Cash Buyer Recommended a Solicitor

MellowLedbetter

Hi All,

Mum left her house to my sisters, brother and I. After some discussion we have decided to sell and split the profits.

On a whim, I entered some details on a quick sale website (and I cannot remember/find which one...). The following day, I received a phone call and after some back and forth, a price was offered which was much better than we expected. The convenience of going down this route appealed to all concerned and so we have accepted his offer.

The company seems legit (Hilmar Land and Investment. Trading since 2005. 


Their USP to us was the speed of the sale, suggesting 1-2 weeks.

They also suggested a solicitor for us to use (Wilsons, Leeds), advising IF we did, then we would not have any legal fees to pay, saving a good few hundred quid.

None of us have been in this position before and feel differently about using 'their' solicitors.

One thought is using one recommended by them means that they understand the time scale the buyers work to and therefore it would be an advantage to getting the sale done quickly and would save the cost, while another thought is the obvious conflict of interest and this doesn't 'feel right' and the cost of a solicitor is money well spent.

Is there any risk in the proceeds going from the buyer to a solicitor they recommended?

Given the above, what should my family and I be on the look out for to avoid being scammed/ripped off? What would people advise?

All comments and thoughts welcome, thank you.

user1977

These outfits are mainly preying on serving people who are desperate for the cash. As this is an inheritance, I presume you aren't? Why wouldn't you want to sell in the conventional way?

All they're likely to do is immediately sell it on to somebody else and take a cut - so why don't you try to market it to the eventual buyers?

diystarter7

Whenever we have bought a property to rent out we often ask the EA for recommendations. I think we did use a receommedation once and would give them 9/10 so not bad. But you have to check yourself etc to see what is what. One thing we never do is deal online only but many do and even one of our kids recently used an online solicitor for a purchase. However, you have to be careful and do your research and this is why we will only go with established solicitors outfits as well as that of EA's - that is not gurantee things will go 100% but we feel much safer.

NB: For every solicitor we have used, we(me and Mrs DiY) have physically visited their offices  at least once and all had been around for over 30 years.


Btw, have you considered an auction but the problem with that is if you set a reserve it is not met and you don't want to sell to any bidder still interested after the auction has ended you still pay a fee.

Martico

Just looked up their office on Streetview, scrappy flat above a barber's by the look of it. Nothing wrong with that in itself, but added to them trying to impose their solicitor on you, I'd be concerned.

Flugelhorn

I would be more worried that the company (supported by the solicitors) drop the price +++ just before exchange 

diystarter7

Update  - i too looked up the web and low and behold it's near where we have friends.

Is the comapny registered since "2005" or is that just their name?
If they have been going since 2005, only 4 Google reviews - I's look further into it but as I said, we have used sols as per EA and asked ourselves but all been visited physically by us and both EA and sol been around for years.

eddddy

MellowLedbetter said:

On a whim, I entered some details on a quick sale website (and I cannot remember/find which one...). The following day, I received a phone call and after some back and forth, a price was offered which was much better than we expected. The convenience of going down this route appealed to all concerned and so we have accepted his offer.

The company seems legit ..... Trading since 2005. 


Their USP to us was the speed of the sale, suggesting 1-2 weeks.

The company who has made you an offer seems to be a property development company.

Property Development Companies do things like:

• Buy a house - convert it into flats - sell all the flats
• Buy a house - demolish it - build a number of new houses - sell the houses

I strongly suspect that the Property Development Company is offering you a very low price - based on the development potential.


I would strongly advise that you speak to some 'standard' estate agents about selling the house.  A good Estate Agent will approach lots of property development companies (not just one). The result is likely to be extra competition to buy the house, which will probably mean a better price.


(Maybe it will take a couple of weeks longer, but perhaps you will end up with £10k or £20k more. I would say it's worth 'sitting around doing nothing' for a couple of weeks while the estate agent does their work - and thinking about what I could do with an extra £10k in my pocket!)

At the very least, there's nothing to be lost by talking to a few estate agents. Try the 'old established serious ones' for a property like this - rather than new flashy estate agents.  And tell them you already have an offer from a Property Development Company.

user1977

eddddy said:

MellowLedbetter said:

On a whim, I entered some details on a quick sale website (and I cannot remember/find which one...). The following day, I received a phone call and after some back and forth, a price was offered which was much better than we expected. The convenience of going down this route appealed to all concerned and so we have accepted his offer.

The company seems legit ..... Trading since 2005. 


Their USP to us was the speed of the sale, suggesting 1-2 weeks.

The company who has made you an offer seems to be a property development company.

Property Development Companies do things like:

• Buy a house - convert it into flats - sell all the flats
• Buy a house - demolish it - build a number of new houses - sell the houses

I strongly suspect that the Property Development Company is offering you a very low price - based on the development potential.

I can't see any sign of them of being developers - what have you found? They're the same folk who trade as "Cash 4 Homes".

propertyrental

1) the solicitors. Never use a S recommended by the other side. Find your own - a firm that will put you first not the other party! Claims it will be quicker and/or easier using 'their' firm are unlikely to be true but if they are it's because they'll push the sae through ignoring issues that might impact you because they won't want to jeopardise their ongoing relationship with the other party.

2) the firm. Quick buy companies will only pay cash fast if there's good profit in it forthem. That means buying (well) below market value. Even if they initiallyoffer a good price, they are (almost) certain to reduce it later. Beware too paying anything (non-refundable when the price drops!) upfront whether admin fee, survey, or whatever.

But why not just sell the normal way?

Ath_Wat

Tell them thanks very much, you will use that solicitor.  There will be no conflict of interests as you wouldn't in a million years dream of selling them the house.

theartfullodger

Avoid these ++gy people, v v likely the price mysteriously will be reduced and reduced as completion nears.

But if tempted use any solicitors NOT recommended by them.