Here’s how to avoid the property market backlog and sell before Christmas

House sales are taking longer and longer

Data we've collected shows that so far this year, the time it’s taking from an initial buyer enquiry until the completion of a property sale is 140 days on average. 

This is 10% longer than the time it took to complete in 2019, and since 2017 the time it’s taking to sell our homes has increased at an average rate of 4% a year. 

This gradual increase is due to the political uncertainty seen pretty much since the EU Referendum, with the current pandemic adding to these delays in 2020. 

Reopening the property market

The reopening of the market and the additional boost of a stamp duty holiday has caused an enormous influx of buyer demand, resulting in properties being snapped up at an incredible rate.

However, the broken cycle of selling a property in the UK is preventing many sellers from completing until months down the line. 

With Christmas just 101 days away, sellers looking to transact now are unlikely to see their sale complete until the start of February, at the earliest, as Matthew Cooper, Founder & Managing Director of Yes Homebuyers, explains:‍

UK home sellers have been suffering at the hands of an archaic selling process for as long as we’ve been selling homes, with the process taking far longer than it needs to. Recent lockdown restrictions, reduced workforces and an influx of demand have also caused estate agents, conveyancers and solicitors to become overwhelmed, and this is causing huge backlogs, particularly at the legal stage once an offer is accepted.

As a result, those looking to sell their house quickly are facing a completion date of February at the earliest, although they can probably expect even longer sale times than this.

However, there are other options for sellers desperate to complete before the festive season.

The property market "Quick-Fix"

Platforms such as Yes Homebuyers can facilitate a much faster-selling process and one that is tailored to a seller's requirements. ‍

We can guarantee the price we will pay for your home, as well as providing sellers with a concrete timeframe in which we can complete. This is usually as little as 14 days. There are no agent fees or costs, no hidden charges, no contract or tie-ins, no property listings to create and list, and no laborious viewings to take care of. Yes Homebuyers also takes care of all legal fees involved in your sale. 

As a result, Yes Homebuyers has seen the average sale take just 30 days to complete from the point they are instructed by a seller to make an offer on their property; some 110 days quicker than selling in the regular market. 

Opting for this route means you can sell now with your own tailored timeframe and complete in October or earlier, leaving plenty of time to prepare for Christmas without the additional stress of a sale hanging over your head. 

Lack of certainty in the selling process

“In the current climate, many home sellers just want some certainty around their transaction, and this is something that the current property industry simply doesn’t offer.

Selling your house to Yes Homebuyers can not only provide a more concrete transaction time frame, but we also guarantee to buy your home at the price we quote with no hidden charges or backhanded tactics; just a fair, transparent process with a quick sale at the forefront of what we do. 

While our time to complete is as short as 30 days for the average seller using our platform, we work to tailored time frames to suit each seller and their personal situation. Our quickest sale to date has completed within six days of instructing us, but at the same time, some sellers prefer a longer period to get their ducks in a row and this is also something we can facilitate with ease.

Of course, you may secure a few thousand pounds more going down the traditional selling route, but this involves months of back and forth with multiple parties, legal backlogs and estate agents that do very little for the high fees they charge.”‍

A guaranteed fast house sale - what’s the catch? ‍

There's is no catch other than the marginally reduced price we offer in comparison to the market price, but it’s a price we guarantee to deliver while covering all your legal costs as well.

As always, research is vital. Whether you’re selling via a buying platform or with a traditional estate agent, read the small print. There are tons of great, transparent agents on the market, but some are incredibly crafty, and the same goes for buying platforms. Some buying platforms will offer a price only to reduce it days before completion, and this is something you need to watch out for.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions to cover all bases and know precisely where you stand, what you will be charged and what service and time frame you can expect.

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