Deal structure

Three ways out of the same seller conversation: cash, novation, or walk

The same motivated seller can be a cash deal, a novation, or a polite goodbye. Which one depends on the house, the seller’s timeline, and what you can actually deliver.

October 8, 2026 · 3 min read

Start from what the seller needs, not from your preferred exit

Most operators have a favourite structure and try to fit every seller into it. The better order is the reverse: understand what this seller needs — speed, certainty, a particular number, no showings — and then pick the structure that delivers it. The structure is a tool, and a tool chosen before the job is usually the wrong one.

Cash: when speed and certainty are the product

A cash offer buys the seller a closing date and no contingencies. It fits a seller for whom being finished matters more than price, and a house that is hard to finance or hard to show. The gap between retail and the cash price is what pays for that certainty, and the seller has to see that trade clearly, or he or she will feel cheated later.

Be honest about whether you can actually close. A cash offer you intend to assign is only as certain as the buyer behind it. Promising certainty you do not control is how reputations end.

Novation: when the house is financeable and the seller can wait

In a novation arrangement the house is sold on the open market to an ordinary buyer, with you managing the process and taking the spread between an agreed price to the seller and the eventual sale. It suits a house in decent condition and a seller who wants more than a cash number and can tolerate a longer timeline and some uncertainty.

It is not a fit for a seller who needs to be out next month, a house that will not pass an inspection, or a seller who does not understand what he or she is agreeing to. Explain it until the seller can explain it back.

Walk: when the numbers do not meet

Some sellers want retail without the retail process, and no structure fixes that. The right move is to say so kindly, leave the door open, and move on. A seller who hears a straight no often comes back months later when the situation has changed; a seller who is strung along does not.

Walking early is a skill. Every hour spent on a conversation that cannot close is an hour not spent on one that can.

Decide in the open

Whichever way you go, say which it is and why. “Given your timeline, the cash route makes sense; here is what it costs you and what it gets you.” Sellers do not need every option; they need the one that fits, explained plainly enough that it still makes sense a week later.

Questions people ask

When is a novation better than a cash offer?

When the house is in financeable condition and the seller wants more than a cash number and can tolerate a longer, less certain timeline. It is wrong for a seller who needs to be out next month.

Is it bad to walk away from a motivated seller?

No. A seller who wants retail without the retail process cannot be helped by any structure. Say so kindly and leave the door open; situations change.

Should I explain every option to the seller?

No. Explain the one that fits, including what it costs and what it gets him or her, plainly enough that it still makes sense a week later.