Companies who promise to sell your house quickly

[pacinoFanOfBrusselsSprouts]

Hi, need some advice please. We have been on the property market since April '05, have had only 7 viewings and no offers. We are now pretty desperate to sell and have already reduced the asking price 3 times by approx. 15%. Still nothing. To be honest, it's actually making me depressed and we really need to get going - dh travelling 2 1/2 hours to work, live semi-rural so no facilities (never again), etc etc.

We are now considering using one of the companies who 'promise' to buy your property. Does anyone have any advice before I contact one of them? There seem to be a lot of upfront fees to pay, before you even receive their offer. Any advice gratefully received.

THEY'LL RIP YOU OFF.

There's a lot of fees to pay, their offer will be low, and there have been lots of reports of the offer being reduced even once you have accepted it.

don't do it ! If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. You won't get market value and they will make a significant profit on the back of you.

They will drastically reduce the price i.e. the market value of your property - then they'll buy it from you, that's how they make their money.
What has the feedback been from your current estate agent - do they follow up on every appointment and give you 'honest' feedback following viewings?

I'd change estate agent, consider private sale, or look at auctions?

Thank you all for your swift replies, definitely won't be going down this alley now.

We have changed estate agents (about 5 weeks ago) and always press for feedback, sometimes it's forthcoming sometimes not. It would appear that stumbling blocks are our back garden (we live on a hill) which is obviously extremely steep and totally non-toddler friendly, together with the fact we have few facilities (no shop, for example) as we are semi-rural. Very safe area for your kids, but not for everyone. I have spoken to our estate agent this morning who is very upbeat, he thinks dropping another 10k would do it. Dh and I have set ourselves a deadline of 4 weeks, if no viewings/offers then we will drop the price, yet again. Fingers crossed!

Once again, thank you for your advice, can always rely on Mumsnet!

IMHO a lot of estate agents are a load of talk up front but don;t carry it through. A house that has been on the market for ages also goes a bit "stale". The garden may be an issue, but lots of people want rural and peaceful, so I wouldn;t say it's not selling for that reason.

I would actually take it off the market for a couple of months (even tho you are desperate).

Then relaunch with a new agent. Try one of the smaller franchised agents - they may be more go ahead and determined to get a sale than the big guys. That approach worked for us after being in similar situation.

Be realistic about the price, don;t just drop it because they tell you. Check out

this site if you haven't already, to see what houses are really selling for in your area.

HTH, I know how frustrating it is.

Those companies dont promise to buy, they promise to make an offer usually 20% below market value, then close to exchange, they make an even lower offer another 20% or threaten to pull out (national homebuyers). Avoid at all costs.

I know of a few, however who buy quickly and from what I have found out, most do buy a little cheaper because they have cash, will complete quickly but they also help you with selling costs unlike national homebuyers etc. Some will buy it off you at a lower price if you really need the money and sign an agreement to sell at a higher price and share the profit with you. And some use options (pay you at least 5k for the option but not obligation to buy your house in the future for a price today). if they dont exercise the option, you keep the money.

Also, the reality is most homeoeners overvalue thier houses. I went viewing on saturday (15 properties) and it was hectic. Two houses on the same road on the market for the same price and one of them was beautifully refurbished and had a fantastic landscaped garden and was open to offers. The second though nice was quite basic and the couple weren't open to offers. though they should be worth 'what houses on the street' are worth.

my point being that there must be a reason why it's not selling. And dont be fooled by asking prices, people hardly sell for asking prices these days. check on the interenet houseprices.com or upmystreet to find out what they actually sold. Buy a valuation from hometrack website. it's usually very reliable to get a idea.

If you tell me which town you live in, I might be able to tell you which website is best.

Some estate agents are on the take and try to frustrate you so that you can sell for a dodgy price to a private investor cheaply. I have have been offered that service a few times.

Please get a good solicitor for any deal though.

or you try the 5% deposit paid deal. offer a sellers deposit and you get more interest.

Ask your solicitor.

also if you have to go with a sole agency agreement, give them max 8 weeks and go multi-agency.

Try www.a-quick-sale.co.uk/. i have heard OF them but never dealt with them. if you dont like the deal dont do it but i know they do options as well.

Have you got a rightmove or estate agents page link we could maybe come up with some suggestions (or even buy it i'm looking right now !!)

Beware greedy estate agents!

Also, I made an offer on five properties so far and three of them claimed that they wouldn't be telling the vendor because it's less than they want to sell it for and that the vendor already turned down offers £500 below the asking price. I was offering £2000 below.

since they're on a percentage commission, they turn people away sometimes.

I always assumed they had a duty to convey all offers to the vendors regardless of price.

Thank you again for all your advice.

Over the past few days we have made enquiries about doing some serious landscaping in the garden, but we are talking mega bucks and there is no way we can afford to do it. Nor does our estate agent think it necessary, thinks a further price reduction might do the trick.

Have also looked into selling through the companies mentioned below, but can't afford to go that low. We are lucky that dh's company are paying our fees, this will help us stomach another price reduction which I think is inevitable. Our estate agent thinks we are actually slightly under priced now, but we are just so anxious to go. Fingers crossed the New Year will bring a new house for us!