Does it cost anything to sell to a cash buyer?
No. With a genuine, regulated cash buyer you pay nothing to sell: no commission, no listing fee and no admin fee. We can cover your legal fees too if you use our panel solicitor. Any buyer who asks for money upfront before completion is a red flag, not a real buyer.
Get a Free Cash Offer Call us nowQuick answer: No. There is no commission, no listing fee and no admin fee, and we can cover your legal fees if you use our panel solicitor. Compare what lands, not what is quoted: the figure you agree with us is the figure that reaches your account on completion, with nothing taken off it.
The short answer: a genuine cash sale is fee-free
If you are worried about hidden costs, here is the plain truth. Selling to a genuine cash buyer shouldn't cost you a penny out of pocket. There is no estate agent, so there is no commission. There is no marketing, so there is no listing or photography fee. And a reputable buyer pays your conveyancing costs through their panel solicitor, so even the legal side is covered.
That is very different from the open-market route, where the seller carries agent commission, their own solicitor's bill, an EPC, sometimes pre-sale works, and months of carrying costs while the sale grinds through conveyancing. We set out exactly who pays what further down this page so you can see the full picture, not just the headline.
One honest caveat: fee-free doesn't mean cost-free in every sense. A cash offer is lower than the open-market asking price, and that gap is a real trade for speed and certainty. But that is a price difference, not a fee. Nobody sends you an invoice. The figure you agree is the figure that lands in your account.
Who pays what: cash buyer vs estate agent
On the estate agent route the seller pays for almost everything. Sole agency commission in 2026 averages around 1.2 to 1.42% including VAT (HomeOwners Alliance, Pine), and multi-agency runs higher at 2.0 to 3.5% plus VAT. On top of that you pay your own conveyancing, which the Property Solvers 2026 survey puts at around £1,316 for a freehold and £1,628 for a leasehold including VAT. Add an EPC if yours has expired, any pre-marketing tidying up, and the council tax, insurance and mortgage interest that keep running for the roughly 25 weeks the average UK sale now takes from listing to completion (Zoopla 2026).
With a genuine cash buyer, the costs move to the other side of the table. There is no commission because there is no agent. There is no marketing bill because the property is never listed. And a regulated buyer covers your solicitor's fees through their own panel. Because completion typically lands inside 7 to 28 days, the months of carrying costs largely disappear too. That is the core reason the gap between the two routes is smaller in your pocket than the headline offer percentage suggests.
Auction deserves the same test. With the modern method of auction the buyer pays a non-refundable reservation fee on top of the price, commonly 4.2 to 5% plus VAT. It is described as paid by the buyer, not the seller, but a buyer works to a total budget, so that fee comes out of what they can afford to bid. Your own entry, marketing and legal pack costs then come off the price that is left. Auction can still be the right route, especially for an unusual property or one with a title problem. It just means the hammer price isn't the number to compare. Compare what lands in your account.
Why the headline gap is bigger than the real gap
It is fair to ask how far below market value a cash offer sits. We won't put a percentage on it before we have spoken to you, because there is no formula. Every property is priced on what it actually is and on what you tell us about it. What we can explain here is why the gap in your pocket is smaller than it first looks, because the two routes don't start from the same place.
Want to check that against your own house? Get a free, independent estimate from Zoopla or Rightmove, then ask us what we would pay. Every property is different, so we price yours on what it actually is rather than on a formula. There is no fee and no obligation.
The estate agent's headline number is a gross figure too. Before anything reaches you it loses commission, your solicitor's bill, an EPC, and every month of council tax, insurance and mortgage interest until the day you complete. The cash figure has none of those deductions, and the buyer pays your legals. So you aren't comparing our figure against the full asking price. You are comparing a clean figure with nothing taken off it against an open-market price that has already been trimmed by fees and months of carrying costs, and which isn't guaranteed to complete at all.
