FAQ
Top 10 Questions About Selling to a Cash Buyer
Thinking of selling your flat to a cash buying company? This page answers the ten questions sellers ask first. How much less you will get, how quickly it completes, whether the offer can change, what to sign and what to refuse, and how to tell a genuine buyer from a broker. We are a cash buying company ourselves, so we have answered as a seller would want, not as a sales pitch would.
Selling to a Cash Buyer: The Full Picture
The "we buy any home" market has a mixed reputation, and some of it is deserved. It contains genuine buyers who complete what they agree. It also contains brokers who pass your details to investors for a fee, and a few operators whose business model is a high first offer that falls as completion approaches. From the outside they all look the same. So most of the questions on this page are about telling them apart, and about going in with realistic expectations on price and speed.
This page works through the ten questions sellers ask most. It draws on our Buying Code, which sets out how we work. It also draws on two fuller guides: selling to a cash buyer for the route in detail, and the quick-sale company mistakes for the traps. Where an answer describes how we do things rather than the market in general, that is made clear.
Sell Flat UK is a cash buying company. We have an obvious interest in this subject, and we have written the page anyway, because sellers who understand the route make better decisions and waste less of everyone's time. Where an estate agency sale or an auction would serve you better, the page says so. This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice.
1. What Is a Cash Buyer, and How Is It Different From a Quick-Sale Company?
A cash buyer is anyone who buys a property with money they already have. There is no mortgage lender, no mortgage valuation and no chain. Some cash buyers are individuals, such as a downsizer or an investor. They are not buying direct: they find your flat through an estate agent and typically pay 85 to 90 percent of market value, before the agent's commission. This page is about the other kind, the cash buying company. It buys direct from you with no agent involved, pays 15 to 30 percent below market value and completes in weeks. The company's own name goes on the contract, and the money comes from its own account on completion. That is what makes the sale quick and certain: nothing outside the buyer's control can stop it.
"Quick-sale company" and "we buy any home" describe how a business advertises, not how it buys. Three different models hide behind the same words. The first is a genuine buyer, as described above. The second is a broker, sometimes called a lead generator. It takes your details and passes them to investors on its list, then collects a fee from whoever buys. The real buyer is someone you have never met, and the "offer" is a figure that a third party has yet to confirm. The third is an option model. The company signs you into an agreement that gives it the right to buy at a set price, then sells that right on and takes a margin without ever owning the flat.
The test is simple. Ask who will be named as the buyer on the contract and where the money is coming from. A genuine buyer names itself and can show the funds. Anything else is an introduction. Treat the figure you are quoted as marketing until a named buyer with funds confirms it.
2. How Far Below Market Value Will a Cash Buyer Pay?
Typically 15 to 30 percent below what the flat would fetch through an estate agent with time on your side. In other words, 70 to 85 percent of its value. Flats with serious problems can sit below that range: a lease under 60 years, structural questions or cladding work outstanding. The buyer is taking on a risk no mortgage buyer would.
The discount pays for four things. Speed: the buyer completes in weeks, not months. Certainty: there is no survey a nervous buyer can use to walk away, no lender who can refuse the block, no chain that can collapse. Risk: the buyer takes the flat as it is, with whatever the lease and the building turn out to hold. And the buyer's own margin. It has to resell or let the flat at a profit after paying stamp duty, including the 5 percent surcharge on additional dwellings, plus legal costs and any work.
Whether that trade is worth it depends on what the alternative really costs you. An estate agency sale takes three to six months for a leasehold flat and costs 1 to 2 percent plus VAT in commission. Around four in ten leasehold sales through an estate agent fell through at least once in 2025, on TwentyCi's data.
A sale to a cash buying company carries none of that risk once the written offer is made, because there is no lender, no chain and no onward buyer to lose. Add the months of service charge, mortgage and council tax while you wait, and the gap between the two routes is smaller than the headline discount. For a flat with no problems and no deadline, it is still usually worth waiting. Our separate page on how much below market value cash buying companies pay works through the arithmetic with examples.
