Sell Your House Fast — a Cash Offer in Hours, Completion in as Little as Two Weeks
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Whats the fastest way to sell a house?
The fastest way to sell a house in the UK is to a genuine cash buying company. My Homebuyers buys houses and flats across England and Wales for cash, typically paying 80–85% of full market value, with no fees of any kind — we pay the valuation, survey and legal costs. You’ll get an estimated offer in minutes, a formal cash offer in as little as four hours, and thirty days to decide, with nothing to sign until the sale is agreed through your own solicitor. Completion can happen in as little as two weeks, or on whatever date suits you. We are members of the National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB) and registered with The Property Ombudsman, which means the whole process is covered by a code of conduct you can check independently.
Unlike almost every company in this market, we publish what we pay. If a house buying company won’t put a number on its website, it’s worth asking why. This page explains how a fast house sale actually works, what it really costs compared with an estate agent, and how to check any cash buyer — including us — before you commit to anything.
Get your free, no-obligation cash offer: call [PHONE NUMBER] or try our cash offer calculator.
How long does it take to sell a house?
Selling a house through an estate agent in the UK typically takes around six months from listing to legal completion, and roughly a third of agreed sales fall through before they complete. A traditional auction takes eight to twelve weeks from entry to completion. A genuine cash buying company is the fastest route of all: because there is no mortgage lender, no chain and no onward purchase, the sale can complete in as little as two weeks — and the completion date is set around you, not around a chain.
| Selling method | Typical time to complete | Typical price achieved | Fees you pay | Fall-through risk |
| Cash buying company (My Homebuyers) | As little as 2 weeks — you choose the date | 80–85% of market value (we publish our range) | None — valuation, survey and legal costs paid | Very low — no chain, no mortgage, proof of funds available |
| Traditional auction | 8–12 weeks | Varies — reserve price not guaranteed to be met | Entry fee plus around 2–3% commission | Low once the hammer falls; sale not guaranteed on the day |
| Modern method of auction | 10–14 weeks | Often reduced — the buyer’s fee suppresses bids | Usually “free” to sellers, but the buyer premium comes off your price | Low–medium — buyer pays a reservation fee |
| Estate agent (open market) | Around 6 months on average | 95–100% of market value | 1–3% + VAT agent commission, plus your conveyancing | High — roughly a third of agreed sales fall through |
| Part-exchange (new-build developer) | Tied to your onward purchase | Typically 85–90% | None directly | Low, but only available when buying a new build |
The honest summary: an estate agent should get you the highest price if your property is mortgageable and you can afford to wait. A cash buyer trades some of that price for speed, certainty and zero fees. The rest of this page shows you that trade-off in real numbers, so you can decide which side of it you’re on.
NOTE FOR KELVIN — the “around six months” and “a third of sales fall through” figures are widely used industry numbers; verify and cite current sources before publishing (e.g. Rightmove/TwentyCi time-to-complete data, Quick Move Now fall-through tracking). See Appendix E.
How does a fast house sale work?
Our process has four steps, there is no obligation at any point, and you are never asked to sign anything until the sale is agreed through your own solicitor.
Tell us about your property
Call us or complete the online form. We’ll give you an estimated offer based on the property type, condition and location.
How long?
Minutes
Receive your formal cash offer
We research your property properly — local estate agent reports, comparable sold prices and current market conditions — and make a formal written offer, typically 80–85% of full market value. If your situation is urgent we can do this in as little as four hours. The offer is valid for thirty days.
How long?
Same day
Survey and legal work — at our cost
We instruct and pay for an independent survey and cover your legal costs. Your own solicitor acts for you throughout.
How long?
1–2 weeks
Exchange and complete on your date
You choose the completion date — two weeks from now or six months from now. Funds arrive by bank transfer on the day of completion.
How long?
As little as 2 weeks from offer
Because we buy with our own funds, there is no mortgage underwriting, no chain above us and no last-minute lender surprises. You can see evidence of our funds before you agree anything — see “How to check a cash house buyer” below.
How much do house buying companies pay?
A genuine cash house buying company pays roughly 75–85% of a property’s full market value. My Homebuyers typically pays 80–85%, and we publish that figure because we think you should be able to see the deal before you pick up the phone. The discount is what pays for the speed, the certainty and the fact that you pay nothing at all — no agent fees, no survey costs, no legal fees.
