Anybody ever used one of these firms or know anybody who has?

I was wondering how much of a hit I’d take on it’s real value…

Company I got a quote from offered around 20% less than valuation but they really really took their time over it. I suspect they were waiting until they had a buyer lined up. Unfortunately for them by the time they had, so did I.

we are unable to pay the full market value that you might possibly achieve on the open market

From the we buy any home now website.

@ gonefishin

Hmm. 20% is do-able, at a pinch, if the market continues to stall.

Who was it?

It’s a tale from someone who knew someone, so how true it is I don’t know….
They used we buy any house, offered less than market value (as expected) when it came to day of exchange they turned round and reduced the offer again.
I presume they hope the chain is big enough and people are too desperate to move that they borrow (somehow) the short fall….

All sounds a bit dodgy to me.

^^^^^ that’s bad practice. I know from experience that gazundering used to be a common tactic more prevalent amongst certain ethnicities. Tis a sh*t thing to do.

OP – might be worth posting details here as no shortage of wealthy peeps/landlords on here who might be interested at <mv.

Mr Woppit it was a company out of Edinburgh rather than a big national company. I can’t remember the details and it was 7 years ago now. Sorry.

We dealt with a company about 6 years ago.
[Cut down version]
They made offer -low but what we expected, they promised efficiency no stress blah blah, we chased, we chased, we chased some more, they knew we had a date to move so did nothing until date was close then reduced their offer by another 20%.
Avoid if you can manage.
We actually sold / moved from our house within 3 weeks, but buyer was local and had mortgage in place due to another falling through.

OP – might be worth posting details here as no shortage of wealthy peeps/landlords on here who might be interested at

http://www.hugginsedwards.co.uk/residential/details/005558_The_Crescent_Leatherhead?tenure=1&rnd=45119100&pmin=0&pmax=0&beds=0&loc%5B%5D=3

Dunno if the mods would allow this, but I’ll give it a go…

I know a really good estate agent in that area…maybe you don’t want to go through all the paperwork but his company is pretty good.

Get some other photos taken. You want people to look at the photos and think i’d like to live there, not look and think have they just had a stir-fry or was that from last night, are the scraps in the white bag on the side and is the spoon on the sink from pudding or cereal.

Splash a bit of paint about too to brighten it up too. Landing looks bright but the kitchen looks tired. Hide the dehumidifier as that shouts damp or condensation problems.

Have a good tidy, take some new photos and try it with another agent.

If you want this kind of sell it now deal, go for an auction with a set minimum price you want.

House auctions, as far as I understand it, when they’re sold, they’re sold. No gazumping, no changing offers at last minute, no hassles with buyers finding out down the line they can’t sell their house or their mortgage company told them to get stuffed.

But like the above, you do get less than market value.

That said, most people get less than they advertise anyway as it gets knocked down. Plus costs associated with being messed around, sales falling through etc, could be high.

Typically expect to receive 20-25% below market value.

There are other options that may be applicable to you such as lease option and more.

I know a fair few people who work in the property packaging, investment/portfolio disposal etc so if you’d like to have a chat, drop me a line – email in profile.

Andy

I struggle to believe that the market is stalled in Leatherhead, I think people aren’t interested because they don’t want to buy your flat as it’s presented to them.

Being cruel to be kind, the photos are, bluntly, awful, and the place looks far from desirable. In fact it looks like a bit of an unloved, ex-rental dump.

I’d go with spending a couple of hundred quid on paint, pictures from Ikea and a few vases of flowers than accepting a £40k hit on the asking price.

£270k for that! Gulp 😯

I’d spend £5k and get someone in to decorate and tidy the place. £2k for a new kitchen and you’d be away.

+1 IHN
You wouldn’t sell a car without giving it a wash and a vacuum.
I paint houses for a property stager. Ballpark 0.75-1% of listing price and they tend to sell fast and at or above asking.
It’s a tremendously effective way of helping a potential seller see themselves in the space.

