01
Is the cash offer a good price compared with what a listing would bring?
A cash offer is only one number until a second number sits next to it. In Williamson County, buyers have been regaining leverage. National inventory reached 1.62 million existing homes in August, supply is just under five months, and 42.1 percent of properties recorded a price reduction. A softer market moves both numbers, not only one.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer shows the work. The seller sees a written price opinion for the listing route, with recent closed sales behind it. The cash number sits beside it on the same page. About 73 percent of Williamson County listings reach closing, so the listing figure is a likely outcome and not a promise.
Red flag
The warning sign is a comparison against nothing. An offer called generous, with no listing price beside it, asks the seller to take that on trust. Price reductions are running across a large share of listings, so both numbers belong on the page where the seller can read them.
02
What is the service fee on this offer, in dollars?
A convenience fee is a deduction from the offer price, not a courtesy. A percentage range in a brochure does not tell a seller what leaves the closing table. The only version of that fee a seller can compare is a dollar amount written on the offer itself. Without it, the two routes cannot be lined up.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer is a line on the offer: the fee, named, in dollars, signed. The seller reads it against the costs on the listing side, row for row. A fee described only as a small share of the price goes back for a number.
Red flag
The red flag is a fee quoted as a range and never written down. A seller cannot subtract a range from an offer price. Asking for the dollar figure in writing is a fair request, and a route that will not put it on paper has answered the question.
03
Where does the repair deduction come from, and can the seller see it?
A repair estimate is not an inspection report. Paragraph 7A of the TREC resale contract used in Texas lets a buyer have the property inspected by inspectors selected by the buyer and licensed by TREC. That produces a licensed opinion on a standard form. A number handed across with no report behind it is an internal estimate instead.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer names the document. The seller asks for the report, the inspector and the date, then reads it line by line. Hydrostatic testing has to be separately authorized by the seller in writing, so a plumbing deduction based on a test nobody authorized deserves a question.
Red flag
The warning sign is a lump sum with no paperwork. One repair figure, with no list and no report, cannot be checked or negotiated. A seller is entitled to see what a deduction rests on before agreeing to it.
04
Which closing costs does each side pay on each route?
Paragraph 6A of the TREC resale contract has the seller furnish an owner policy of title insurance in the amount of the sales price. It is at either the seller's or the buyer's expense, as checked on the form. There is no preprinted default. Paragraph 6C handles the survey, and the parties check one box only.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer points to a checked box. The seller reads which box is marked on Paragraph 6A, then which of the three survey boxes is marked on Paragraph 6C. Box 2 puts a new survey on the buyer. Box 3 puts it on the seller.
Red flag
The red flag is being told these costs are standard in Texas. They are negotiated line items, and the form carries no default on who pays for the owner policy. A seller who accepts that framing pays for something that was open on both routes.
05
How long will this house sit, and what does each month cost to hold?
Georgetown homes took a median of 86 days to sell over the preceding 90 day window, measured in September 2026. About 9 percent sold within 30 days. Days are a bill: the mortgage, the taxes, the insurance and the utilities keep running. The figure moves as the market moves, so it needs a fresh pull.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer multiplies. The seller writes down the monthly carrying cost, then multiplies it by the days expected on market. Three months of carrying cost is a number that can be set against a lower cash price. Without that step, speed has no price tag.
Red flag
The warning sign is a days figure with no cost beside it. Speed only pays when the saved months were going to cost something real. A seller holding one low payment is buying far less with that speed than a seller carrying two.
06
How certain is each route to actually close?
About 73 percent of Williamson County listings reach closing. A cash offer usually trades price for certainty, and that trade has a size. Paragraph 5A has the buyer deliver the earnest money and the option fee within 3 days after the effective date. Paragraph 5B then gives the buyer an unrestricted right to terminate inside the option period.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer puts the trade in dollars. The seller takes the likely listing price, subtracts the cash price, and asks whether that gap is worth the chance of a deal falling apart. In Georgetown, Round Rock and Liberty Hill, where T. Kerr Property Group works, that math belongs on paper.
Red flag
The red flag is certainty presented as absolute. A buyer with an option period can walk by giving notice. That termination refunds the earnest money to the buyer, and the option fee is not refunded. A route sold as guaranteed has skipped the paragraph that lets the buyer leave.
07
Which tax year does this closing land in?
Texas Tax Code Section 32.01(a) attaches a tax lien to property on January 1 of each year. It secures the taxes, penalties and interest ultimately imposed for that year. Section 32.07(a) makes the tax the personal obligation of whoever owns or acquires the property on January 1. The closing date decides which side that is.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer names the date out loud. Closing on a date in December means the buyer owns the house on January 1, so the next year's tax is the buyer's personal obligation. The seller checks the closing date on each offer against January 1 before comparing anything else.
Red flag
The warning sign is a closing date treated as a small detail. A person is not relieved of the January 1 obligation by no longer owning the property. A route that promises speed and still closes in January has moved the tax year, and that belongs on the comparison.
08
Does either route save money on Texas transfer or income tax?
Texas has no state transfer tax and no state income tax. That holds on a sale to a cash buyer and on a sale through a listing. The number does not change with the route, so it is not a reason to pick one over the other. It is the same line on both net sheets.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer is plain about it. Both net sheets show no state transfer tax and no state income tax, at the same zero. A seller can confirm that in one question, then move on to the lines that actually differ between the two routes.
Red flag
The red flag is a Texas tax saving offered as a reason to accept an offer. There is no state transfer tax to avoid here and no state income tax to avoid. Anyone presenting that as unique to their route is selling, so the seller should ask what the real difference is.
09
What is the actual net to the seller on each route?
A gross offer and a net figure are different numbers. The net proceeds are the offer minus every fee, deduction, cost and prorated item, written on one page. Without a net sheet for each route, built on the same line items, the comparison runs a headline against a result. Those two are never equal.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer is two sheets with the same rows in the same order. Offer price, fees, repair deductions, title and survey costs, taxes prorated to closing, loan payoff, then the net at the bottom. The seller should be able to read straight across the two columns.
Red flag
The warning sign is a refusal to produce one. A route that quotes a headline number and will not write the net is asking the seller to compare an offer against a result. Any route can produce a net sheet, so the absence of one is itself the answer.
This article is general information about the Central Texas market and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Statutes, rates, deadlines and district rules change. Confirm anything that affects a decision with a licensed attorney, a tax professional, the Williamson County Tax Assessor Collector or the Williamson Central Appraisal District before acting on it.
