We Buy Any Home etc

[MaryPlain59]

Has anybody used this type of company who advertise a free no obligation quote to buy your house? We have received a few adverts for this service and are wondering if it is something to consider but would like to find out other people's views and experiences beforehand.

I think they are useful for a quick sale but you have to be willing to get less money for your house.

As far as i’m aware, the offers are incredibly low and so are a last ditch option for most people.

Have you thought about auction, if you’re struggling to sell your property?

Only if you are desperate to sell I think! You won’t get as much as you would on the open market.

Only for the desperate. Maybe better than repossession.
Otherwise, no.

My friend couldn't sell her house, she received an ridiculously low offer from one of these companies. She lowered the price of her house (which was obviously too high) then sold her house quickly for considerably more than the offer she'd had.

Thank you all very much for replying. We aren't quite desperate yet but are worried about carrying on a cycle of not being able to have an offer accepted on a house we like because our own house is not yet under offer, we had accepted an offer which then fell through and this is what made us start to consider whether this type of company could be a viable option.

I think they offer substantially under market value - really only something to consider if you're desperate.

Thank you k2p, we will definetely only do it if we become really desperate and too much more time goes by.

There may be some reputable companies, I don't know, but there was a scandal a while back about people proceeding, then, hours before exchange, the price on offer drops 20%. Or more. Because they know you're desperate. So research very carefully.

Oh that sounds awful, thank you for telling me.

If you are in London there is a company called Nested which breaks chains by guaranteeing to sell your property so you can proceed. They usually guarantee the sale amount at between 95% and 97% market value (although their fees are double high street EAs).

We spoke to them last year when we were struggling to keep any chain together and - after the initial skepticism (aka that it seemed too good to be true*) - we were really impressed.

In the end we didn't need to use them as our third and final chain managed to limp over the completion line but I would consider using them in the future.

• They weren't too good to be true - they were way fairer than the "we buy any house" type but still made their money in fees. The other downside is they will only look at houses within the M25 at present.

Sorry about the random bold ... no idea what happened there!

Have you thought of auctions?

Thank you so much Oneday, yes we are in London so will bear that company in mind as it sounds much better.
I don't know anything about selling a house by auction so am off to research now.