Clean, declutter, paint and get some professional photos. Have you had any viewings?

£270k for that! Gulp

?? looks cheap! my one bed flat in SE19 is worth more than that.

it looks very tired, i would give it a quick blow-over and do the kitchen then remove all the odd personal items and make it look like a bland show-home. is that a de-humidifier i see? that would be a warning sign for damp so i would hide that.

3 viewers so far. Buying to rent. Loved the flat. Didn’t like the restaurant.

is that a de-humidifier i see? that would be a warning sign for damp so i would hide that.

that was my first thought.

As above, If you can afford to I’d spend a bit gettign the kitchen and bathroom done.

Even if you drop the price 15% thropugh an estate agent you’d probably get more than through one of those quick buy places (I’ve heard tales of last minute offer drops too).

Finally – have a word with your agent – get them to put an interior shot as the ‘home’ image for your property, not an exterior one.

Terrible marketing as said above. Leatherhead should be a good market as I am down the road in Kingston and the let’s are strong/sales are flat.

I just refurbished a 2 bedder there and it was 3k for new paint, carpets, taps, curtains. During the refurbishment no tenants took it, no imagination I reckon as it was mid works, soon as it was finished it let straight away.

Look at the competition, present it like a show house.

Personally I would avoid any property investment company you will get shafter, invest a few k in refurb it will go.

The Estate Agent’s website also looks tired, real 1990s feel to it…

the pics on zoopla don’t show the bathroom either.
i notice you have a telly balanced on a Target TT1 table. i have the very same arrangement as i haven’t done the wall mount and hidden cables thing yet. 😳 i would remove that and put the telly somewhere else so people can see the fireplace.

yellow/magnolia looks horrible. if you cant remove the wood chip then at least get a huge tub of trade emulsion.
unfortunately people are very short sighted so they just see horrible dated decor, at least if the walls are smooth and white they can say to themselves “i can see this room painted my favourite colour” but you aren’t allowing them to get that far.

(personally that didn’t bother me when buying and it actually helped putting other buyers off)

edit: actually another look at the pics and all i see is corners but not rooms, a tidy up wouldn’t go amiss either, unmade beds, kitchen utensils left out etc. did you snap them on your phone?

Cleaner than my place 😀 . I need to sell up but the declutter and make good for sale task is mammoth. Not to mention the wood chip wallpaper and artex ceilings (possibly old enough to contain asbestos). According to any house buy TV show, all an instant walk away.

I’ll second that the photos make the rooms look a lot smaller than what the floor plan suggests. Agent not using a wide enough lens? Getting decent shots of inside rooms is a bit of a skill.

I need to sell up but the declutter and make good for sale task is mammoth.

This. It’s a “buy to rent” proposition. I’m not going to spend and work on refurbishing what’s going to be refurbished.

Interior’s not the problem.

The restaurant is the sticking point.

i notice you have a telly balanced on a Target TT1 table

Oh, that’s VERY good. 😀

The restaurant is the sticking point.

then it’s all about price. Drop the price by 20% and you’ll sell it whether that’s to one of these cowboy ‘by any house’ type people or a landlord looking for a bargain.

Yeah, I’m starting to think that myself…

If it’s for buy to let why does the advert not say what it would earn as a return as a let property? It’s what landlords want to know, so make it easy for them?

This. It’s a “buy to rent” proposition.

so potentially alienating the buy to live market?
whoever buys it will want/need to do kitchen/bathroom/decor. only difference is the rental will be painted white and have a cheaper kitchen bathroom and a wired in smoke alarm.

The restaurant is the sticking point.

And how much do you think that is knocking off the price?

Reduce the price by £40k and you might get two investors having a fight over it, but I doubt it as they all spent their pocket money in March.
It’s Leatherhead, not Oxshott…

The agents details are somewhat outdated. I last saw details like this in 1990.