It is not that difficult. You don't have to sit on dirty money.
A washer on gentle cycle and the low temp setting on the dryer work just fine.
Seriously. The problem is not IRS unless you are tax cheat. Don't be a tax cheat.
Having been a loan officer, I can tell you the main thing is a trail for the money. They cannot let you borrow the down payment. So, money that just shows up at the last minute is suspect. Don't even do transfers after the paperwork.
So, I did this. Take the cash and buy gold, slowly over years.....or at least that was my story.
In the end the lender just wants the payments. And you don't want to pay all cash or even pay it off quickly. That is the IRS red flag.
So, I took the cash ($20K I remember, for the first house) and deposited it in bank accounts, under $10K is not reported to IRS.
Then, before the the house went into escrow. I did transfers from those accounts into one, cash account for the purchase. Normally that is the red flag, first off, as I said. But, being an insider, I knew, in the end, all they need is an explanation, that is plausible. They want to move on and collect the fees. As long as they have a story that lets them proceed, they are fine.
And that story is in the form of a handwritten note....like a confession. So, what story? Private gold sales, of course.
So, put the paper ducks in a row. Cover the cash trail with a plausible story. I even had a few gold purchase receipts, but they were only interested in the sales that gained the funds.
I wrote, on a legal pad, it was a private investor and he will not be named. He prefers to remain anonymous.
And the main thing I did that was sneaky, was that I established those under $10K accounts, very early in the process, before I looked for a house.
So, the paperwork was solid on those feeder accounts. It did not appear as if I went out and threw $25K into a few accounts the day before. The accounts were established across a range of times, and so the money added, also, was in pieces over time. I was selling gold, to private parties.
In the end it was just a handwritten note of a good story. Gold seems quite plausible even today, but that was 20 years ago. So, eyes wide open, OK?
Cut, print, that's a wrap. Instant landlord.