3. How Fast Can a Cash Sale Really Complete?
Three to six weeks for a leasehold flat is realistic. Seven days is not, from a cold start, whatever the advert says. A cash buyer removes the mortgage and the chain, but it does not remove the legal work. On a leasehold flat, the legal work is the slow part. The buyer's solicitor needs the management pack from the freeholder or managing agent, which can take two to eight weeks to arrive. They then raise enquiries on the lease, the service charge accounts, any planned works, and the building's insurance and fire safety position.
Where the pack is already in hand and the lease is straightforward, three weeks from instruction to completion is achievable. Where everything starts from cold, five to six weeks is more typical. A slow managing agent or a missing freeholder can push it beyond that. The timescale is also yours to set. If you need longer, to find somewhere to go or to wait for probate, a genuine buyer will work to your date rather than its own.
The one thing that does move quickly is the decision. We give an initial offer estimate within 24 to 48 hours of your first call, visit once, and confirm the offer in writing. From there the speed is set by the paperwork. The quickest thing you can do is instruct your solicitor and ask the managing agent for the pack on the day you accept. Our How It Works page sets out the seven steps.
4. Is the First Offer the Final Price?
Not quite, and a buyer who tells you otherwise is overselling. There are two figures. The first is an initial estimate, given quickly from a desktop look at comparable sales and what you have told the buyer. It shows whether the buyer is right for your flat and roughly where the price will land. The second is the written offer, made after the buyer has visited the flat and checked the lease and title. That is the figure to plan around. From a genuine buyer it should hold, unless the legal work turns up something nobody knew about.
Every offer, from any buyer, is subject to contract and survey until exchange. That is how every property sale in England and Wales works, not a trick. Our buying code says plainly that our offer can change if later research finds something that affects value. That might be a short lease nobody mentioned, a section 20 bill in the post, a structural issue or an onerous ground rent. The difference between that and price chipping is whether the reason is real and was unknown. Price chipping is a high first offer designed to get you to take the flat off the market. Reductions then follow near exchange, citing "survey findings" or "lender concerns" that were invented or known from the start.
You protect yourself in three ways. Tell the buyer everything you know about the flat at the start, so there is nothing to discover. Get the offer in writing after the visit, and ask the buyer to confirm what it is based on. And do not sign anything that stops you walking away. If the price drops without a good reason, you can go elsewhere. A buyer who knows you can leave has less incentive to try.
5. Are There Any Fees?
Not from a genuine buyer. There is no commission, no valuation fee, no arrangement fee and no administration charge. The buyer makes its money on the discount, not on charges to you. The only cost you carry is your own solicitor, as in any sale. That is typically £1,200 to £1,800 including VAT for a leasehold flat. On top of that, the freeholder or managing agent charges £300 to £400 plus VAT for the management pack.
Where you see fees, ask what they are for. Some companies charge a "valuation" or "survey" fee up front. That is a way of making money from sellers who never complete. Some deduct a "legal contribution" from the price on completion. Some brokers charge the seller an introduction fee as well as taking one from the buyer. None of these is normal for a company buying with its own funds, and each one is a reason to compare quotes.
One cost is sometimes offered rather than charged. Some buyers will pay your legal fees if you use their solicitor. That saves perhaps £1,500, in exchange for giving up independent advice on a sale worth hundreds of thousands. The next question explains why it is a poor trade.
6. Do I Need My Own Solicitor, and Can I Use the Buyer's?
You need your own, and you should not use the buyer's. The conveyancing on a cash sale is the same as on any sale: the contract, the lease review, the management pack, the enquiries, exchange and completion. Your solicitor's job is to protect you. They check that the contract says what you agreed, that the completion date and price are right, that the buyer's funds are real, and that you are not giving away anything you did not mean to. A solicitor who also acts for the buyer, or who depends on the buyer for a steady flow of work, cannot do that job with a free hand.
The same applies to a "panel" or "recommended" solicitor. The firm may be perfectly competent, but its relationship is with the buyer. If the price drops at the last minute, or an unusual clause appears in the contract, you want someone whose only client is you. The offer to pay your legal fees if you use their firm is the clearest sign that a buyer wants to control both sides of the table.
Choose a solicitor with leasehold experience, because the leasehold-specific work still applies: the lease review, the management pack, any licence to assign the lease requires, and the service charge and ground rent settled up on completion. Our guide to choosing a conveyancing solicitor covers what to ask. We can suggest firms if you do not have one, and we are happy for you to use any firm you choose.
