"We buy any house" companies: how they work, what they pay and how to check reviews

How much below market value do they pay?

Cash buyers usually offer less than full market value, in return for speed and certainty. The OFT found that sellers who completed a quick sale typically gave up between 10% and 25% of the market value, and that it had seen much higher figures on occasion. On a typical home that can mean several tens of thousands of pounds. The OFT gave the example of a firm aiming to offer around 80% of full market value, adjusted for location and condition.

Two further points from the OFT are worth knowing:

• First offers are not firm. They are usually “subject to survey and contract”, so they can change.
• Late cuts happen. In the complaints the OFT received, offers fell after the survey by between 7% and 53% of the initial offer, averaging 22%. Those are complaints, so they show what can go wrong rather than what is typical.

MoneySavingExpert’s guide to selling a house (updated July 2026) says quick house sale companies pay on average 75% of market value. It suggests that if you need to sell quickly, pricing your home at about 90% of market value through an estate agent can be more cost-effective. Our guide to how much cash house buyers pay shows how to judge an offer against what your home is really worth.

What are the pros and cons?

The advantages

• Speed. No waiting for a buyer to appear or for their mortgage to be approved.
• Certainty, if the money is real. A buyer with funds in place has no chain and no lender who can pull out.
• No viewings or open-market marketing.
• A way out for hard-to-sell homes. The OFT noted that quick sales may help where a home has a structural defect, flood risk or other problems that make it hard to market.

The disadvantages

• A lower price. This is the cost of speed and certainty.
• Offers that fall later. A first offer can be cut after a survey, sometimes late in the process.
• Uncertainty about the buyer. The OFT found that not all firms were clear about who was buying or whether the money was in place.
• Tie-ins. Some firms used exclusivity agreements lasting six months or a year, with withdrawal costs of several thousand pounds.
• Limited protection. The OFT said estate agency law is likely to apply when a firm brokers a sale, but a firm buying on its own account is in a different position. The Property Ombudsman’s scheme for property buying companies, whose code covers written offers and price changes, is voluntary.

If your home is in good condition and you have time, an estate agent may leave you with more money. Our comparison of cash buyers, estate agents and auctions sets out the differences.

How do you check reviews properly?

Since 6 April 2025, fake reviews, reviews that hide the fact they were paid for or rewarded, and publishing reviews in a misleading way, such as hiding genuine negative ones, have been banned practices under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. That helps, but it doesn’t make every review reliable.

A few habits make a big difference:

• Read the one to three star reviews, not just the average.
• Look for the end of the story. A review saying the firm called back quickly tells you little. One describing the final price, whether it changed after the survey, and when the sale completed tells you a lot.
• Check the name matches the company. Look the business up free at Companies House, including its incorporation date, directors and any insolvency.
• Compare sites. Check more than one review platform.

Our guide to cash house buyer reviews explains Trustpilot, Google and the law in more detail.

If you would like to compare offers without contacting firms one by one, you can get offers for my home. With your consent, we pass your details to vetted cash buyers on our panel, from individual investors to institutions such as property companies and investment firms. Our service is free and there’s no obligation. Any offer will usually be below full market value, in return for speed and certainty.

Do these firms operate in Scotland?

Yes, and the same care applies. Citizens Advice Scotland warns that a quick sale company might reduce its offer at the last minute, and that it might not be clear who is actually buying your home or whether the buyer has the money in place.

The process itself is different in Scotland:

• Offers and missives. Offers are made in a solicitor’s letter, and the solicitors then exchange letters called missives. mygov.scot explains that once missives are concluded you have a binding contract, and pulling out after that can cost thousands of pounds in damages.
• The Home Report. Most homes for sale need one, and it includes a surveyor’s valuation, which gives you a useful benchmark against any cash offer. Your solicitor can tell you whether you need a Home Report for your sale.
• Solicitors. Citizens Advice Scotland notes that most firms of solicitors offer both estate agency and conveyancing.
• Tie-ins. If a firm uses a tie-in agreement, The Property Ombudsman’s code says members must explain any notice they would place with Registers of Scotland.

Our guide to selling a house in Scotland covers the process in full. In Northern Ireland, as in England and Wales, the sale becomes binding when contracts are exchanged.

What should you ask any firm before you agree?

Before you sign anything, ask:

1. Are you buying my home yourselves, or passing it to someone else?
2. How will you pay, and can you show proof of funds?
3. Is the offer subject to survey, and what could change it?
4. What fees will I pay, whether or not the sale completes?
5. Is there any tie-in, and for how long?
6. Can I use my own solicitor? A firm cannot make you use theirs.

Our checklist for judging the best cash house buyers goes into each of these, and our guide to spotting rogue quick sale companies covers the warning signs.