When thinking of selling your property to a company that buy property for cash, it is important to undertake some research to find out if this is a reputable company to do business with.
First you need to ensure that the company is a member of The Property Ombudsman (TPO) and you can find out if a company is a member here. You need to also check what type of business they are registered for and is the company a registered House Buying Company or merely a broker or agent?
Is the company a member of The National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB) Set up in January 2014 as a 'not for profit organisation', The NAPB helps property sellers decide whether selling to a professional cash buyer is the right path for them and gives advice about possible benefits as well as potential disadvantages.
You are able to read this article which highlights the factors to consider when choosing a company to buy your property.
Some of the tactics we have heard are truly despicable - one common tactic being to offer the home owner a close to market value for their property, then, the day before completion, suddenly dropping the price significantly.
Very often, the homeowner by this time is so desperate, that they are forced to accept this lower offer. When considering working with a company that buys properties for cash, the first thing to do is to have a look at the company’s website and make sure that it is compliant.
The website should display the company registration number in a prominent position and confirm the address of the business.
If it doesn’t, this is a red flag and you should walk away.
Many cash buyers of property are actually one-man-band operations that do not purchase the property themselves, but act as lead generators for others. Very often, they will not be transparent about his, and make out that they have the cash to buy and then later on in the process, refer the property seller to a third party.
These individuals should be avoided, not only for their lack of transparency, but because they cannot actually buy your property and are misleading you into working with them.
If the company is displaying their company number, the next thing to do is to put their company number into Companies House website and sites like DueDil.com
that give you a snapshot of the company’s history and financial health.
You should look at the date when the company was incorporated. Recent incorporation can be a red flag.
Check the directors of the company, and if they have a history of dissolved companies on their record.
You should also look for a company that has a healthy balance sheet and positive net assets.
Next, put the company’s name into google followed by the words “scam” and “reviews” and see what comes up. This will help you build a picture of how ethical and reliable the company is.
Finally, look for companies who voluntarily show commitment to professional standards by joining trade bodies and associations.
Open Property Group are a professional house buyer and cash buyer's of all types of residential property.
In our case, we are a family-run business with over 30 years experience in property investment and trading.
We pride ourselves on our ethical and empathetic approach to our clients, many of whom are in challenging situations, such as facing repossession, or life curve balls like redundancy, illness, divorce, or dealing with probate following the death of a relative.
We never take advantage of such circumstances, and always aim to find a solution that will help the seller move on with their life in positive manner, following the sale of their property to us.
We are a member of the Property Ombudsman Scheme, which gives our clients peace of mind that there is an independent route of redress, should they be unhappy with our service.
We are also members of the Residential Landlords Association.
We work out of office premises that are listed on our website, and can be contacted via phone, email, and social media. You can contact us here.
You can call into our offices in person to see our operation and staff, you can speak to our directors on the phone, and our lawyers can supply you with proof that we are genuine cash buyers with funds in the bank to buy your property quickly. On request, we can put you in touch with other clients of our service, so that you can get an independent third party review on how we handled their case.
All of the above should give you peace of mind that we are an ethical company to do business with.
If you have any questions about our service, then you only have to ask. We will respond quickly and transparently.
We are very proud of our ethical and professional service, and we will take every opportunity to differentiate ourselves from rogue operators, so feel free to ask any questions you have about what we do.
If you would like us to make a cash offer on your property, the process is simple and straightforward. You get in touch with us with your property details, and we will make a no-obligation cash offer within 48 hours of receipt of your enquiry.
Should you choose to go ahead with our offer, we then agree a date with you that you would like the sale proceeds in your bank account. This can be achieved in as little as 7 days provided that you have all the paperwork and documentation for the property sale to hand.
We will consider any property in England and Wales in any condition, freehold or leasehold, tenanted or empty. We typically offer around 85% of the market value of your property, but there are no estate agent fees involved, and a quick sale can reduce overall costs very significantly, so, on balance, what you achieve with us may not be such a difference to the net figure you achieve by selling through a high street agent.
How our cash offer compares to an open market sale
When you consider all of the fees and hassle you’ll save, selling to us is straightforward
| Selling to Open Property Group | Selling via Estate Agents | |
|---|---|---|
| (14 days - or you decide the moving date which suits you. | (6 months+) | |
| House Price | £100,000 | £100,000 |
| Average agreed purchase price assuming 5% reduction | £80,000 | £95,000 |
| Final agreed price after survey | £80,000 | £90,000 |
| Estate Agent fees | £0.00 | £2,400 |
| Cosmetic repairs needed | £0.00 | £1,000 |
| Solicitor fees and disbursements | £0.00 | £1,500 |
| Other bills including council tax | £150 | £1,200 |
| Clearance costs | £0 | £1,500 |
| Gas safety certificate | £0 | £100 |
| Mortgage repayments (while sale is going through) | £0.00 | £3,600 |
| Net price achieved | £79,850 | £78,700 |
If you have any questions at all, please get in touch. We offer a professional, friendly, discrete, and empathetic service and will always try to create an outcome that works for you as well as for ourselves.
Thinking about selling? We’ll buy your property quickly!
No estate agent fees, no solicitor fees and choose a sale date to suit you!
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