Putting in offer using financing on home listed "Terms: Cash"

[Ken Van Haitsma Jr]

I've been on BiggerPockets for over 6 months now, and I finally just put my first offer in for my first investment SFH in Northwest indiana. It needs work before it is rentable, but the numbers check out, and when all is said and done I will have a property with good cash flow and equity available.

Here is back story for the question, while I was looking for a property to make an offer I found that most which fit my criteria were "Cash" terms on MLS. In other words, not available for buyers using financing. The house I just put an offer on listed "Terms: Conventional, Cash", and met all my criteria so I jumped on it.

After a couple days, I got a response that they want me to get prequalified with their lender since it is REO and that is their prerequisite before opening negotiations. They stated "This wasn't on the MLS because Seller was not expecting financed offers."

I am wondering if the "Conventional" listed on MLS was a mistake based on the feedback, but the fact remains they are willing to move forward with my financing once I meet their prerequisite. Hopefully soon I will be able to close on this and get a great deal while using financing (I'd love to use all cash but just starting out that isn't an option).

Here is the question, it appears they were expecting only cash offers for this property, but they are willing to move forward with me using a loan.  If this is true for this situation, does that mean it would be worthwhile trying to put in offers on homes which have only cash listed for terms?  Might they be willing to work with financing if you jump through a few hoops?  Is it worth the effort?

I'd love to hear if anyone else does this and has had any success.  It seems like sort of a thinking-outside-the-box method that might be helpful for newer investors if you could get the good deals normally only available to cash buyers with a bit of extra effort.

Appreciate any info!

[Ken Van Haitsma Jr]

@Mindy Jensen - Yes, sorry I can explain more clearly. This was listed on MLS and I am working with an agent. What they meant was, the requirement to prequalify with their lender wasn't mentioned in the terms or description in the MLS. It only said "Terms: Conventional, Cash" and not something like "Conventional with prequalification through approved lender" or something like that. They weren't expecting someone to make an offer with financing so they didn't bother mentioning they would require extra steps if this kind of offer was put in. I hope that clarifies.

@Adrien C. - That's good information. It makes sense that cash offer would only be accepted if a bank inspection wouldn't pass.  Some that are listed cash only aren't in terrible shape, so I wondered if there was something else going on.  I'll also consider seller financing while looking into this.