Sell your house discreetly
No For Sale board. No listing on Rightmove or Zoopla. No strangers walking round your home. We buy directly, so nobody needs to know your house is for sale.
Quick answer: Yes, you can sell your house without it ever reaching the open market. We buy with our own money, so there is no listing, no board, no advertising and no viewings. The only people who need to know are you, us and the solicitors. The one thing no buyer can hide is the sold price. HM Land Registry publishes it a few months after completion.
What a discreet sale actually means
A discreet sale means the property is never advertised. In practice:
- No For Sale board outside the house at any point.
- No portal listing. Nothing appears on Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket or an agent's window.
- No open-market viewings. No strangers, no block viewings, no keys with an agent. One of our team usually wants to see the property once, at a time that suits you.
- No agent ringing your neighbours to drum up interest. Agents do that, and it's a common way word gets round.
- No chain, so no other sellers, buyers or agents in the loop.
Why people ask for this
You don't have to tell us why. We won't ask. The reasons we hear most are ordinary ones:
- A separation or divorce that isn't public yet. A board outside the house would say more than either of you wants said.
- Money trouble, where the whole street knowing feels worse than the debt itself.
- A death in the family, where the last thing anyone wants is strangers walking round.
- A landlord who doesn't want to unsettle a good tenant while the sale is still uncertain.
- Illness, or a job change that hasn't been announced yet.
- Simply not wanting your business to be everyone else's.
What we can't keep private
Three things are outside any buyer's control. Anyone promising total secrecy is overselling:
- The sold price becomes public. HM Land Registry records it and publishes it in their Price Paid data, usually two to six months after completion. That's the law, and it applies to every sale in England and Wales. What a discreet sale avoids is the months of visible activity before that.
- Your lender has to be told if there is a mortgage. It gets paid off out of the sale money on completion. The solicitors handle that between them.
- Identity and source-of-funds checks are required under anti-money-laundering rules. The checks are private to the firms involved. They can't be skipped. Be wary of anyone who offers to skip them.
How a discreet sale works with us
- You get in touch. Fill in the short form or ring us. Nothing is recorded publicly and we don't pass your details to anyone.
- We ring you back. You will speak to someone who can make you an offer there and then, not a call handler.
- Written offer the same day. A real figure, valid for 14 days, with no obligation. It's our best offer on the information we have, not an opening number we expect to work up from. It can change only if the conveyancing, meaning the legal side of the sale, turns up something material, or the house isn't as described.
- One visit, at your convenience. Usually one person, usually under an hour. We don't turn up in branded cars.
- Solicitors handle the rest. You choose the completion date, typically 7 to 28 days.
When a discreet sale isn't your best move
Sometimes the open market is the better answer. If your house is in good order and you aren't under time pressure, it will usually get you more money. That goes double if privacy is more a preference than a real worry. We buy below market value in exchange for speed, certainty and no fees, and we're straight about that. A discreet sale is worth it when privacy, speed or certainty matters more to you than the last few percent. If it doesn't, we'll say so.
Want to weigh it up first? Our cash buyer versus estate agent comparison shows what you'd be left with either way. And should I accept a cash offer covers when the answer is no.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. We buy directly with our own funds, so the property never goes on Rightmove, Zoopla or any other portal. There is no listing to find and nothing for anyone to search.
No. We never put a board up. There is nothing outside the property at any point, before or after the sale.
No. There are no open-market viewings and nobody from the public comes round. One of our team will usually want to see the property once, at a time that suits you. That is the only visit.
Eventually, yes, and no buyer can honestly promise otherwise. Sold prices are recorded by HM Land Registry and published on their Price Paid data, usually two to six months after completion. What a discreet sale avoids is the months of visible activity beforehand: the board, the listing, the viewings and the questions. It doesn't erase the public record afterwards.
Yes. Your lender has to be told, because the mortgage is redeemed out of the sale proceeds on completion. That is a normal part of any sale and is handled between the solicitors. It doesn't make the sale public.
Not always, and we won't pretend otherwise. If the property is jointly owned, every owner has to agree and sign. If you are the sole owner, the decision is yours. In a divorce or separation you may also have a legal duty to disclose the sale. Take your own advice on that.
Yes. Anti-money-laundering rules require the solicitors to verify your identity and the source of funds. That is a legal requirement on any property sale in the UK. Those checks are private and go no further than the firms involved.
No. If your property is in good order and you aren't under time pressure, the open market will usually get you more money. That is truer still if privacy isn't a real worry. We are worth talking to when speed, certainty or privacy matters more to you than the last few percent. We will tell you honestly if the open market suits you better.
Typically 7 to 28 days from you accepting the offer, on a date you choose. There is no chain and no buyer's mortgage to wait for.
Yes. Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley, plus the surrounding parts of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire within roughly 20 miles.
Yes, and people do it more often than you would think. Check your agency agreement first. Some have a tie-in period. Some need written notice. A few charge a withdrawal fee. If you are in a sole agency period, the agent may still be owed commission even on a sale to us. Send the terms over and we can point you to the parts that matter. If you are unsure about anything, ask your solicitor.
Yes. We can put a written offer to you the same day. It is based on what you tell us about the house and what we already know about prices on your street. One of us still needs to see it once before completion, at a time that suits you. The figure can move if the condition turns out different. But you get a real number first.
No, not from us. We don't sell your details and we don't pass them to estate agents, brokers or lead sites. So you shouldn't start getting cold calls out of the blue. Your enquiry is seen by our own team, the system we use to manage enquiries, and later the solicitors doing the sale. Our privacy policy sets out exactly who your data goes to. If you would rather we didn't leave a voicemail, or you want us to ring at a set time, just say.
That depends on the house, and we won't put a percentage on it before we have spoken to you. Every property is priced on what it actually is and on what you tell us about it. There is no formula behind it. The figure we put in writing is our best offer at that point, and we don't start low and work up. Anything still owed on the mortgage comes off that figure. There is no agent fee and no commission, and we can cover your legal fees if you use our panel solicitor. Apart from the mortgage, there is little else to come off. It is less than a full open market sale and we won't pretend otherwise.
No. Accepting an offer isn't legally binding until contracts are exchanged. You can walk away before then and you won't owe us anything. Our offer stays open for 14 days, so you have time to think it over or get advice without being chased. We would far rather you pulled out early than went through with something that wasn't right for you.
Often it isn't too late, but it depends how far things have gone. If a hearing is booked, a sale that is genuinely moving can sometimes be put to your lender or the court. They may agree to hold off. That decision is theirs, not ours. Ring us with the dates and we will tell you straight whether we can move fast enough. Shelter and StepChange give free advice on this too.
You choose the completion date, so that is up to you. Some people want it done in a week. Others need a month or more to sort somewhere to live. We can work to a fixed date if you have one. You do need to be out by completion day, because that is when the house stops being yours. If your plans slip, tell us early and we can usually move it.
Nothing up front, and no fees to us at any stage. No valuation fee, no admin fee, no commission. We can cover your legal fees if you use our panel solicitor. You can use your own solicitor instead, which is your right, but you would then pay their bill yourself. Anything still owed on the mortgage comes out of the sale money at completion, and the solicitors handle it.
No. One of us turns up in an ordinary car with no signage, no branding and nothing to hand out. Usually one person, usually under an hour. If you would rather we came at a quiet time, or parked further down the road, just tell us and we will. To anyone looking out of a window it is a visitor, because that is all it is.
Related situations
Discreet sales often come up alongside these: selling during divorce · selling during probate · selling to clear debt · selling with tenants in situ.