How to Get $20K to $50K More for Your Dallas-Fort Worth Home

By David Pannell

David Pannell is the Managing Broker and founder of Cities Real Estate, a forward-thinking brokerage based in Fort Worth, Texas. A licensed Realtor since 2005 and a broker since 2010, David is known for his expertise in helping families sell homes quickly, especially those navigating the complexities of probate and inherited property.

If you’ve been getting calls from investors, filling out online home valuation forms, or fielding cash offers on your property, I want you to pause before you commit to anything.

Whether someone reached out to you directly or you’ve been researching your options online through sites like Zillow or Redfin, the moment your information is out there, investors start coming.

Everyone wants a good deal, and I get it. A fast cash offer feels simple. But in most cases, you could do better. A lot better.

I’m not here to tell you that cash investors are the enemy. I’m an investor myself. I buy houses too. But because I know how the numbers work on the investor side, I can show you exactly why accepting a private cash offer often leaves tens of thousands of dollars on the table.

How an investor calculates their offer. Most sellers don’t realize that when an investor makes you a cash offer, they’re not just thinking about what your home is worth today. They’re subtracting everything it’s going to cost them to turn a profit.

Take a home worth $350,000 after repairs. An investor has to account for roughly $80,000 in remodel costs and about $20,000 in holding costs. That’s $100,000 off the top. Then add resale commissions, because even investors pay a Realtor to help sell the finished product.

On top of that, most investors aren’t actually paying cash out of their own pocket. They’re financing through hard money lenders, whether local here in Dallas-Fort Worth or nationwide, and those loans come with their own costs. After all of that, they still need a profit margin. So that $350,000 house? The offer you’re getting is probably around $250,000 or less.

How my strategy gets you more. Instead of selling to one investor at a discount, I put your home in front of every qualified buyer in the market. Here’s how it works in three stages.

• Stage 1: 14 days of pre-marketing. We photograph your home just like a traditional listing. Then we launch it with a coming-soon campaign that builds demand across the area. We notify every serious buyer in our database, over 6,000 people. We alert the 80,000 to 100,000 Realtors across the area. And we publish the listing to over 5,000 real estate websites. Before anyone sets foot inside, interest is already building.
• Stage 2: 7 days of showings. After the pre-marketing period, we host an open house for one to two hours, with the goal of getting as many buyers through the property as possible at the same time. From there, interested buyers come back for private showings throughout the week. Recently, 21 families visited a home within 30 minutes of the open house. Before COVID, we regularly had over 50. The point is the same: when buyers see other buyers, competition kicks in.
• Stage 3: Offers and negotiation. During that 7-day showing window, offers come in. We review everyone and negotiate to get you the best possible net, after commissions, after everything. Even paying a full commission, you walk away with more money than any private investor would have offered you.

It works the same way an auction creates urgency. Multiple serious buyers see the property at the same time, and that drives the price up. Just like when a kid sees their sibling playing with a toy they ignored five minutes ago, suddenly everyone wants it.

This doesn’t replace the cash option. It adds to it.

I want to be clear: this strategy isn’t for everyone. Sometimes a private cash offer is exactly what you need, and there’s nothing wrong with that. If speed and simplicity are your top priorities and you want to close in 4 to 14 days, I can make you a cash offer on the spot, on a Texas Realtor form that protects both of us.

But if that’s the route you go with someone else, make sure the contract they write is a standard Texas real estate contract, not something downloaded from the internet or drafted to benefit the buyer. A Realtor contract form is free and protects you. At the very least, know the disclosures before you sign anything.

If you’re ready to explore your options, call me at 817-767-0020, email me at david@citiesrealestate.com, or visit my blog at blog.citiesrealestate.com. I’ll give you a cash offer based on the condition of your home and what I’d resell it for.

I’ll break down every number so you understand exactly where the offer comes from. And if you want more, I’ll market your property to every buyer across the metroplex and help you sell it for $20,000 to $50,000 more, maybe even more. I look forward to working with you.