What we pay

What you would actually walk away with.

Our offers are below what an estate agent would sell your home for. Rather than argue about a percentage, we show you what each route leaves in your pocket and how long each one takes, using typical figures we list under the table, so you can decide with the real numbers in front of you.

Most companies in this market say "up to" a figure and decide once you are on the phone. Ours comes in writing the next working day, the letter shows what we allowed for, and if an estate agent is the better choice for you we say so on the first call.

A row of yellow brick Victorian terraced houses on a Cambridge street

Put your own numbers in

Selling with an estate agent, next to selling to us.

Drag the sliders to your home and your situation. The agent's figure loses a little at every step: the negotiation, the fee, your legal costs, and the months you are paying for the home while you wait. Ours is one figure, with nothing coming off it.

Your situation

£250,000
£80k£900k
£125,000
None£250,000
Estate agent
Next Day Offer
Time to sell
About 7 monthsAbout two months to find a buyer, then five more to complete
14 days, or your date
Advertised at
£250,000The figure the agent puts it on the market at
No advertising, no viewingsOne visit from the person who writes your offer, if we need to see it
Sale agreed at
£240,000Buyers typically negotiate about 4% off the asking price
£200,000Our written offer, the next working day. The letter is the price.
After the agent's fee
£236,592£3,408 at the average 1.42% including VAT
£200,000No fees, no commission
After your legal fees
£235,392About £1,200 for your own conveyancing
£200,000£0 with our partner solicitor. We pay them, and they act for you.
After mortgage interest while you wait
£231,382£4,010: 7 months at 5.5% on £125,000
£200,000The mortgage is cleared in 14 days
If the sale falls through
About 1 in 4 doAdd months and the fees you have already paid out, then start again with a new buyer
It cannot, once we exchangeA deposit is paid to you on exchange, and the price and date are binding on us
What you walk away with
£231,382After about 7 months, if the sale holds
£200,000In 14 days, or on the date you choose

The difference is £31,382: about £4,483 for each of the 7 months an agent sale would typically take, if it holds. That is what a firm date, no viewings and no chain cost in this example. If we think an agent is the better choice for you, we say so on the first call.

How we worked this out
Time to sell
Rightmove, July 2026: on average it takes 62 days to find a buyer and a further 154 days to complete, 216 days in all. We call that seven months.
Sale agreed
Zoopla measures the gap between asking and agreed prices; it averaged 5.5% at its 2023 peak. We use a gentler 4%.
Agent's fee
HomeOwners Alliance, 2026: the average estate agent fee is 1.42% including VAT. Sole agency fees run from about 1.2% to 1.8%.
Your legal fees
A seller's conveyancing typically costs £1,000 to £1,500 including VAT and disbursements once searches and bank transfers are added. We use £1,200, and pay it in full when you use our partner solicitor.
Mortgage interest
Uswitch and Moneyfacts, September 2026: the average two year fixed rate is 5.69% and the big lenders' rates sit around 5.3%; we use 5.5%. The average standard variable rate is 7.25%, which is what most people in arrears are paying. Only interest counts as a cost, not the capital you repay.
An empty home
Average Band D council tax in England is £2,392 for 2026/27, about £200 a month, and many councils charge double once a home has been empty for a year. We add about £120 a month for unoccupied insurance, standing charges, heating against frost and upkeep.
Rented homes
Under the Renters' Rights Act a landlord who wants to sell with vacant possession gives four months' notice, and cannot do so in the first year of a tenancy. Most agents market a rental empty, so we count the months without rent; with us the tenants stay and the rent runs to completion.
Falling through
TwentyCi: 23.4% of agreed sales fell through in 2026 so far, and 24.4% in 2025. We do not take that off the agent's figure; we show it as the risk it is.
Our figure
A typical written offer for a home of the value you enter. Where your own offer sits depends on the property, the area, its condition and how quickly you want to complete, and the letter shows what we allowed for. No fees or commission come off it, and it does not drop once it is in writing.

An illustration, not an offer. Your figures will differ, and the only offer is the one in your letter. Nothing here is financial or legal advice; if you are behind on the mortgage, speak to your lender and a free debt adviser as well as to us.

The pledges

Three things that stop a good offer becoming a bad sale.

No chip

The price in the letter is the price on completion day. If our survey turns up something material that neither of us knew about, we show you the evidence and you decide: revised price, or walk away at no cost. We do not turn up the week before completion asking for £10,000 off.

No fees, ever

No valuation fee, no admin fee, no commission, no charge if you withdraw. If money is going from you to us at any point, something is wrong.

No pressure

A 7 day cooling off period after you accept, legal fees paid with our partner solicitor, and no cold calls. We would rather you took advice and came back than signed in a hurry.

When we are the wrong choice

Honestly, sometimes we are.

  • You can wait six months and you are not paying to hold the property in the meantime.
  • Your home is in good condition in a strong area where buyers are queueing.
  • You have a chain you are happy with and a buyer who has already had their survey.
  • The difference between our offer and an agent's price matters more to you than the date.
  • In those cases we will say so on the first call, and point you at a good local agent instead. Read how the process works

Questions

Questions about the price

Below what an estate agent would sell it for. How far below depends on the property, the area, its condition and how quickly you want to complete, and the letter shows what we allowed for. Put your figure into the table above and you will see a typical offer next to what an agent sale would leave you with after the fee, your legal costs and the months of waiting.

A bunch of keys hanging from a dark green front door

Find out what we would pay. Three minutes, and it commits you to nothing.

A written offer the next working day, from people you can name.