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Original poster

Cash offers of £650k

27 replies

Pecal · 30/10/2023 10:56

The house in question is a smallish 4 bed semi (loft conversion) in a nice area of outer London (zone 4 I think) . It has a very small garden and kitchen.

The house is idea for a youngish family because it doesn’t have massive space.
The agent told me that they had a few cash offers of around £650k.
I was wondering what sort of situation would allow someone to have £650k in cash.

OP posts:
SM4713 · 30/10/2023 11:00
  • Savings
  • Inheritance
  • House sale
  • Bonds
  • Crypto sales (bitcoin, ethernet etc)
  • Insurance payout
Sarahconnor1 · 30/10/2023 11:02

Lots I suppose Inheritance, independently wealthy, family help, already in the ladder gained lots of equity, sold a house that has no mortgage, etc

ScroogeMcDuckling · 30/10/2023 11:03

Theres lot of circumstances why people have got that sort of money, and I long ago realised that worrying what others may or may not have will put a roof over my head or bread on your table.

London has always been difficult to get on the property ladder, that’s why people move out

Disco123456 · 30/10/2023 11:04

There are loads of reasons as above. We had way more than that from dividends to buy our house without a mortgage.

MrsSkylerWhite · 30/10/2023 11:05

Too many reasons to list.

Overthebow · 30/10/2023 11:06

Inheritance or high paying jobs with bonuses and equity, or both.

Chewbecca · 30/10/2023 11:06

Downsizers too

PermanentTemporary · 30/10/2023 11:08

Mostly inheritance, gifts, existing equity, high salaries and savings/investments. And bonuses. If you had eg 2 City professionals buying, their joint bonus could be hundreds of thousands, plus they may have inherited from wealthy parents.

Also we have record immigration which includes some people who have very little but there's also some who have big money.

DiDonk · 30/10/2023 11:09

Estate agent may just be lying to get you to make an offer

Silverfoxcub · 30/10/2023 11:51

Chewbecca · 30/10/2023 11:06

Downsizers too

Unless already sold and in rented not a cash buyer though

Heronwatcher · 30/10/2023 12:02

Most likely if in London they’ve sold a previous house and put the equity in a bank account (maybe with savings or inheritance) and are now renting. Most of my friends who have lived in London for more than 15 years have at least that in their houses, so if they were looking to downsize or one person was buying after a divorce they would be in this position.

duchiebun · 30/10/2023 12:02

Getting on the ladder in London early. My in-laws house was about 100k in the 00s, gentrified and now about 2m.

Dodgyguts · 30/10/2023 12:04

Lies is an option, house on our street was sold to what they thought was a cash buyer but turns out they had a house to sell. Not much an estate agent can do to guarantee a cash buyer is legit apparently.

duchiebun · 30/10/2023 12:04

I’d say it was more unusual if the cash buyers were under 35.

Burgundylover · 30/10/2023 12:25

A cash buyer in estate agent terms can mean they do not need a mortgage because they are selling a house with enough equity in it. I was a cash buyer for a house very similar to the one you described. I had paid off my mortgage and was moving further out of London to a cheaper area.

Nesca1 · 30/10/2023 12:32

duchiebun · 30/10/2023 12:02

Getting on the ladder in London early. My in-laws house was about 100k in the 00s, gentrified and now about 2m.

Which areas in London have increased by that much?

duchiebun · 30/10/2023 12:34

@Nesca1 Hackney way, bought in very early 90s.
My parents are similar but bought in 80s (Wandsworth) & paid 60k

duchiebun · 30/10/2023 12:34

bought early 00s I meant re Hackney

Porkepic · 30/10/2023 12:45

A 4 bed in zone 2/3 costs in the region of 2m. As ridiculous as it sounds, 650k is just a deposit form years of saving/repaying mortgage on a FTB flat either through a well paid or family money since most flats haven’t increased that much in value since 2016.

MajorBarbara · 30/10/2023 12:47

Pooled family money quite often.

duchiebun · 30/10/2023 12:48

A 4 bed in zone 2/3 costs in the region of 2m

I would disagree, there are certainly plenty of 4 beds or potential 4 beds (going into the loft) in z3 for under 1.5m. The very popular, exclusive roads near good schools would be 2m.

duchiebun · 30/10/2023 12:51

most flats haven’t increased that much in value since 2016.

which I do think is going to have an impact going forward as so much of the market post mid 00s was driven by equity. Certainly in my part of London & its surrounds flats have barely increased in real terms since 2016 as you say. I’ve said this before though & been called a liar though 😆

If I was younger FTB now, I would skip the flat stage if poss & go straight to the house.

CantFindTheBeat · 30/10/2023 12:54

OP,

Agents sometimes use 'cash offers' to mean chain-free, or independent buyers.

TheBeesKnee · 30/10/2023 15:58

Probably drugs.

Unless your house has been on the market for a long time don't be swayed by the allure of a cash buyer. It doesn't mean they won't mess you around at the 11th hour.

Startagainjanuary · 30/10/2023 16:00

Selling a house and renting in-between. I always finds this puts the buyer in a good position plus you can overlap rental with moving in so less stress and more time to fix up the newly bought house how you would like it.