How Cash Home Buyers in San Antonio / Hill Country Calculate Your Offer (And How to Know If It's Fair)
You got a cash offer on your house. Maybe it came in 24 hours. Maybe it felt fast. And now you're staring at a number wondering: is this actually fair, or am I getting taken?
That's the right question to ask. And most cash home buyers in San Antonio won't answer it—because they'd rather you just sign.
We're going to do something different. This article is going to show you the exact formula cash buyers use to calculate offers, explain what each piece means in plain English, and give you a checklist so you can evaluate any offer—ours or anyone else's—before you make a decision.
If you're already exploring your options, you can read our complete guide to selling your house fast in San Antonio for the full picture. This article goes deeper into the math behind the offer itself.
The Formula Every Cash Buyer Uses (Whether They Tell You or Not)
Most cash home buyers—in San Antonio and everywhere else—use some version of what real estate investors call the 70% rule. Here's the formula:
THE 70% RULE FORMULA
Cash Offer = (After-Repair Value × 70%) – Estimated Repair Costs
Example: A home worth $200,000 after repairs, needing $35,000 in work:
($200,000 × 0.70) – $35,000 = $105,000 cash offer
Let's break down each piece so it actually makes sense.
After-Repair Value (ARV): What Your House Could Sell for After Renovations
This is not what your house is worth right now. This is what a cash buyer believes your house would sell for on the open market after they've renovated it—new floors, updated kitchen, repaired foundation, fresh paint, the works.
How do they figure this out? They pull comparable sales—called "comps"—from your neighborhood. These are recently sold homes that are similar in size, age, and style to yours, but in move-in-ready condition. In San Antonio, this means they're looking at what renovated homes have sold for in the last 3–6 months within a mile or two of your property.
Why this matters to you: If a buyer tells you your house's ARV is $180,000 but renovated homes on your street are selling for $220,000, their offer is based on a number that's too low. You can check this yourself on Zillow, Redfin, or the Bexar County Appraisal District website. Look for sold homes (not listed—sold) that are similar to yours but in updated condition.
Repair Costs: What It Would Take to Make Your House Market-Ready
This is usually the most contentious part. The cash buyer walks through your property and estimates what it would cost to fix everything—from major structural issues down to cosmetic updates.
Here's what repair estimates typically include in San Antonio:
Foundation repair: $4,000–$15,000+ (extremely common in Bexar County due to expansive clay soil)
Roof replacement: $8,000–$15,000
HVAC replacement: $5,000–$10,000
Kitchen remodel: $10,000–$25,000
Bathroom updates: $5,000–$12,000 per bathroom
Flooring throughout: $5,000–$12,000
Paint, landscaping, general cleanup: $3,000–$8,000
A house in rough shape on the South Side or West Side might need $40,000–60,000 in work. A home in Alamo Heights or Stone Oak that just needs cosmetic updates might only need $15,000–25,000. The repair estimate directly affects your offer—higher repairs mean a lower offer.
How to protect yourself: Ask the buyer to show you their repair estimate line by line. A trustworthy company will walk you through it. If they can't or won't give you a breakdown, that's a red flag.
The 70% Multiplier: Where the Buyer's Margin Comes From
This is the part most sellers misunderstand. When a buyer takes 70% of the ARV, people assume the other 30% is pure profit. It's not. Here's what that 30% margin actually covers:
Realtor commissions when they resell: 5–6% of the sale price ($9,000–$12,000 on a $200K home)
Closing costs on both the purchase and the resale: 2–4% ($4,000–$8,000)
Holding costs while they renovate: property taxes, insurance, utilities, loan interest—typically $1,500–$3,000/month for 3–6 months ($4,500–$18,000)
Unexpected repairs that only show up once walls are opened: typically 10–20% over the initial estimate
Actual profit: usually 10–15% of ARV if everything goes right
So on a $200,000 ARV property, the buyer's actual take-home after all expenses is often $20,000–$30,000—not the $60,000 it looks like on paper. And if the renovation goes over budget or the market shifts, they can lose money.
This doesn't mean you should feel sorry for the buyer. It means the 70% rule isn't a scam—it's a business model with real costs built in. Your job is to make sure the inputs (the ARV and the repair estimate) are accurate. If those numbers are honest, the offer will be fair.
Real Numbers: How This Looks on a San Antonio House
Let's walk through two real-world scenarios using actual San Antonio market conditions.
Scenario 1: Older Home on the South Side Needing Major Work
3-bedroom, 1-bath, 1,100 sq ft. Built 1965. Foundation issues, outdated electrical, original kitchen and bath, roof is 20+ years old.
