Cash House buyer sites

[Annie1955]

Has anyone used one of those fast cash House buyer sites and if so any experiences of it.
Our buyer is stalling and we're so worried we haven't got time to get another buyer and really don't want to lose our dream house

From what I've heard (and you can search on here for other threads) they are sharks. You won't get anywhere near market value. Their main trick is to offer under market rate (but not too much) the massive drop thenoffer when you are too far along in the process.

This is how they make their money - buying underpriced property from desperate people and then turning for a profit.

• they massively drop the offer

Yep to the above.
They exploit the desperate (usually people on the verge of a repo) and offer slightly below market value, wait till they’ve got you over a barrel and slash the offer

Better to drop you price by say 5% and find a buyer who can proceed quickly than use one of these companies, who will no-doubt want a bigger discount.

I was in the same situation as you and contacted a few of those places last year. Surprisingly some of them are very open - one told me it was a daft thing to consider and in my situation a very last resort. He said I would just be getting ripped off.

My property was valued at £140k but I needed rid of it quickly so had accepted £125k. The value I was told to expect from the cash buyer sites was £80-100k.

Another thing you need to be aware of too is that they won't deal with you if you're still sold subject to contract. So they won't even discuss a price with you until your buyer pulls out.

Luckily my buyer came through in the end but we were worried we'd lose our new house.
The week after I moved out my neighbour put theirs on the market - smaller (not extended) and with no proper garden and got £15k more than I got for mine .

If you need one it depends what it is worth to you. Our house was valued by normal EA's at 300 and we accepted 275 from a housebuyer company as we felt it was worth it not to miss out on the house we are now in. For us it probably wasn't that different to what we would've eventually accepted and actually meant we saved on stamp duty too. Also, the price agreed was contracted in upfront and signed so that no one could negotiate higher/lower once we'd agreed to sell to them. We think it turned out to be the best decision for us as a similar house around the corner has been on the market for a while now at 300 and we would have lost out on this one. I do think you need to be careful though and make sure you check the contracts etc and if it makes sense in your own circumstances.

Only use as last resort.

They will savagely slash price just before exchange.

Do not lower your price with agent if you are going to use them as they will use the lowest price that you advertised at as their valuation of your property, take a percentage off then cut this again before exchange. Instead ask estate agents to let potential buyers know that you're up for negotiation.

Never lower the price online if you're considering using these companies. Even if you raise the price again the lower price leaves a foot print which they can see and will use as the valuation. Also they'll say we'll it hasn't sold at that price so we're taking a risk, blah blah.

They usually pay towards or all of your solicitors fees. They are sharks and prey on people but do have their uses if you want a quick sale and can take the hit.

Just bear in mind that they very rarely stick to the price they originally offered and will make up any excuse to knock ££ off at last minute/exchange stage. Have more than one of them on the go and go with hugest bidder so any cuts are not as deep!. Good luck!