Cash or list?
See your real options. No pressure. You decide.
Serving Melrose, Malden, Medford, Stoneham, Wakefield, Saugus, Lynn and Peabody.
Cash offer
Fast. As-is. No showings.
- Offer (78% of price)
- $468,000
- Agent commission
- $0
- Deeds excise tax (0.456%)
- ~$2,100
- Repairs and updates
- $0
- You keep, roughly
- ~$465,900
- Often 2 to 4 weeks to close
- Sell as-is, no repairs or staging
- One or two walk-throughs
List with a local agent
Usually a higher price. More time and preparation.
- Sale price
- $600,000
- Agent commission (5.25%)
- ~$31,500
- Deeds excise tax (0.456%)
- ~$2,700
- Repairs, prep and carrying (3 mo)
- ~$22,500
- You keep, roughly
- ~$543,300
- Usually the highest price
- Often 2 to 4 months, prep to closing
- Help getting the house ready
We are not a real estate broker or agent. We connect you with independent local buyers and agents who may pay us a fee. No obligation.
Example: $600,000 sale price, 78% cash offer, 5.25% commission, $12,000 prep, 3 months of carrying costs. Not an offer or a value for any home. Sources.
Ballpark by town
What homes in your town sell for, and what you would keep.
Pick your town for a quick range from public data, with a cash offer and a listing side by side. No sign-up, no contact details.
Typical single-family in Melrose
$885k to $1.035M
Zillow's typical value is $959,461 (August 2026). Up 4.1% over the last 12 months.
What you would roughly keep
Listing keeps about $137,000 more on a typical house here, but takes longer and needs prep.
An estimate, not an offer or an appraisal. Based on Zillow Group Data (Zillow Home Value Index, typical home value in town, August 2026) plus or minus 8%, and the calculator's default assumptions: 78% cash offer, 5.25% commission, $12,000 prep, 3 months of carrying costs at $3,500, before any mortgage payoff. Your house is not the typical house. Data: Zillow Group Data.
How it works
Three steps, at your pace.
House full of belongings? A cleanout comes first, priced by the job. JUNKRUN is owned by the same people as Home Options MA. If you choose a cleanout, we may earn money from it. No obligation to use it. See JUNKRUN estate cleanout
Run your own numbers in the calculator →- About 2 minutes
Tell us what is going on
The address and town, then a few quick taps about the house and when you want to be done.
- By the method you choose
Independent buyers and agents reach out
By phone, text or email. They may pay us a flat fee for the introduction. Home Options MA does not buy, list or negotiate.
- When you are ready
Compare, then decide
Put the offer next to an agent's opinion. Say no to all of it if that is the right answer.
Your situation
Most people arrive with one of these.
Each page covers your options, the first steps and the traps to avoid. General information, not legal or financial advice.
- 01Inherited or probate houseYou inherited a house, or you are the executor, and need to decide what to do with it.
- 02House needs work, sell as-isDeferred maintenance, outdated systems or a project house you do not want to fix up.
- 03Behind on mortgage paymentsYou have missed payments or received a notice from your lender and are weighing a sale.
- 04Downsizing or senior moveMoving to a smaller place, a 55+ community, assisted living, or in with family.
- 05Relocating for work or familyYou are moving out of the area and want the sale to fit your move date.
- 06Tired landlord, rental propertyYou own a rental or two- or three-family and want out.
Where we work
8 towns north of Boston.
Each town page lists only what we can source, and says so where we could not find a reliable number.
Straight answers
The questions people ask first.
Including the awkward one: how we are paid.
All questionsAre you a real estate broker or agent?
No. We are not a real estate broker or agent and we do not buy houses ourselves. We connect homeowners with independent local buyers (real estate investors) and licensed real estate agents. Those companies may pay us a fee for the introduction. We give no appraisal, valuation, legal or tax advice.
Does it cost me anything?
No. There is no fee to you and no obligation. The independent buyers and agents who contact you may pay us a flat fee for the introduction. That fee does not depend on whether you sell, and it does not come out of your sale price.
How do you make money, and does that change what you recommend?
Local buyers and agents may pay us a fee when we send them a homeowner who asked to be contacted. Because a fee can come from either route, we try to describe both ways to sell (a cash or as-is offer, or listing with an agent) and the optional help getting the house ready honestly, including the cases where a cash offer is the worse deal.
How much less is a cash offer than listing?
It varies. Published ranges run from a few percent below market value for owner-occupant cash buyers, to roughly 9 to 11 percent for national instant-offer platforms, to 15 to 30 percent for local investors who are paying for repairs and risk. These are estimates from industry sources, many written by cash buyers. The honest math page shows how to compare your net after commissions, prep and carrying costs. Your own offer is the only number that matters.
Will you tell me what my house is worth?
No. We do not run an automated home value, because there is no reliable model that knows the condition of your house. Ask for a cash offer and a licensed agent's market opinion instead, and compare them.
We are not a real estate broker or agent. We connect you with independent local buyers and agents who may pay us a fee. No obligation.