House ‘sold’ in six days with no agent fees, claims quick buy firm

A quick buy firm boasting it has ‘sold’ a home within six days also says it now takes 140 days on average to sell through a traditional estate agency.

Yes Homebuyers - run by former property asset manager called Matthew Cooper who says he has a degree in economics and business finance - claims it takes an average of 140 days from an initial buyer enquiry until the completion of a sale.

This duration has risen four per cent annually since 2017 thanks to Brexit uncertainty and now the Coronavirus pandemic, says his firm.

Cooper says there is “an archaic selling process for as long as we’ve been selling homes, with the process taking far longer than it needs to.”

He adds that agents and others in the traditional process are “overwhelmed” with the biggest delays in conveyancing particularly.

He also claims his company, one of a number of quick buy firms to have started recently, enjoys an average sale duration of “just 30 days.”

Cooper - perhaps aware of criticism of the quick buy sector in recent years - insists his firm has “no hidden charges or backhanded tactics” and offers “a fair, transparent process with a quick sale at the forefront of what we do.”

However he admits vendors must suffer “the marginally reduced price we offer in comparison to the market price” but he insists “it’s a price we guarantee to deliver while covering all your legal costs as well.”

Earlier this year the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agent Team told a BBC investigation that some quick buy companies were “on their radar” following reports of cases where some vendors lost tens of thousands of pounds off the market value of their properties.

However, the NTSELAT spokeswoman also told the BBC that some owners were willing to accept a lower offer price to secure a speedy sale, and that many quick buy firms provided a good service.