Property buying companies

gail2802

Hi All

Just hoping to get a bit of feedback, opinions etc from you guys.

I have always been anti property buying companies as I believe they give people who are desperate vastly underpriced figures for selling their houses, however I have seen recently quite a few companies who are offering 90-100% of property values.

Now I like to think of myself as fairly intelligent when it comes to things like this and understand this may not be the full story, however is it worth looking into? We are wanting to sell our house which was a new build when we bought it five years ago and there are a number of other houses on our road which have been up for ages. I just don't want the hassle of having to tart the house up to sell (even though it is in overall good condition already), and then waiting around for years for it to sell.

Any advice or opinions on whether it's worth getting a free quote from these companies would be appreciated, just want to guage general opinion or if anyone has any experiences.

Thanks all

Propertyfan

I contacted a property buying company - it was advertised on Gumtree. The guy said his company deal primarily with old 'in need of renovation' properties. He did make an offer on my home but it was at a reduced price - £70,000 less than the asking price. My property is not in need of any renovation. What I mean is, it's not falling apart or so old you can hear the ghosts!

My guess is they would consider your property but at a very reduced price. My guess is if you were fortunate to have a lot of land - a huge garden where more properties could be built - then a more realistic offer would be made. But if don't have a lot of land then I can't see a property buying company being any use to you.

Davesnave

gail2802 wrote: »

Hi All

I have seen recently quite a few companies who are offering 90-100% of property values.:)

Are offering? Where? Who to?

If this is something you know, then you wouldn't be here asking for opinions and experiences.

If it is merely what these companies are saying about themselves, then you must see it for what it is, as advertising and weasel words.

Having bought a new build 5 years ago, you will have purchased an expensive house around the peak of the market.

This leaves you with two main options:

stay where you are and hope for prices to recover and/or your equity to grow

take a hit and move on, if that's possible

You say you are fairly intelligent, so how exactly is a company to purchase your property on a street where houses "have been up for ages" and then sell it on to make a decent profit?

That's right, they'd have to get it for around 70% or less of it's market value. And if that's the case, wouldn't it just be better to market your house normally at a price which undercuts all those other 'sitting around for ages' properties?

Not what you want to hear, I'm sure, but at least this opinion came from someone who sold cheaply in order to move on a few years ago.

phoebe1989seb

I'd take what any of those companies say with a very large pinch of salt myself......unless of course you have definitive proof

In 2011, like Davesnave we were uber-keen to move and didn't want to wait the two years plus it takes for houses in a higher price bracket to sell in the area we were trying to escape from. Instead we priced realistically - prepared to take a substantial hit of £60k - and advertised the house with a high street EA. We accepted an offer within a fortnight and were able to move on.

Admittedly we were extremely fortunate in that we had no mortgage and despite the *loss*, we were still able to buy our onward purchase without resorting to borrowing.......but even so there has to be a better way than these house-buying companies

Auctioning is another option - although we looked into this with our (well-restored period) house and found the auction companies were not looking for that type of property as it wasn't run-down or a *project* - an issue you may face with a relatively new-build.....

Good luck though OP, hope you work something out......

nomoneytoday

AFAIK these companies buy the house for say 75% of their value, then immediately remortgage them, effectively with a 75% LTV.

You then rent out the house to cover the mortgage, and in 20 years, you get a "free" house.

Why would they offer 90% ?