'Instant' property buying companies - has anyone had a good experience?

saajan_12

@sclare how much rent are the tenants paying, and is that in line with the market? You might want to try selling through a normal agent with tenants in situ.
If the rent is in line with markets then it could be a good investment property, and investors are less fussed about the condition if the return is good. That will then massively shorten the time, effort and stress to regain possession and do any works. 

You would get a slightly smaller market, so possibly slightly lower price, but this is partly offset by not having court costs and a void, plus will be less than what you'd lose with an auction or house buying company. 

sclare

An update for anyone in a similar position:

I ended up marketing it normally after all the advice I was given, and I'm so glad I did! I put it up at 'offers over' a very realistic figure (as I predicted, the tenants had left it in an awful state) and I ended up with a lot of offers and a cash buyer investor (you were right @sajaan_12!) paying at the top of my expectations! That only took ten days!

So yes, I'd say definitely worth trying the market first, if anyone is in a similar position.

Skiddaw1

So glad it worked out so well OP! Thanks for the update.

Yorkie1

Well done OP - glad to hear it was worth the wait.

sclare

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81970844#Comment_81970844

It cost me a bit to get the house and garden cleared (both were in a shocking state - the garden was basically a junk yard) and some mould dealt with. But the agent advised against doing any more than that, despite it desperately needing redecorating, the rusted radiators changing, and the kitchen ripping out.

And he was right, as was @Herzlos and @Scotbot among others. I had ten (!) offers, six from investors. All offers much higher than I expected. They were clearly happy to just rip everything out and start again