ARV (based on renovated comps in the area): $185,000
70% of ARV: $129,500
Estimated repairs: –$52,000
Cash offer: $77,500
Timeline to close: 7–14 days
Is this fair? If the comps are real and the repair numbers check out, yes. A house like this would be extremely difficult to sell on the open market—most lenders won't finance a home with active foundation and electrical issues. An agent might list it at $95,000–$110,000 and wait months for an investor to come along anyway.
Scenario 2: Decent Home in a Strong Neighborhood Needing Cosmetic Updates
3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,500 sq ft near Alamo Ranch. Built 2001. Needs new flooring, paint, updated kitchen counters and appliances. Roof and foundation are solid.
ARV (based on renovated comps): $275,000
70% of ARV: $192,500
Estimated repairs: –$22,000
Cash offer: $170,500
Timeline to close: 10–21 days
Is this fair? The offer is solid, but a house like this could also sell on the open market. After 6% commissions ($16,500), closing costs ($5,500), and minor repairs to pass inspection ($5,000–$8,000), you'd net roughly $245,000–$248,000 with an agent—but it would take 60–90 days and carry the risk of the deal falling through. The cash offer trades about $75K–78K for certainty and speed. Whether that trade-off makes sense depends entirely on your situation.
Why Cash Offers Vary So Much Between Buyers
If you call three different companies that say "we buy houses in San Antonio," you'll likely get three different numbers—sometimes with a spread of $20,000 or more. Here's why:
1. Different ARV estimates. One buyer might use more aggressive comps. Another might be more conservative. The buyer who pulls comps from two miles away in a better neighborhood will give you a higher ARV (and a higher offer)—but if those comps don't actually reflect your market, the deal may fall apart later.
2. Different repair estimates. A buyer with an in-house renovation crew will estimate repairs lower than one who subcontracts everything. This directly impacts your offer.
3. Different business models. A flipper needs a bigger margin than a buyer who plans to hold your house as a rental. Buy-and-hold investors can often pay more because they're not counting on a fast resale profit—they're looking at long-term rental income.
4. Wholesalers vs. actual buyers. This is the big one. Some companies don't actually buy your house—they put it under contract and then sell that contract to a real buyer for a fee. That middleman markup comes out of your offer. A direct buyer (like The House-Buying Company) can typically offer more because there's no wholesaler taking a cut.
The Cash Offer Self-Audit: 7 Questions to Ask Before You Sign
Before you accept any cash offer on your San Antonio home—from us or anyone else—ask these questions:
1. Can you show me the comparable sales you used to calculate the ARV? If they can't, the number might be made up.
2. Can I see the repair estimate broken down by item? Vague "we estimate $50K in repairs" isn't enough. You deserve to see the line items.
3. Are you the actual buyer, or are you assigning this contract to someone else? If they're wholesaling, you're leaving money on the table.
4. Can you show proof of funds? A bank statement or lender letter proving they can actually close. No proof = no real offer.
5. Who pays closing costs? Most legitimate cash buyers in San Antonio pay all closing costs. If they're asking you to pay, negotiate or walk away.
6. What happens if the title search turns up issues? A good buyer will work through title problems with you, not use them as leverage to drop the price at the last minute.
7. How long is this offer good for? You should have at least 3–5 days to think, compare, and get a second opinion. Anyone pressuring you to sign today is not acting in your interest.
When a Cash Offer Actually Makes More Financial Sense Than Listing
Cash offers aren't always the right move. But there are specific situations where selling for cash in San Antonio is the smarter financial play—not just the faster one:
Your house needs more than $30,000 in repairs. Most traditional buyers can't finance a home that won't pass FHA or VA inspection—and in San Antonio, that's a huge portion of the buyer pool (military families, first-time buyers). Your only open-market buyers would be other investors anyway.
You're in pre-foreclosure. Every month you hold the house, you're losing money and damaging your credit. A fast cash sale stops the bleeding. The math favors speed over price.
The property is inherited and vacant. You're paying property taxes, insurance, and maintenance on a house you don't live in. Six months of holding costs on a vacant Bexar County home can easily run $6,000–$10,000. That eats into whatever premium you'd get from listing.
You need to relocate within 30 days. An agent listing can't guarantee a closing date. A cash buyer can.
The house has title complications. Probate, liens, tax debt, divorce disputes—these make traditional sales either impossible or painfully slow. Cash buyers who specialize in complicated deals can navigate what agents can't.
Want to See the Actual Math on Your House?
The House-Buying Company is a local San Antonio cash buyer. We show you exactly how we arrive at every offer—the comps, the repair estimate, the formula. No secrets. No pressure. If our number works for you, great. If it doesn't, you'll walk away with free information you can use to evaluate every other offer you get.
Call 210-992-2085 or fill out the form on this page.
Your no-obligation cash offer includes a full breakdown of the numbers. Always.