The real discount and traps of selling to a cash house-buying company

A cash house-buying company will usually pay 75 to 85% of your home's market value. The discount is the price of certainty: a genuine firm buys with its own money, exchanges quickly and completes in a few weeks, with no chain, no viewings and normally no fees to you. Whether that trade makes sense depends entirely on why you are selling. This is general information rather than financial advice.

The discount in real money

Independent comparisons of the quick-sale sector put typical offers at 75 to 85% of market value, while MoneyHelper's guidance on quick house sales works on a discount of around 25%. On a £250,000 house, an offer at 75% is £187,500. You are handing over £62,500 for speed and certainty.

Set that against the conventional route. An estate agent at the current UK average fee of around 1.42% including VAT costs about £3,550 on the same house, plus perhaps £700 of selling conveyancing and a few more months of mortgage interest and bills. Unless every month of delay is costing you thousands, the open market wins on money by a wide margin.

The legitimacy test

The quick-sale sector has no statutory regulator, so the test is voluntary oversight. The National Association of Property Buyers requires every member to register with The Property Ombudsman, which commits them to a code of practice and gives you a free, independent complaints route. Before signing anything, check the firm appears on both the NAPB member list and the Ombudsman's register. A company on neither is asking you to rely on its goodwill.

The traps

The one that hurts most is the late price cut. A firm offers a strong figure, waits until you are committed, sometimes days from completion, then reduces it by thousands, knowing your onward plans now depend on the money. Ask in writing whether the offer is fixed once their survey is done, and walk away from any firm that will not say yes.

Watch for option agreements and long exclusivity periods, which can stop you selling to anyone else for months while the firm tries to sell your house on. Watch too for brokers posing as buyers. Plenty of we buy any house websites hold no funds of their own and simply sell your details to others. Two questions expose them: are you buying with your own money, and can you show proof of funds today?

A genuine process is short and legible. Expect an indicative offer within a day or two, a formal valuation or survey the firm pays for, then a confirmed written offer, and many reputable firms cover your legal fees as well. Anything that adds stages, paperwork you do not understand, or a charge to you before completion deserves a second opinion.

When the discount is worth paying

Speed genuinely wins in a narrow set of cases: a repossession you cannot otherwise stop, a probate property standing empty and draining money, a broken chain that would otherwise cost you the home you are buying, or a fixed emigration date. In those situations you are buying a completion date that nothing else can guarantee.

If price matters more than the date, a traditional auction or a well-priced open-market listing usually recovers more of your home's value, and we weigh those routes in our separate article on selling your house at auction. Whichever way you lean, get an independent agent valuation the same week you get the company's offer, so you know precisely what discount you are being asked to accept.

A sale to a cash buyer still involves a contract and a transfer of title, so you still need your own solicitor. You can compare quotes from regulated conveyancers in a couple of minutes before you commit.