When a cash sale is genuinely the better move
A house needing real work — roof, furnace, wiring — owned by someone already carrying monthly costs on it, is usually better off sold as-is than renovated first. The math rarely works the other way for an owner who isn't planning to live in the finished result.
When listing is honestly the better move
A well-kept house with an owner who has months, not weeks, to sell usually nets more listed with an agent in a normal market. A straight buyer says this out loud rather than pretending every house is better off sold for cash.