Maybe you’ve heard “the other golden rule,” that “he who has the gold makes the rules”? Nowhere is that more true right now than the real estate market: investors with cash are crowding out first time buyers, who are often interested in the same bargain properties, but must use conventional or even FHA financing. Here in Las Vegas, cash transactions accounted for roughly 40% of December closings! Cash offers are very attractive, particularly to banks trying to unload foreclosed properties, because there is less to go wrong: no lender to demand repairs prior to closing; no potential for a bad appraisal to derail the transaction; no chance of the mortgage simply falling through.

Oddly enough, this phenomenon isn’t important enough to make the Wall Street Journal’s list of 5 real estate trends to watch in 2010. In the meantime, cash offers are still the most successful way to get a winning purchase offer signed.