7. Should I Sign Anything Before the Sale?
No. Between accepting an offer and exchanging contracts, a genuine buyer needs nothing from you except information and access. That means the address, what you know about the lease and the building, a time to visit, and your solicitor's details. There is no reason to sign a document. Three kinds of document in particular should stop you in your tracks.
An option agreement gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy your flat at a set price within a period, often months. You are bound; the buyer is not, and can sell the option to someone else. A lock-out or exclusivity agreement stops you dealing with anyone else for a period. If the price then falls, you have nowhere to go. A reservation agreement charges you a fee, or commits you to one, if you withdraw. Each of these is legal. Each one hands the buyer the leverage that a seller in a hurry can least afford to give away. Our buying code rules all of them out. A buyer that insists on one is telling you how it intends to behave.
Be equally careful with anything that grants a power of attorney, puts a charge over the flat or appoints the buyer's solicitor to act for you. If a document arrives before exchange, send it to your own solicitor unsigned and ask what it does. In a straightforward cash sale, the only document you sign is the contract itself, at exchange, through your solicitor.
8. How Do I Check a Cash Buyer Is Genuine?
Half an hour online and two direct questions will sort most of the market. The checks that matter:
- Companies House. Search the company name at Companies House. Look at when it was incorporated, whether it files full accounts, what the accounts show and who the directors are. A buyer that has traded for years and shows property on its balance sheet is a different proposition from one set up last spring at a formation agent's address.
- A redress scheme. Ask which scheme the company belongs to and check the membership number on the scheme's own site. The Property Ombudsman and the Property Redress Scheme are the two government-approved schemes. The National Association of Property Buyers is a trade body with a code of conduct. Membership does not guarantee good behaviour, but a buyer with none has opted out of any complaints route.
- Who buys, and with what. Ask whose name will be on the contract, and ask for proof of funds. A genuine buyer answers both without hesitation. "Our investors" or "our funding partner" means a broker.
- Reviews, with care. Read them on an independent platform rather than the company's own site. Look at the pattern over years, not the star rating. Complaints about last-minute price cuts are the ones to weigh.
- The sales conversation itself. Pressure to decide today. A refusal to put the offer in writing. A figure that sounds better than any estate agent quoted. A request to sign something. Each is a warning in its own right, and two together are a reason to stop.
For what it is worth, we are LDN Properties Limited, registered at Companies House under 04636129 since 2003, a member of The Property Ombudsman under D12463 and registered with the Information Commissioner's Office under Z7733416. Any buyer you deal with should be able to give you the equivalent in one email.
9. Is the Industry Regulated, and What Happens If It Goes Wrong?
Buying property is not a regulated activity in the UK. There is no licence to be a cash buyer, no regulator with the powers the Financial Conduct Authority has over lenders, and no professional body a buyer must belong to. The two redress schemes are voluntary. Membership means the buyer has agreed to a complaints process, not that anyone supervises how it trades day to day. That is why the checks in question 8 fall to you.
General consumer law still applies. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 replaced the older consumer protection regulations in April 2025. It bans misleading claims and aggressive practices, and the Competition and Markets Authority enforces it. The Misrepresentation Act 1967 gives you a remedy if a false statement induced you to sell. Ordinary contract law governs anything you sign. In practice these are routes for after the event, slow and uncertain, so prevention is worth far more than the remedy.
If something does go wrong with a scheme member, complain to the company in writing first. Then go to the scheme once its process has run its course, or once eight weeks have passed. The Property Ombudsman can award compensation up to £25,000. With a company that belongs to no scheme, your options are the courts or a complaint to Trading Standards. That is one more reason to check membership before you start rather than after.
10. When Does Selling to a Cash Buyer Make Sense, and When Does It Not?
It makes sense when speed or certainty is worth more to you than the last 15 to 30 percent of the price, or when the flat cannot reach an ordinary buyer at all. The clearest cases:
- A flat with a problem that mortgage lenders refuse: a short lease, cladding work outstanding, a restricted block, non-standard construction or a defective lease. The open market for these flats is already cash buyers and investors, so the discount is smaller than it looks.
