Are any of these companies that guarantee to buy your property worth using

oh_my_daze

Me and the missus are keen for a quick sale for personal reasons. We've been on the market for a year and had 2 sales fall through so thinking of getting in touch with one of these companies that will buy for their set price.

WE are based in Essex and wondered if anyone had used one of these companies, checking online its quite tricky to find one that doesnt just seem far too good to be true.

Any advice would be great, we are well aware they'll offer well below market value.

jenny2009

No no no no no

kingstreet

They can do nothing more than make you a ridiculously low offer for your home which you appear to be aware of. If you're that desperate to move and are happy to accept their offer, I can't see a problem.

Use a firm of solicitors of your choice to handle the sale. Avoid any recommendation they may make.

Swipe

You'd be better off putting it up for auction with a minimum reserve price. Lots of houses get offers made pre-auction and will most likely be better than one of those companies would make. If it doesn't sell, it'll cost you about £400 in total (inc solicitors fee and auction listing fee).

oh_my_daze

Swipe wrote: »

You'd be better off putting it up for auction with a minimum reserve price. Lots of houses get offers made pre-auction and will most likely be better than one of those companies would make. If it doesn't sell, it'll cost you about £400 in total (inc solicitors fee and auction listing fee).

the only problem with that is I dont really want another bill if it doesnt sell. Also having nothing sold locally via auction its really difficult to know what a realistic price to get is.

MegaMiniMouse

How about sending a nicely produced flyer to all the cut-price buyers you can find, and see if you can set up a kind of private auction? It might save a few extremely tedious phone calls and meetings and, hey, you never know, you might end up with 2 or 3 of them getting into a contract race!

Some of these operators are not necessarily straightforward cash buyers - they like to set up complicated 'schemes' which are designed to make you think you are getting a better deal than you actually are

MMM

oh_my_daze

MegaMiniMouse wrote: »

Some of these operators are not necessarily straightforward cash buyers - they like to set up complicated 'schemes' which are designed to make you think you are getting a better deal than you actually are

MMM

Aint that the truth, I've just seen one website where one company basically carries on paying your mortgage until they find a buyer, sounds like a disaster waiting to happen if you ask me!

Honest_EA

For what it's worth I still think you can get the right result if you use an estate agent in this matter. All decent EAs have a list of investors who are keen to buy properties below market value so I suggest you go into an EA, explain your situation and tell them to find a buyer. Dont bother paying an upfront marketing fee as you dont want it on rightmove etc, you just want them to contact all potential cash buyers and earn themselves a quick sale fee. See what offers come your way in the first week or two and take it from there. You will still have to sign an agency agreement with the EA but you wont pay a fee unless they sell your house. If they dont accept this offer, move on to one that will.

In my business I have experienced this many times and without fail I have managed to find a buyer well above what these house buying companies are prepared to pay so dont go down that route. Just to back this up, I had a 3 bed semi that the owner needed sold very quickly to avoid being repossessed. Its fair market value was £95,000 but the owner had an offer from a house buying company of £60,000 and would guarantee to rent it back to them. We found a cash buyer at £80,000 who also agreed to rent it back so the family could stay in their home and are debt free. Most Eas need sales right now so this should be a no brainer for them, good luck.

poppysarah

If it's not selling - why?

Is it price?
Are you being realistic about price?