Selling House and Organising Viewings

I've sold three properties in the last year so have some recent experiences.

The first sale was to a cash buyer on an almost new property, no issues whatsoever, but still took 3 months to complete.

I agreed the sale of the second property 3 times, one to a buyer who lied about their house sale status, another pulled out after a month, and the third went on to complete in 5 weeks to a cash buyer living with relatives.

The third property sold in 2 days to a buyer who had already sold their home to a first-time buyer with cash and a mortgage in place. Sounded ideal; they picked over everything and boiled my piss on an almost daily basis, questioning everything in a 43 page building survey on a 65 year old property. Most were completely trivial and wouldn't bother 99.9% of people. Nearly 4 months to complete although to be fair, I wasn't ready to move, so let it drag on a bit.

My point is, even with a cash buyer and no chain, you're not guaranteed a quick, fast sale. The older the property, the more issues you will likely encounter. A building survey could reveal any number of potential problems which could deter a buyer, or see them demanding monies off due to work required. You'll need to provide a fair amount of paperwork too, like an EPC certificate, Gas and Electrical safety certificates etc. Whilst not all are a legal requirement, you can save a lot of time and hassle by having all the information the buyers (or their solicitors) will ask for. If they have a box ticking type conveyancer, the more boxes you can tick the smoother it will be. Anticipate and check, and if possible resolve, all the issues you think may become a stumbling block in the process.

We just accepted an offer from a cash buyer only to find that most of the their cash was locked in an account until September.

We are considering going ahead anyway as a normal sale can take 4 months, and if the solicitors allow us to exchange contracts after searches and survey, then they are locked into the sale at the contracted price, or lose their 10% exchange deposit, as far as I understand.

A 1st time buyer with a mortgage is as good if not better than a supposed cash buyer , chains are a pain and the shorter the better . You're at one end of the chain , so keep it as short as possible.
I would instruct the estate agent to only have viewers whose properties are on the market (minimal) and preferably sold STC . I lived in a caravan for 50 nights once I got a buyer , so I became a cash buyer, but since the property is empty you don't have that problem.

When we went on the market last year (600+k house in northants) we had a few viewings some were ready some were not. I got a bit bored of it all and when one couple wanted to view who were not even on the market i said no, it felt like to much faff with taking the dogs out, getting house ready etc…. Anyway a few days later the estate agent called again asking if they could view, they were ready to go on if required.

I was in a better mood that day so agreed, they viewed, loved it, went on the market and sold in a week and we then agreed a deal and they bought our house. Was a bit of a eye opener

It’s not a case of solicitors “allowing” exchange, more a case of whether the parties to the contract want there to be one. If they’re a a genuine cash buyer, they don’t actually even need to bother with surveys or searches, albeit i suspect most will do the latter at least.

If it were me, I’d push to say that it’s part of the deal, with the cash not having actually been available.

Estate agents are crap at qualifying cash buyers. I’ve even had one ask for a copy of my (mortgage) agreement in principle…and then get confused when I said there wasn’t one.

Not in my experience, in fact, the opposite, for our last 2 properties, cash buyers have pulled out.


It would be interesting to see what proportion of 'cash' buyers vs 'financed' actually complete on their first offers that get accepted.


OP, I forgot to say, condolences on your Dad.

A cash buyer is a nonsense

If someone has enough cash to buy a house languishing in their current account that's a signal they are financially inept. It should be invested, at least in ns&I

You'd be daft to buy a house with cash when you can get a mortgage. Put that money to work! So most cash buyers would go on to complete with a mortgage.

And a mortgage can be turned around in weeks while other stuff is happening so no big deal

The best buyer is a no chain buyer with a mortgage in principle approved as any cash buyer would be getting a mortgage anyway unless they are retired

Exactly the same for me. I even once had all the money in NS&I and gave them a screenshot of that.

This is the way it should be! Lesson learned for you!