Be very cautious of any company offering 90% or more. A cash buyer’s costs — survey, legal work on both sides, holding costs, resale risk — cannot be covered at that margin. Offers like that are usually reduced sharply a few days before exchange, when you’re least able to walk away. We cover this in “Warning signs” below.
Here is what the trade-off actually looks like on a £200,000 house, using illustrative but realistic figures:
| £200,000 house — worked example | Estate agent sale | My Homebuyers |
| Agreed sale price | £196,000 (typical ~2% negotiated off asking) | £165,000 (82.5% of market value) |
| Estate agent commission (1.5% inc. VAT) | −£2,940 | £0 |
| Your conveyancing costs | −£1,500 | £0 — we pay them |
| Mortgage, council tax, insurance and utilities while you wait (illustrative £900/month) | −£5,400 (≈ 6 months) | −£450 (≈ 2 weeks) |
| Risk of fall-through, re-listing and price reductions | Real but unquantified — around a third of sales fall through | None once agreed — no chain, no lender |
| Estimated net proceeds | ≈ £186,000 | ≈ £164,500 |
| Time until the money is in your bank | ≈ 6 months | ≈ 2 weeks |
On those figures the open market leaves you roughly £20,000 better off — if you can wait six months, keep paying the bills in the meantime, and your buyer doesn’t fall through. For many people that’s the right choice, and we’ll tell you so. A cash sale wins when time, certainty or the property itself makes the open market unrealistic. We’d rather show you that arithmetic than hide it, because the people we help are the ones for whom two weeks and a guaranteed completion are worth more than the difference.
See exactly how we calculate offers on our What We Pay page, or get an instant estimate with the offer calculator.
Is selling to a cash house buyer safe? How to check any company — including us
The quick house sale industry is not regulated by the government, which is exactly why you should verify any buyer before committing — including us. A genuine cash buyer will be easy to check against independent public records; a bad one won’t. Five checks take about ten minutes:
- Companies House. A real buyer has a real trading history and filed accounts. Search the register free at gov.uk. We are [REGISTERED COMPANY NAME], company number 10191428.
- The Property Ombudsman register. TPO membership gives you a free, independent redress scheme if anything goes wrong. Search the register at tpos.co.uk — you’ll find us on it.
- The NAPB members list. The National Association of Property Buyers requires members to follow the TPO Code of Practice. Check the list at napb.co.uk.
- Ask for proof of funds. A genuine cash buyer buys with its own money and can prove it. Many “cash buyers” are actually lead generators who sell your details, or brokers who need to find an investor. We publish our proof of funds — see our Proof of Funds page.
- Check the paperwork and the fees. You should never pay an upfront fee for a valuation or survey, and you should never be asked to sign an exclusivity or option agreement before you’ve agreed the sale. We ask for neither.
We’ve written a full step-by-step guide with screenshots: How to check a cash house buyer.
Warning signs when you need to sell quickly
People selling fast are often selling under pressure, and parts of this industry are built around that. Four things to watch for:
- The inflated offer that shrinks. A company offers 90%+ to win your commitment, then cuts the price days before exchange, after you’ve turned other options away. Any genuine offer can be put in writing with its assumptions stated — ours is, and it’s valid for thirty days.
- Buyers who aren’t buyers. Many quick-sale websites don’t buy anything — they sell your enquiry to investors or pass you to an assisted-sale scheme. Ask directly: “Are you purchasing this property with your own funds, and can you show me proof of those funds today?”
- Lock-in agreements. Option agreements and long exclusivity contracts can tie your house up for months while the “buyer” shops for someone to sell it to. Never sign anything before your own solicitor has seen it.
- Pressure and deadlines. “This offer expires tonight” is a sales tactic, not a valuation. A real cash offer survives being slept on.
Who a fast cash sale is right for — and who it isn’t
A cash sale is usually the right tool when time, certainty or the property itself rules out the open market:
- Stopping a repossession — a completed sale clears the debt before the lender takes the property
- Divorce or separation, where both parties want a clean, fast break
- Inherited and probate property, especially when it’s empty and costing money
- A broken chain, when losing your onward purchase would cost more than the discount
- Emigrating or relocating to a deadline
- Landlords exiting — with or without tenants in place
- Downsizing or moving into care, where certainty matters more than the last pound
- Properties mortgage lenders decline — non-standard construction, Japanese knotweed, spray foam insulation, subsidence, short leases
And the other side, plainly: if your property is standard, mortgageable and well located, and you can comfortably wait five or six months, an estate agent will very likely put more money in your pocket. We’ll tell you the same thing on the phone. A fast sale is a tool for a specific job, not the right answer for everyone.
