Selling house quickly

barnez · 10 July 2017 at 7:44AM

Good morning! Has anyone used a company to sell their house quickly? I am trying to sell a property which is in need of renovation. I have had two offers from cash buyers who want to develop the plot on the side but due to a restrictive covenant on the deeds we have come up against a brick wall each time. There is an equity release outstanding on the property and unless I can exchange contracts before August 10th, the company will be granted a possession order. I understand that if I use one of these companies I will not get full market value but this will also be the case if possession is granted as it will be out of my hands totally then.
I would be very grateful for any advice/recommendations.
Thanks in advance.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser · 10 July 2017 at 7:57AM

The full market value that you won't get is the full market value with the restrictive covenant in place. Were the cash buyers not willing to buy it at any price? Because what the company would do is buy it for less than they are prepared to pay and sell it to one of them.

barnez · 10 July 2017 at 8:03AM

I am waiting for a decision today from the buyer, but the value to them is in the plot, not really in the house. The house itself (not taking the plot into consideration) is worth about £265,000. With the plot around £320,000.

mrginge · 10 July 2017 at 8:16AM

Quick sale companies are not interested in dealing with hard to resolve issues like restrictive covenants. They want to turn over property as quickly and cheaply as possible so they have cash available to buy the next one.

Their offer (and subsequent reductions) will reflect the current postion, not the potential.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser · 10 July 2017 at 8:23AM

barnez wrote: »

I am waiting for a decision today from the buyer, but the value to them is in the plot, not really in the house. The house itself (not taking the plot into consideration) is worth about £265,000. With the plot around £320,000.

I am almost certain you would get more money from this buyer than you are ever likely to get from a quick sale company. If they won't pay what you want, take what they will pay.

barnez · 10 July 2017 at 8:24AM

The restrictive covenant would only come into play if someone was buying the house with the intention of building another property on the side. Not if they were buying it to renovate and either live in or sell on. Do you think this would mean that a quick sell company wouldn't be interested? I have no experience of this, whenever I have bought and sold houses before it has been relatively straightforward.

barnez · 10 July 2017 at 8:26AM

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

I am almost certain you would get more money from this buyer than you are ever likely to get from a quick sale company. If they won't pay what you want, take what they will pay.

Thank you, I just hope they come back with something. I also have the option of going to auction with it on July 24th, but again that is risky.

eddddy · 10 July 2017 at 8:37AM

The business model of quick sale companies is roughly:

- Market the property very cheaply in order to find a buyer quickly
- Charge the seller a very large fee

You would probably sell the property equally quickly, if you told a regular EA to:

- Market the property very cheaply in order to find a buyer quickly

And the fee you pay to the EA would be smaller, so you'd be better off over all.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser · 10 July 2017 at 8:41AM

barnez wrote: »

The restrictive covenant would only come into play if someone was buying the house with the intention of building another property on the side. Not if they were buying it to renovate and either live in or sell on. Do you think this would mean that a quick sell company wouldn't be interested? I have no experience of this, whenever I have bought and sold houses before it has been relatively straightforward.

Are you trying to sell it for a price reflecting the development potential or not?

mrginge · 10 July 2017 at 8:42AM

barnez wrote: »

Thank you, I just hope they come back with something. I also have the option of going to auction with it on July 24th, but again that is risky.

Unless they had a buyer lined up immediately, sticking it in auction is just what a quick sale company would do. And they would only be interested in getting rid since they had already made their margin out of you.

barnez · 10 July 2017 at 8:51AM

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

I am almost certain you would get more money from this buyer than you are ever likely to get from a quick sale company. If they won't pay what you want, take what they will pay.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

Are you trying to sell it for a price reflecting the development potential or not?

I originally accepted an offer of £320,000 from the first buyer (who was a property developer and so wanted to develop the plot),as we were unaware of the restrictive covenant. The sale fell through because of the covenant.
The Estate agent then made the second buyer aware of the restrictive covenant and we accepted an offer of £280,000 to take this into account. They then asked us to get the restrictive covenant lifted which we are unable to do. I went back to the estate agent on Friday and asked him to ask the buyer what he would be prepared to pay with the covenant in place, and I am waiting to hear about this.

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Selling house quickly

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