Sell House for Cash Pros and Cons
Is selling to a cash house buyer a good idea?
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We take a look at both sides of the coin when selling to a cash house buyer.
It can be a really useful service for some, but it's not for everyone!
Have you heard of a cash house buyer? Chances are, if you’ve landed on this page you have! That being said, you might not be fully aware of what they are, how the process is different or what the advantage, or disadvantages may be to selling your house to one.
Not to worry, in this article we go through everything you need to know about cash buyers and you can hopefully find out whether it’s the right option for you.
What is a cash house buyer?
It’s relatively self-explanatory in the fact it’s someone that can buy a property outright with their own cash. A cash buyer will not require a mortgage or any additional borrowing to purchase your home.
The confusion sometimes comes when people consider themselves cash buyers because they are selling their home for more than the value that they are buying yours. That’s not the case, the cash needs to be immediately available, and you should not be part of a chain.
How quick can a cash house buyer buy my property?
There are generally two types of cash buyers, these are usually investors or cash house buying companies.
Investors will be savvy to buying property, as cash buyers they generally would have done it quite a few times before meaning they are quicker through the process than selling to the standard public. They may also have favoured solicitors to use in order to speed things up, and therefore can usually buy your home in just a few weeks.
Cash house buying companies, like ourselves, are a little bit different. We buy hundreds of properties a year, and have our own in-house progressions team that we use to speed up the process, and as well as that, we have a priority relationship with the solicitor that we recommend, who we know will operate quickly. Keeping all that in mind, we can buy your home in as little as 7 days, we’ve actually done it far quicker before!
How is the process different when selling to a cash buyer?
Essentially if you’re selling to a cash buyer, the process is simplified. It’s pretty similar to the standard house sale process but when you remove the need for a mortgage the process will typically go like this:
Once you remove the mortgage element that adds weeks, if not months to the process, it can become surprisingly quick and there are a lot less hoops to jump through.
Is a conveyancer still required?
If you’re selling to a cash buyer, will they still be required to use a conveyancer? It’s a valid question, because cash buying companies like ourselves usually state they can buy a home in as little as 7 days, and even removing the mortgage step, it can seem like quite a jump to get through the whole process in such a short time.
The answer is yes, a cash buyer still has to instruct a conveyancer, or solicitor, to handle the legal aspects of the sale. They can choose to do this themselves, but that would generally be a long and time consuming process.
How about the surveys?
The survey is a significant part of a house purchase, it’s an inspection done on the property and it’s condition by a third party that identifies any problems or issues for the prospective buyer and it’s generally done after the offer on a property is accepted. It’s typically undertaken by a RICs (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) qualified surveyor.
There are various levels of survey and although we generally wouldn’t advise it, a cash buyer isn’t required to conduct any form of survey on a property. It’s a common question as typically companies that offer mortgages will require and stipulate in the contract that you have or they are able to conduct at least a basic level of survey.
The advantages of selling to a cash buyer
You might have seen articles across the web around how you can make your house appeal to cash buyers, so there must be some good advantages to selling to them, right? Indeed there are, several! Here are a few of the main advantages of selling your home to a cash buyer:
Speedy Process
The process is extremely quick, cash buyers are able to cut out a significant part of the process, the mortgage application. They can buy typically in a matter of weeks, and cash buying companies, like us, in as little as 7 days.
More Security For Sellers
A mortgage buyer is also more likely to fail and fall through when buying your home, as they could get rejected for a variety of different reasons.
Chain Free
Typically speaking a cash buyer would be chain free, meaning they don’t require the sale of their home to buy yours. This makes the process a lot less likely to fall through.
Additional Benefits
There are additional benefits to selling to a cash buying company too, as they will often cover your legal costs, you won’t have any estate agent fees & they often handle most of the process for you.
The disadvantages of selling to a cash buyer
On the flip side, just like with everything in life, there are always disadvantages to selling to cash buyers. Here are just a few of the disadvantages when selling your home to a cash buyer that you should consider:
You’ll Be Offered Less
Typically speaking a cash buyer knows they are in a strong position when they are looking to purchase your home, which they will use to offer you a below market value offer, in return for the promise of a quick sale.
They Can Still Fall Through
Cash sales are a lot less likely to fall through, but they still can. Typically the only way it would fall through when selling to a cash buyer is if the survey indicates there is an issue with the home, or it’s at a lesser value than they expected.
Scam risk
There is a risk of being scammed by cash buyers, through a variety of different ways, like cashiers cheques for instance. Don’t worry too much! There are ways that you can avoid scams which we will touch on next.
Is there anything you should watch out for?
If you’re planning on selling to a cash buyer, or a cash buying company like ourselves, there are things that you should be aware of and watch out for to ensure that you sell your home quickly and minimise any potential risk for the sale falling through, or getting scammed.
Here are a few things that you can watch out for and ensure an easy sale of your property:
Over promising
One to be really careful of from both the perspective of a cash house buying company and just a general investor is over promising on the price.
Cash buyers almost always want to achieve a discount on buying your property, it’s why they buy with cash.
If they offer you 100% of the market value of your property, this should be a red flag. If the offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
The other thing that people or companies will generally over promise on is the timelines in which they can actually buy, we’ve even seen and heard claims of being able to buy your home in 24 hours, it’s extremely unlikely! Deadlines generally to work to for cash house buying companies are between 1-3 weeks, and for investors it’s more likely around 4-6 weeks.
Protecting yourself
This one will work slightly different depending on who you are selling too.
If you are selling to an investor (individual) then it’s harder to check that they are genuine. The main way to do this is to ask them for proof of funds in regards to buying your home, and how they got the money, and making sure it’s through legitimate means.
Selling to a cash house buying company gives you a bit more protection, as long as you look at the right things. When dealing with a company, you should always check that they are members of The Property Ombudsman and The National Association of Property Buyers.
The Ombudsman in particular offer a layer of protection as an independent redress scheme, as they have a code of conduct that members have to abide by.
Look at reviews
You can’t really do this if you are dealing with an investor or individual, if you choose to deal with a property buying company however, you should take a look at their reviews.
Reviews give you an insight into people’s genuine experience, always use a reliable platform like Trustpilot, and read both the positive and negative reviews to get a full picture and make your decision.
Want to do some more research?
Check out our similar cash house buyer articles below:
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Why choose us?
When it comes to selling your house for cash, selling to an individual investor can be pretty tricky, as you have to go out and find them as opposed to the other way around. If you’ve decided that it might be worth looking into selling to a company, there are so many to choose from, so why us?
We like to think we’re a little different from the rest, more than just your average house buying company. We go the extra mile to take the stress and hassle out of selling your home, and just generally make it easy. On top of that we’ll cover your costs, including solicitors fees, and we can guarantee you a completion in as little as 7 days – or work to a date that you require.
We’re also highly rated on review platforms like Trustpilot with an excellent rating, and we’re members of The National Association of Property Buyers and The Property Ombudsman, so you’re know you’re in safe hands. We also operate an honest and transparent service with a no pressure approach to selling your home, it has to work for all parties!
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