iBuyer vs Cash Home Buyer in Florida: How the Offers Differ

Both pay cash, but they buy different houses. An iBuyer such as Opendoor or Offerpad prices a home from its likely resale value, favors newer, well-maintained homes in markets where prices are rising, and charges a service fee plus adjustments for condition. A local cash home buyer buys the house in the condition it is in, including liens, damage and code cases, and builds the repair cost into one offer. If your Florida house is in good shape and you want a near-retail price, an iBuyer may fit. If it is distressed, a local cash buyer is usually the one that can close.

An iBuyer is a company that uses a pricing model to make an online offer on a home, buys it, makes light repairs and resells it. Opendoor and Offerpad are the two best known. The offer starts from what the house would likely sell for on the open market, and the company then subtracts its costs. That model works best on homes that look like their neighbors, because the pricing model has plenty of comparable sales to read.

Eligibility is the catch. Offerpad's own seller page says not every home or customer will qualify, and Opendoor says its products are not available in all markets. Independent comparisons of the two describe the same pattern: iBuyers have stricter criteria and prefer newer, well-maintained homes in appreciating markets (ListWithClever, read 2026-10-12).

Coverage is limited to certain metro areas and changes over time. As of October 2026, Offerpad's seller page lists Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa as its Florida markets. Opendoor does not list its Florida markets on its main sell page and says its products are not available in all markets, so check its current market list for your ZIP code before you plan around it.

Check the same for any iBuyer that shows up in your search. If your ZIP code is not on the list, the online offer form is a dead end. A local cash buyer is not tied to a market list: we buy in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, including [Miami-Dade](/locations/miami-dade) and [Broward](/locations/broward).

Read the fee lines, because the headline offer is not the amount you receive. Offerpad states a service fee of 5% of the purchase price on its seller page, with standard title and escrow costs of about 1% on top. Opendoor describes its offer as the home's value minus a program fee, a condition adjustment for repairs and resale, and title and escrow costs of 1-3% paid to third parties. It does not publish a dollar figure for the first two, so the final offer after the home assessment is where you see them.

Take a $350,000 house as an illustration. A 5% service fee is $17,500 before title costs and any repair adjustment. A direct cash buyer's written offer is a single number, and at Sell House Fast FL it carries no agent commission and no fees. The price is lower than a retail sale, because we buy as-is and take the repair and carrying risk. The honest comparison is net to net: what lands in your account after every line on the statement, for the house in its actual condition.

This is where the two routes split. iBuyers typically buy owner-occupied homes that do not need major repairs. A house with a lien, a code violation, fire or water damage, a tenant who will not leave, or an open permit is outside that profile, and the online form either declines it or marks the offer down for condition. Selling it still requires paying whatever is owed, and the title company pays recorded liens and mortgages from the proceeds at closing.

A local cash buyer prices those problems in at the start. If the house has a code case, our [code violations](/sell-house/code-violations) page explains how that sale works, and the [ugly house](/sell-house/ugly-house) page covers damage and deferred repairs. Whichever buyer you pick, Florida's duty to disclose known defects still applies; see the [seller disclosure law](/blog/florida-seller-disclosure-law-what-you-must-disclose) guide.

Both are faster than a listing, because there is no lender underwriting a buyer and no wait for showings. An iBuyer's offer comes after an online request and a home assessment, and the closing date is usually chosen from a window the company offers. A local cash buyer works from the property itself: we give a written cash offer within 24 hours and can close in as little as 7 days, or later on the date you choose. Neither route removes the need for a title search, which is what sets the real closing date when liens or probate are involved.

Ask an iBuyer first if the house is newer, in good repair, in a market it serves, and you are willing to trade some of the price for convenience. Ask a local cash buyer if the house needs work, carries a lien or code case, sits in a market the iBuyers skip, or you need a firm close date. Nothing stops you from getting both offers and comparing the net amounts. Our guide to [selling without a realtor](/blog/how-to-sell-a-house-without-a-realtor-in-florida) shows what the other routes look like.