Selling to investors

[Sheenqueen]

We are selling our property and we have had several offers from investors. Does anyone have experience selling to an investor?

We have had 5 offers so far and 3 are investors. One of which has offered the highest but has the least deposit. There were other viewings this weekend so waiting to see if there are any other offers.

We are concerned that investors may play games. Like offer high and then do desktop hoping for a down valuation. We also think they might more easily walk away at any stage of the process.

My friend sold to investors and they insisted on a lot of tradespeople visits before they completed to do things like boiler certificate for letting out etc. They then waited until just before exchange before dropping 10k off the price based on some minor survey point. My friend had to suck this up as she was pregnant and they needed to move. They then tried another 5k off unless she could get her neighbours to clear the rubbish outside their house which had been there when they viewed some months before. They were horrible tbh, very well off and totally cutthroat, playing on my friend's circumstances. That's not to say they are all like that but its possible as they likely don't have an emotional investment in the purchase that they are more likely to try and get a reduction etc as the sale completing is of less consequence to them.

@whatshouldIdo2022 , thanks for sharing. My gut feeling is that they might play games given current market conditions.

I’ve got an offer from a cash buyer. I can’t think of any big risk going with them but who knows, I might be missing something.

If you have had a cash buyer, I am keen to hear about your experience.

Beware the "Cash Buyer". Ask them to explain what they mean by that. Over the years I have sold to two Cash Buyers. Neither were, both then applied for mortgages after I had accepted their lower offers ( because they were Cash Buyers). It is amazing to hear others defenition if a Cash Buyer.

Thanks Tracy. When did you know they were lying? How far down in the process?

What would be your advice in quickly figuring out if it’s all BS?

Ask your Estate Agent to get proof of funding from the cash buyer. If they have the cash sat in the bank it will be very easy to prove.

I wouldn't tar all investors with the same brush. I sold my first house to an investor and they were excellent - offered asking price straight out of the gate, and the sale was done very quickly and smoothly. Very straightforward with no messing around of any sort.

I bought a buy-to-let and the sale was also very easy. I didn't try and knock them down on price or anything. I was just happy to have found a suitable property and was keen to make sure the process ran smoothly.

I think you have to consider people on a case by case basis. Any signs of funny business you can put it straight back on the market. I think I might be more wary of selling to a first time buyer who may try and quibble over every little thing a survey shows up. I think investors are perhaps more realistic about the maintenance involved in house owning.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4623273-aibu-to-tell-our-buyer-to-fuck-off?page=11&reply=119747943
not “investors” but cash buyers on this current thread.

I had problems with 3 buyers.

1. investor/property portfolio builder. As far as I can tell his bank refused to after to provide the full mortgage loan because, in their opinion, he was financially overstretched, so, even though he was very keen and reassuring as far as but the property, weeks slipped by as he tried to rejig his finances - it just didn't happen.
2. A cash buyer who immediately outbid everyone who then became door to respond to the estate agent before revealing or saying that due to an unexpected redundancy they would have to sell one of their 2 houses and that would set things back. Frankly, having been through redundancy several times I find the idea of an unexpected redundancy implausible. I had a bad feeling about this couple from the start but on the EA's recommendation went with them at first as they were the only cash buyer. The effect of putting in a high cash offer is that it immediately puts off other buyers who then, I think, assume it is a done deal so they quickly move on to looking at other properties.
3. A new couple, one coming out of a somewhat messy divorce - the ex husband has making love difficult by not signing paperwork until the last minute etc.

The EA just wants the same to go through and as little hassle as possible so always seemed reluctant for us to ask for another buyer to be found. We waited too long. I wouldn't wait any more than about 3 months now before looking for a new buyer. If we had had first time buyers I would have chosen them. You need to keep on top of your estate agent and keep asking about the finances of the buyers and get as much information as you can about their financial situations and reasons for buying (and selling/moving).

We sold to buyer 3 who, within a couple of months of moving in, discovered that her new partner, was in ac relationship with someone else... After she had put in a lot of cash of her own - there was some agreement that should they default on the mortgage she would not expect to get her money back, something like that... they were trouble from the start, clearly had a lot of troubles going into the house sale, etc - they were all red flags. The house we sold so them had already been resold at a profit after she ended it with him.

In short, the whole process was a nightmare. I would not bend over backwards to be patient again.

Uugh - no edit option - autocorrect on phone is a damn nuisance.

This is a very fair appraisal.

I'd prefer to sell to an investor usually as they should be more organised and not faff.

However, the last house I sold went under offer to an investor and they messed me about for 10 weeks, then withdrew. The FTB I then sold to had every trade in and out of the house and I was worried but they were very fair and actually superbly organised.

I've also had an investor's solicitor prat about so much that his client spent the cash elsewhere.

So it does depend, get your agent to vet them.

The one point I think is very important is the cash buyer thing. I got my estate agent to check last time as we had several offers and the supposed cash buyer said "oh, actually, we might get a small mortgage." Cash buyers are very rarely cash buyers, the "just waiting on a mortgage offer" thing pops up somewhere along the line, when it's harder to withdraw.

Conversely I had two offers , one from ftb and another from investor. Went with ftb who messed me about then pulled out whereas investor was well organised and didn’t try and drop price even when survey raised a few issues because they were planning to rip lots out anyway.

Basically, you roll the dice after trying to get as much info as possible but you can't guarantee the outcome.

It is so stressful because we cannot afford to be messed about.

I was a cash buyer and I had to prove it before they'd even consider the offer (with bank statements etc). It seems odd that the estate agent hasn't as yet asked for proof that they really do have the money and/or mortgage in place