many taxpayers to itemize, meaning they forgo use of the mortgage interest tax deduction entirely.

Investing vs. a Mortgage

Of course, with a mortgage, you end up paying more overall, since it comes with interest payments that do add up over time. But, depending on the state of the stock market, Semrad also notes that saving on mortgage interest by paying cash might not be financially prudent. You could be saving less than that money might have earned had you taken out a mortgage and invested the cash you didn’t spend on your house.

In addition to the stock market earning much more than you’ll pay in interest you may also save even more on your taxes than you would save with a mortgage interest deduction. If you use your extra cash to invest in the stock market directly or to live on while investing in a tax-advantaged account like a traditional IRA, Health Savings Account, 401(k), or other workplace plan, you will potentially save more in taxes than you would have by itemizing your mortgage interest.

Special Considerations

In some instances, having a mortgage can protect you from certain creditors. Most states grant consumers a certain level of protection from creditors regarding their home. Some states, such as Florida, completely exempt the house from the reach of certain creditors.

Other states set limits ranging from as little as $5,000 to up to $550,000. “That means, regardless of the value of the house, creditors cannot force its sale to satisfy their claims,” says Semrad. This is known as a homestead exemption, but keep in mind it does not prevent or stop a bank foreclosure if the homeowner defaults on their mortgage.

Here’s how it works: If your home is worth $500,000 and the home’s mortgage is $400,000, your homestead exemption could prevent the forced sale of your home in order to pay creditors the $100,000 of equity in your home, as long as your state’s homestead exemption is at least $100,000. If your state’s exemption is less than $100,000, a bankruptcy trustee could still force the sale of your home to pay creditors with the home’s equity in excess of the exemption. 

Having a mortgage won’t completely protect your money, however. “If a homeowner left the funds in the bank and financed the house, a judgment creditor could lien the bank account and use the majority of the funds to satisfy its claims,” says Semrad.

The Bottom Line

If you have a chunk of cash sitting around, mathematically you will end up with a higher net worth at the end of 30 years if you invest that money instead of using it to avoid getting a mortgage (assuming mortgage rates stay low and stock market gains follow the same average annualized return they have since 1929). However, not having a mortgage gives you a sense of freedom that is hard to replicate. If that feeling is worth enough money to you, then buy your house in cash.