On a £200,000 property, an estate agent sale at 97% of asking, after commission, conveyancing and roughly 25 weeks of holding costs, nets a seller in the region of £188,000. So the number to hold a cash offer against isn't the £200,000 asking price, it is the £188,000 that is actually left. A cash figure has none of those deductions and your legal fees are covered if you use our panel solicitor, so what you agree is what you receive. That is the comparison worth making, and it comes before you weigh the risk of the open-market sale collapsing. We show the agent-side maths in full on our cash buyer vs estate agent page. That example only works if the holding costs actually land. If your house is mortgage-free, in good order and likely to sell within a few weeks, there is far less to deduct and the agent keeps most of that gap. In that case an estate agent will usually put more in your pocket, and we will tell you so.
Upfront fees are a scam signal, not a service
Here is the single clearest rule for protecting yourself. A genuine cash buyer never asks you for money before completion. Not a valuation fee, not a survey fee, not a reservation or "admin" fee, not a deposit to "secure your slot". If a buyer asks you to pay anything upfront, stop.
Charging an upfront fee is one of the recognised red flags of a cash buyer scam. The pattern is simple: a fake or lead-selling operation collects fees from anxious sellers, then either delivers nothing or hands your details to a network and disappears. Real buyers make their money by buying and reselling or renting property, not by billing sellers before a sale exists.
Watch too for the buyer who wants you to sign an exclusivity or lock-in agreement before they will even name a price, and for the offer that drops sharply at the last minute after you are already committed. Both are ways of squeezing value out of a seller who feels they can no longer walk away. With a real buyer, the offer is written, the funds are the buyer's own, and you are free to say no at any point without owing a thing.
How to check a buyer really is fee-free
You can verify a legitimate, fee-free cash buyer in about ten minutes, and it is worth doing before you sign anything.
First, get the offer in writing and check it names no fees to you. A genuine buyer states plainly that there is no commission, no admin fee, and that they cover your conveyancing. Second, confirm who covers the legals in writing, and ask which solicitor. A buyer who won't name a solicitor is one to avoid. Third, check the company on Companies House for an active registration and filing history. Fourth, look for membership of the National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB) and The Property Ombudsman, whose Code of Practice for Residential Property Buying Companies sets standards for how sellers are treated. Fifth, ask whether the buyer is a principal buying with their own funds or a middleman who will reassign your contract to someone else.
If any of those checks come back blank, or the buyer resists giving you straight answers, treat it as your signal to walk. A buyer with nothing to hide will welcome every one of these questions.
What you keep, and what stays your responsibility
To be completely straight with you, a fee-free sale doesn't make every cost in your life vanish, and it shouldn't claim to. A few things remain yours whichever way you sell, and a trustworthy buyer will tell you so upfront rather than leaving you to find out later.
Your outstanding mortgage is repaid from the sale proceeds on completion, exactly as it would be on any sale. If you owe more than the property is worth, that shortfall doesn't disappear and will need your lender's agreement. Any second charges or secured loans registered against the property are settled from the proceeds in the same way.
Tax is also still yours. Capital Gains Tax, where it applies, is the seller's responsibility on any route, cash or open market, and we would always suggest independent tax advice if you are unsure. None of these are fees the buyer charges you. They are simply the normal financial obligations that sit against the property and the sale itself. What a genuine cash buyer removes is the cost of selling: the commission, the marketing, the legals, and the months of waiting.
Frequently asked questions
No. With a genuine, regulated cash buyer there is no commission, no marketing fee and no admin fee, and a reputable buyer covers your solicitor costs through their panel. The offer you agree is the amount you receive, with nothing deducted and no invoice to pay.
With a reputable cash buyer, no. A regulated buyer covers your conveyancing through their own panel solicitor. Always get this confirmed in writing and ask which solicitor is being used before you proceed.
Never. A genuine cash buyer doesn't ask for any money before completion. Any request for a valuation, survey, reservation or admin fee upfront is a recognised scam signal. Real buyers earn from buying property, not from billing sellers.
Not in real terms. A cash figure has nothing taken off it and your legal fees are covered if you use our panel solicitor, so it reaches your account whole. The estate agent's higher headline price loses commission, your own solicitor's fees and months of carrying costs before it reaches you, and it isn't guaranteed to complete. We don't price to a percentage, so the only way to know your number is to ask us for it. The gap in your pocket is usually smaller than a headline comparison suggests.
