The House Buyer Bureau, a leading provider in the quick house sale market, has compiled its research from data provided by 13,000 potential customers who visited its website.
This reveals that just 6.6% cited financial difficulty for wanting to obtain a quick house sale, while almost 60% flagged up relocation or the desire to buy a new house.
Director Chris Hodgkinson believes that the industry does not deserve some of the criticism that has come about as the result of unscrupulous operators trying to make money out of people who need to sell quickly because they are facing financial difficulties.
‘Our research demonstrates that those in financial distress make up only a very small proportion of our customer base. It also shows that there are many common misconceptions about the quick house sale market, with the industry providing a useful solution to many families who simply want to sell their home quickly in what can be a sluggish market,’ he said.
‘A large number of our clients are looking for a quick sale for reasons such as having to relocate for work and not wanting to leave the house empty when they move to the new area, rather than because they are facing financial problems,’ he added.
Overall the research found that 32.4% would consider using a quick sales service because of relocation, 25.1% for buying a new home, 18.5% due to a bereavement, 10.4% because of divorce or separation, 6.6% due to financial difficulty, 4.5% for equity release, 1.6% because they are stuck in a chain and 1% for a business investment.
The House Buyer Bureau has warned consumers against firms that embrace an aggressive and unscrupulous approach to the market and backed calls for the formation of a voluntary industry body to prevent bad practice. This includes practices such as dropping the price at the last minute, pretending to be a cash buyer, or tying people into unfair contracts.
It has also welcomed proposals by the Office of Fair Trading about the formation of an association of house buying companies and has been working with a small number of other quick house sale companies and The Property Ombudsman to draw up a Code of Conduct for the industry.
‘The worst two practices are reducing the price offered, without any legitimate reason, at the point of sale, known as gazundering and locking in customers in unfair contracts, known as option agreements, for six months or more which prevents them, through severe penalties for breach of contract, from selling to anyone else for that period,’ explained Hodgkinson.
He added that all of the House Buyer Bureau’s formal offers are Subject to Contract and a RICS Survey. The survey is conducted by a Chartered Surveyor local to the property and the survey report is available for inspection by its customers.
The House Buyer Bureau will only reduce a formal offer for a legitimate reason, for example, if the surveyor found the property had structural problems which had a detrimental effect on the value.
Earlier this year, following a study on the sector, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) stated publically that they found the sector to be dynamic and innovative’ and that ‘responsible quick house sale firms offer a valuable service to consumers who want a quick sale’, they also found there were firms using unfair trading practices that give the industry a bad name.
