Cash Rules Bay Area Housing Market

Need a mortgage to buy your home? Then you're out of luck.

It's not enough to have wealth in order to get a piece of Bay Area real estate -- you need liquid wealth, according to reports.

All-cash offers are winning out even over offers above the asking prices, according to the SFGate.com's On The Block blog.

"That's motivating some folks -- even fairly regular people who don't have Silicon Valley mega-bucks -- to go the extra mile to be able to make cash offers," the blog reported.

For instance, buyers will take out a home equity loan -- which equals cash (plus the debt) -- or cash out their retirement funds for the capital necessary to buy a home without financing.

An all-cash offer might win out over a higher offer "with inspection, appraisal and oan contingencies."

But as it turns out, people who buy with all cash might end up getting a mortgage anyway to pay back the pile of cash, or to manage the property once it's bought.

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