When you pay cash for a property, are people really paying cash?

[Brendon K.]

I feel like a cashier's check or a money order would be a highly safer and more documented method of paying for a deal. Is it just that people are advertising "I'll pay cash for your property" and then they turn around and provide an almost-like-cash? What do you use when a deal goes through?

[Andrew B.]

a "cash sale" in real estate means it is cash in the bank. No one is showing up to closing with several hundred thousand dollars in cash in a briefcase, but I would love to see it.