outside companies offering to buy houses.

mjdh1957

These kind of companies are very fly-by-night and change names frequently so it's unlikely anyone here will have heard of a particular one.

Most people here advise against them. But it's up to you.

If you do use them, report back on how the process went.

cwrtcoed

this company is nationwide and has been around for some time, if I go with them I will let you know the result

Nobbie1967

cwrtcoed wrote: »

this company is nationwide and has been around for some time, if I go with them I will let you know the result

The result will be that you don't get £175k, no matter what they say. They will lock you in and then hope you get more desperate for a sale and drop the price to maybe £150k. They will give you all sorts of verbal assurances that they can sell for £175k plus fees, but their business model relies on them making a lot more that £3k per sale and this can only come by buying off you way below market value and then re-selling at market value. You're better off just cutting out the middle man and either putting it in an auction or asking your EA what price you need to drop to to sell.

Definitely update us on what happens, good luck.

[Deleted User]

What 'recovery' are they talking about. I thought house prices were at their highest now? If you are in a permanently depressed area, you'll be waiting a very long time for recovery or your money. Please think carefully about this. Surely dropping your price is a better option?

cwrtcoed

Ok thanks for advice guys, I will keep you posted on what I'm gong to do

cwrtcoed

I didn't bother going with that company after, I've taken your advice and dropped the price £10,000, see what happens

rosie383

Good decision. I doubt you will regret it.

robatwork

For a laff I went to http://www.webuyanyhouse.com/why-us.html

Can't even spell benefits properly.

Davesnave

cwrtcoed wrote: »

I didn't bother going with that company after, I've taken your advice and dropped the price £10,000, see what happens

I am not having a go, but from your username it seems reasonable to assume your property is in Wales.

Six years ago, at the height of the recession, we tried to buy a property in West Wales, but despite our best efforts, the owners of two houses we liked just weren't willing to negotiate a reasonable price. No wonder, their asking prices were so far off the mark, our tentative first offers were more or less laughed at.

We'd already taken a huge hit on our own property and we were cash buyers, but the two houses were being marketed at £80 -£100k above what we thought they were worth.

We bought elsewhere. The two properties remained on the market and eventually sold, 7 months and 3 years later. Both had therefore been marketed for between 2 and 4 years! Neither realised a price above what we'd have paid; in fact the cheaper one, which was in a dreadful state, went for £20k below our estimate. (The actual figures were £335k down to to £240k and £375k down to £275k)

I tell you all this because you as a seller rely on agents for a valuation. While these aren't the dark days of 2008 any more, our experience was that Welsh agents, though affable and more honest than many English ones, were pretty useless, not only in their presentation of houses for sale, but also in their pricing of property.

A reduction of £10k is a decent amount, so I just hope that it was from a realistic price, not something like the fantasy figures we were presented with. Best of luck with it.

Mark_Gill

Here is a copy of the best advice I have read when dealing home buying companies

RULE #1. If the buyer asks for any upfront payment of any kind - WALK AWAY!
RULE #2. If the buyer can not provide "proof of cash funds" upon your request - WALK AWAY!
RULE #3. If the buyer will not provide contact details of recent clients (so you can acertain customer service levels) - WALK AWAY!
RULE #4. If the buyer's "formal offer" is not based upon an indepented valuation report from a RICS Chartered Surveyor - WALK AWAY!
RULE #5. If the buyer will not share the RICS Valuation Report with you and / or your solicitor - WALK AWAY!
RULE #6. If the buyer asks you to sign a "lock-in" contract or "option agreement" - WALK AWAY!