Having cash available for opportunities is very important. Sometimes those opportunities fall into your lap, and you have to be ready for them.
Example: I flipped my first house and ended up with a lot of cash. Not long after that a house came on the market that would have been an easy and very profitable flip. I had the means to take advantage of the opportunity. Unfortunately, a very unethical real estate agency in town kept me from buying it.
When I bought my current home, I could have paid cash but chose not to. I then had the cash available to start a business, which is going very well so far.