- A sale that has already fallen through once or twice, where another six months of marketing is not something you can face or afford.
- A deadline: a purchase that depends on the sale, a move abroad, a repossession to head off, care fees to meet, an estate that needs settling.
- An empty flat costing you service charge, insurance, council tax and a mortgage every month while it waits.
It does not make sense for a flat with a long lease, in good condition, in a lendable block, owned by someone with no deadline. That flat will sell through an estate agent to an owner-occupier for full value. The only thing a cash buyer offers you is speed you do not need. Auction sits between the two. It is binding on the day and quicker than an agent, at a price usually 10 to 20 percent below an estate agency sale, and it suits flats with problems that investors understand. Our options hub compares the three routes side by side.
Whichever way you lean, get the figures before you decide. An honest estate agent's valuation, an indicative cash offer and a sum for the months of holding costs put the real gap in front of you. Most sellers find the decision makes itself once the numbers are on the table.
Related Reading
For the cash buyer route in full, see the options guide. For the traps, see the quick-sale company mistakes. For how we hold ourselves to account, see our Buying Code.
Further FAQs
Yes, at any point before contracts are exchanged, and so can the buyer. That is the same as any property sale in England and Wales. You would pay your own solicitor for the work done so far, and a genuine buyer charges nothing for withdrawing. The exception is where you have signed an option, lock-out or exclusivity agreement. That can tie you to the buyer for a period or impose a fee for walking away, which is the main reason not to sign one.
Once contracts are exchanged you are legally bound. Pulling out then means returning the buyer's deposit with interest and paying damages, and the buyer can ask the court to make you complete. So make sure the price and the completion date are what you want before your solicitor exchanges.
Most flats, not every flat. Companies that specialise in leasehold will buy short leases, flats with cladding or fire safety work outstanding, flats in blocks lenders refuse, probate flats and flats in poor condition. None of those depends on a mortgage lender's approval. A genuine buyer may decline where the problem cannot be priced. Examples are a lease so defective it cannot be registered, a title dispute, a structural question with no agreement on who is responsible, or a missing freeholder with no vesting order in train. Even then, many will quote once a solicitor has set out the position.
If a company says yes to everything without asking a single question about the lease or the building, treat that as a warning rather than good news.
Yes. A cash sale is still a sale. You need a valid energy performance certificate before marketing, the lease and title, the management pack from the freeholder or managing agent, and the TA6 and TA7 property information forms. The buyer's solicitor runs the same searches and raises the same enquiries. What a cash buyer removes is the lender's requirements, the mortgage valuation and the chain, not the legal work.
Start gathering the paperwork as soon as you decide to sell. The management pack in particular can take weeks to arrive from a slow managing agent, and it is usually what sets the completion date.
Proof of funds is evidence that the buyer has the money to complete without borrowing: a recent bank statement, a letter from the buyer's bank, or confirmation from their solicitor that cleared funds are held. You can and should ask for it before you take the flat off the market, and a genuine buyer will expect the question. A company that says the funds will come from an investor, a partner or a facility being arranged is not buying with its own money, whatever its website says.
Your solicitor can also ask the buyer's solicitor to confirm the source and availability of funds. They must check that in any case under the anti-money-laundering rules.
Usually, yes. A genuine buyer inspects the flat once before the written offer, and many commission a formal valuation or survey once solicitors are instructed. Our buying code says our solicitor reviews the contract papers before we instruct a survey. It also says we tell the seller within 24 hours if a survey or search shows something that needs further investigation. The survey is for the buyer's benefit and at the buyer's cost. It cannot be used to renegotiate unless it turns up something that was not known or disclosed.
If a company tells you no survey is needed and then produces survey findings to cut the price, that is the price chipping pattern question 4 describes.
Yes, provided the sale price clears the mortgage and the costs of sale. Your solicitor obtains a redemption figure from the lender, pays it from the proceeds on completion and sends you the balance, exactly as in any sale. Where the price is below market value, as a cash offer will be, check the arithmetic early. A flat with a large mortgage can leave little or nothing after a discounted sale. Where the offer would not clear the mortgage, the lender has to agree to the sale, and that needs a separate conversation before you accept anything. Our guide to selling with mortgage arrears or financial hardship covers what lenders will and will not accept.