How to sell your house fast through an estate agent
If you have a little more time, you can meaningfully shorten an open-market sale. The things that actually move the needle:
- Price at the market, not above it. Overpriced listings go stale, then sell below market after a cut. Homes priced right at launch attract their best offers in the first two weeks.
- Get sale-ready before you list: instruct a solicitor on day one, complete the protocol forms (TA6/TA10), and have your EPC, warranties and certificates ready. Weeks of conveyancing time is lost to paperwork that could have been prepared upfront.
- Choose an agent on average time-to-sell and fall-through rate, not on who quotes the highest valuation.
- Fix the small things and declutter — buyers price in every visible defect at more than it costs to fix.
- In a slow market, consider pricing to attract cash and chain-free buyers; a lower offer that completes beats a higher one that collapses.
If you try the open market and your buyer falls through, our offer route is always open — many of the people we buy from come to us after exactly that.
Selling a flat or a non-standard house fast
Some properties are slow to sell not because of the market, but because mainstream mortgage lenders won’t lend on them. Flats with short leases or unresolved cladding/EWS1 issues, and houses of non-standard construction — BISF, Airey, Cornish Unit, Wates, Wimpey No-Fines and Laing Easiform among others — regularly see sales collapse when the buyer’s survey comes back. The same is true of homes with Japanese knotweed, spray foam insulation or historic subsidence. Because we buy with cash, none of these are barriers for us; they are, in fact, our specialism. We’ve published detailed guides on each — see our problem property guides — and we’ll make an offer on properties most buyers can’t touch.
Sell your house fast — frequently asked questions
How quickly can you buy my house?
We can complete in as little as two weeks from your formal offer, and the completion date is yours to choose — some sellers want two weeks, others want three months to arrange their move. You’ll have an estimated offer within minutes of contacting us and a formal written offer in as little as four hours.
Can you really buy a house in 7 days?
It’s legally possible, but rarely realistic once ID checks, searches and both sides’ legal work are done properly — so we don’t promise it. Two weeks is the honest figure for a well-run cash purchase. Treat any guaranteed “7 days” claim as marketing, and ask the company what happens to the price if the deadline slips.
How much will you offer for my house?
Typically 80–85% of full market value, based on local estate agent reports, comparable sold prices and the type and condition of your property. We publish this range — most companies won’t. Your formal offer is free, in writing, and valid for thirty days.
Can I sell my house fast for market value?
Not to a genuine cash buyer — anyone promising 100% for a fast cash sale is either not being straight with you or planning to renegotiate later. The routes to full market value are an estate agent sale (around six months on average) or, occasionally, a competitive auction. Speed and certainty are what the discount buys.
Do you charge any fees?
No. There are no fees at any stage — we pay for the valuation, the independent survey and your legal costs. If any quick-sale company asks you for money upfront, walk away.
Do I need my own solicitor?
Yes — you’re independently represented throughout, and we cover the cost. Your solicitor checks the contract, handles exchange and completion, and makes sure the money lands in your account.
Are quick house sale companies regulated?
There is no statutory regulation of cash house buyers in the UK. The protection that exists is voluntary: membership of the National Association of Property Buyers and registration with The Property Ombudsman, whose Code of Practice members must follow and whose free redress scheme covers you if something goes wrong. We hold both — and you should check any buyer against both registers before proceeding.
Will you buy a house that’s unmortgageable?
Yes — unmortgageable properties are our specialism. Non-standard construction, Japanese knotweed, spray foam insulation, subsidence, short leases, fire-damaged and derelict homes: because no lender is involved, we can buy what banks won’t touch.
Do I have to accept your offer?
No. The offer is free, there’s no obligation, and it stays open for thirty days. You sign nothing until the sale is agreed through your own solicitor, and you can walk away at any point before exchange.
What documents will I need?
Photo ID and proof of address for anti-money-laundering checks, plus proof of ownership — your solicitor obtains the title from HM Land Registry. If you’re selling as an executor or under power of attorney, you’ll need the grant of probate or the registered power. Your solicitor handles the rest.
Get your free cash offer today
Tell us about your property and we’ll give you an estimated offer in minutes — free, in writing, no obligation, and nothing to sign. If we’re not the right route for you, we’ll say so.
Call [PHONE NUMBER] (open [HOURS]) or use our cash offer calculator.