The lower offer is a price for speed and certainty, not a hidden fee. The buyer completes in weeks with their own funds, in any condition, and carries the refurbishment and resale risk. That trade is reflected in the price, but nobody charges you a fee on top.
Get the offer in writing with no fees to you, confirm who covers the legals, check the company on Companies House, look for NAPB and Property Ombudsman membership, and ask whether the buyer is a principal using their own funds or a middleman reassigning your contract. A genuine buyer welcomes every one of these checks.
Yes. Your outstanding mortgage and any secured loans are repaid from the sale proceeds on completion, exactly as on any sale. That isn't a fee the buyer charges you, it is the normal settlement of what is secured against the property.
Yes, where it applies. Tax is the seller's responsibility on any route, cash or open market. It isn't a cost the buyer charges, and we would suggest independent tax advice if you are unsure whether it applies to you.
No, speed doesn't cost you anything extra. There is no rush fee, no express charge and no premium for a short deadline. We can complete in as little as 7 days, and completions usually fall between 7 and 28 days. Nothing is added to the price for moving quickly, whether it takes one week or four.
No, you can walk away at any point before contracts are exchanged and you won't owe us a penny. There is no lock-in, no cancellation fee and no charge for the work already done. Our written offer stands for 14 days, so you have time to think it over, take advice or compare it with an estate agent. If the open market suits you better, that is fine by us.
Possibly, and it is worth checking before you do anything else. Some agency agreements have a tie-in period, or sole selling rights that can leave you owing commission even if you sell to someone else during it. Dig out your paperwork and read the notice section, or ask the agent straight out. Any fee like that is between you and them. It isn't something we charge.
No, you don't need to clear it, clean it or repair a thing, and we won't bill you for doing it ourselves. We buy in any condition, and tired houses needing work are the ones we most often take on. Leave behind whatever you don't want. The condition you tell us about is priced into the offer, so there is no clearance or repair bill to pay.
Yes, if you use your own solicitor you would normally pay their bill yourself. We can cover your legal fees if you use our panel solicitor instead. You are free to instruct whoever you like and we will never push you away from that. Some people prefer a firm they already know and trust, which is a fair choice. Just budget for their fee if you go that way.
No, we don't cut the price at the last minute to squeeze a seller. Our written offer stands for 14 days and is based on what you have told us about the house. The only thing that could change it is something genuinely new from the legal checks, such as a title problem or a serious structural issue nobody knew about. If that ever happened we would explain it plainly, and you could still walk away.
It depends on how much you owe, and we will be straight with you about it. Your mortgage, the arrears and any lender charges come out of the sale money on completion, and what is left is yours. If the debts are close to or above what the house is worth, a sale may not clear them and your lender would have to agree to it. We will tell you if that looks likely rather than string you along.
No, there is no charge for a visit, an assessment or an offer, whatever we decide at the end of it. The offer is free and there is no obligation on either side. Some houses aren't right for us, and if yours is one of them we will say so quickly and point you towards a better route, such as an estate agent or auction.
The sale money is paid to your solicitor on completion day, once contracts have exchanged and completed. We take nothing off it. Your solicitor settles the mortgage and any secured loans from the proceeds, then sends the balance on to your bank. Completion can be as quick as 7 days and usually falls between 7 and 28 days, and we can work to a date that suits you.
Your council tax, insurance and mortgage payments stay yours right up to completion day, on any sale route. That isn't a fee, it is simply the running cost of owning the house. A faster sale is the main way to cut it. Our sales complete in 7 to 28 days, so those bills run for weeks rather than the months a normal sale on the open market takes.
Get your free, no-obligation cash offer
If you want to see the exact figure with no fees attached, request a free cash offer through our short form and take it from there. We are a small local team, we buy with our own funds, and you speak to the people making the decision. You get a written offer the same day, valid for 14 days, and there is nothing to pay us at any stage.
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