Does it cost anything to sell to a cash buyer?

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 should not 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 does not 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 per cent including VAT (HomeOwners Alliance, Pine), and multi-agency runs higher at 2.0 to 3.5 per cent 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 2 to 4 weeks, 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.

Why 80-85% is gross, not what you lose

Cash offers from reputable buyers sit at around 80 to 85 per cent of open-market value in 2026. It is easy to read that as "I am losing 15 to 20 per cent", but that is not how the maths lands, because the two routes do not start from the same place.

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 are not comparing 82 per cent against 100 per cent. You are comparing a clean 82 per cent against an open-market price that has already been trimmed by fees and months of carrying costs, and which is not guaranteed to complete at all.

On a £200,000 property, an estate agent sale at 97 per cent of asking, after commission, conveyancing and roughly 25 weeks of holding costs, nets a seller in the region of £188,000. A cash offer at 82 per cent is £164,000, with the buyer covering the legals, so £164,000 is what you actually receive. The real difference is closer to 12 per cent than the 18 the raw percentage implies, and that is before you weigh the risk of the open-market sale collapsing. We show the full worked version on our cash buyer vs estate agent page.

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 will not 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 does not make every cost in your life vanish, and it should not 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 does not 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

Does it cost anything to sell to a cash buyer?

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.

Do I pay solicitor or legal fees when I sell to a cash buyer?

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.

Should I ever pay an upfront fee to a cash buyer?

Never. A genuine cash buyer does not 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.

If offers are 80-85% of market value, am I losing 15-20%?

Not in real terms. The 80-85% is a gross figure with nothing deducted and your legals covered. 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 is not guaranteed to complete. The gap in your pocket is usually far smaller than the raw percentage suggests.

Why is a cash offer lower than the asking price if there are no fees?

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.

How do I know a cash buyer really is fee-free and legitimate?

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.

Do I still have to pay off my mortgage when I sell to a cash buyer?

Yes. Your outstanding mortgage and any secured loans are repaid from the sale proceeds on completion, exactly as on any sale. That is not a fee the buyer charges you, it is the normal settlement of what is secured against the property.

Is Capital Gains Tax my responsibility when I sell to a cash buyer?

Yes, where it applies. Tax is the seller's responsibility on any route, cash or open market. It is not a cost the buyer charges, and we would suggest independent tax advice if you are unsure whether it applies to you.