Home Buying Companies

kerry1986

My husband and I are trying to sell our flat so that we can purchase a house to start our family. We have our deposit and fees saved and a decent amount of equity in the property. The flat is in a prime location and in a good condition.

We have had two buyers fall through - one because of unnecessary delays from the solicitors our buyer's mortgage offer and extension expired and she was unable to secure a new mortgage. The second buyer fell through yesterday after being made redundant.

The stress of this process has taken a lot out of me personally - emotionally and physically I'm drained and I can't go through it all again.

We're seriously considering selling our flat to one of those home buying companies but my biggest concern is finding a legitimate company so we don't get scammed. 

I understand we may not quite get our asking price but it looks like these company offer a quick sale and we always planned to move in with my mother in law after we sold our flat to save more money before buying our house so we can easily make up the shortfall very quickly from the savings we make from not paying a mortgage & bills - we will be paying my mother in law but nowhere near as much as if we were still living in our flat.

Before anyone tells me to stay in the flat and we can manage with a baby living in a one bedroom flat isn't the issue - our bedroom is big enough we could have an area for the baby no problem. We have a lift to the fifth floor which is great but the problem is that our flat is down a steep flight of stairs to the fourth floor. This will make it very difficult to carry a push chair up and down it so it is not very practical at all.

I'm not looking for anyone to change my mind on this but I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has done this their positive and negative experiences and any tips to ensure that the company is legitimate.

Thank you in advance 

MultiFuelBurner

I have to try and change you mind as you are literally throwing money down the drain.

Please don't sell your property to a home buying company you are just setting light to cash. There are no good ones.

It is disappointing for property sales to collapse but the two incidents above don't suggest there is anything wrong with the property just things happen like this.

It is stressful but get back to selling the house or part exchange it against a new build. That could be the next least stressful option. 

Now all that is said if you are happy with 30%+ less than your property is worth then it's all up to you.

Flugelhorn

home buying companies will give you nowhere near near the asking price and may well drop the price on the day of exchange - can you actually afford to lose that amount and then still by a new place?  Not sure how long you have been on the market but I nearly sold to one of these companies once after at least 18 months on the market but got a good offer that went through just in time

P/ex is definitely an option - you won't get the full price there but at least it will be more predictable

gwynlas

Okay move in with mil to help with access problems of buggy but keep the flat until it sells through conventional means. Property butyng companies exist to make money so why would you give money away?. You can ensure that the flat is immaculate and have new photos taken and allow EA viewings at any time without having to tidy up. You will obviously be chain free and can wait things out as you already intended without the pressure of moving before baby born. Unless you are very rich there is no way to avoid the stress of buying and selling

eddddy

As you can imagine the house buying companies aren't charities, their goal is to make a big chunk of money from any deal they make.

In general there approach is as follows:

• "We want to re-sell your house to a cash buyer within 14 days - what price would we have to set to make that happen?"

• "We want to keep 20% of that price as our profit"

So for example...

• Let's say the current asking price of your flat is £250k

• The house buying company might think they can gat a cash buyer within 14 days if the asking price is reduced to £220k

• The house buying company would keep 20% of that, i.e. £44k

• So you would get £176k

So to summarise, if a flat was currently on the market for £250k, you might get £176k from a house buying company.

The house buying companies won't usually tell you those kind of hard facts up-front. They're more likely to gradually 'groom' sellers (or perhaps even mislead sellers) into accepting those terms.

theartfullodger

In the opinion of many a bunch of loose-ethics exploiters that will usually rip you off sumfink rotten.

Good luck!  Best wishes to all.

sheramber

If you are prepared to lose money  to one of these companies, then reduce your selling price.

jlfrs01

A few years ago I looked at this when I was struggling to sell my flat. I looked at a "we buy any property" type of company and the p/x route against a new build. The biggest issue was the leasehold which complicates matters, it meant some companies I approached wouldn't touch it and others reduced their offers significantly. I found no builder who would agree to p/x on a leasehold property. Just like with "WeBuyAnyCar", what they say you'll get on the phone and on the website won't be anything like what they'll offer after their survey. All I'll say is do not be under the impression this is a stress-free approach to selling your home because it absolutely isn't.