A buyer client asked me a very reasonable question recently...

Doesn't a seller get paid the same amount of money at closing regardless of whether a buyer paid cash or if they had a loan?

Indeed... they do!

Let's say you're selling a house for $350,000 and you receive two offers...

$350,000 with the buyer paying cash

As the seller, you will get paid $350,000 at closing in either of these scenarios.

But...

There is still a difference between these two offers... though we could debate whether that difference is real, perceived, theoretical, etc.

The difference in the two offers is the certainty of whether the deal will make it to closing - and thus whether the seller will receive the $350,000 at all.

The proposed contract with a buyer needing financing might proceed swimmingly... and make it to closing without any issues at all, but...

1.  The buyer's financing might not be approved if they haven't disclosed all pertinent financial details to their lender.

2.  The appraisal might come in low, impacting a buyer's ability to finance the purchase.

Meanwhile, the cash buyer does not need to obtain loan approval and does not need to have an appraisal completed satisfactorily.

So... many sellers will gravitate towards a cash offer vs. one with financing IF all of the other terms are the same.  Certainly, if there is a difference in the proposed purchase price or in other contingencies, the cash aspect of one offer might not be enough to win the day.