Moving abroad and need the house sold first?
Emigrating, relocating for work, or already overseas with a UK property to sell. The problem is the same one: there's a date you can't move, and a house that might not sell by it. We buy directly, so there's no chain and no viewings to host, and you pick the completion date. Most sales complete in 7 to 28 days, 7 at the fastest. You don't need to be here for it.
Quick answer: You can sell a UK house around a fixed moving date. The open market can't promise you a completion date, because it depends on a buyer's mortgage and on everyone else in the chain. We buy with our own funds, so there's no chain and no lender. You choose the completion date, most sales complete in 7 to 28 days, and you don't need to be in the country for it.
Three steps, and the house is off your list
Tell us the date first. It decides whether we're the right route for you at all, and we'd rather say so now than in six weeks.
Step 1
Tell us where and whenPostcode, and the date you need to be gone by. If you're already abroad, say so and tell us the time zone.
Step 2
Written offer the same dayOur best offer, first time. No opening low and creeping up. Valid for 14 days, no obligation either way.
Step 3
You set the completion dateTypically 7 to 28 days, or later if your move is later. No chain, so nobody else's timetable gets a vote.
What the two routes actually involve
The open market route has seven places it can stall. Ours has two parties in it.
A chain sale
- Your buyer applies for a mortgage, which the lender can still withdraw
- The lender sends a surveyor, who can down-value or flag the condition
- Searches come back and can raise something nobody expected
- Enquiries go back and forth between four sets of solicitors
- Your buyer's own sale has to hold together
- So does their buyer's sale, and so on up the chain
- Everyone has to be ready to exchange on the same day
Selling to us
- No mortgage application, because we buy with our own funds
- No lender's surveyor, so condition can't be used to renegotiate
- No onward chain, because we aren't selling anything to buy yours
- Your solicitor still does the searches and the legal work properly
- You pick the completion date, and we work to it
That's why this route runs in weeks rather than months. The legal work still happens, the things that break sales don't.
The date is the problem, not the house
Most people who come to us before a move don't have a difficult property. They have a difficult deadline.
A flight is booked. A job starts on the first of the month. A visa has a window. The house is perfectly saleable, and that's exactly what makes the open market so frustrating, because a saleable house still takes as long as it takes.
An open market sale runs to a timetable nobody controls. Your buyer's mortgage offer, their survey, their own sale, and everyone above them in the chain. An agent can give you an average. Nobody can give you a date.
What usually goes wrong when you sell around a move
Four things, and we see all four regularly.
The sale outlives the move
You fly, and you're now running a UK sale from another time zone, with a solicitor you can only reach in a two hour window.
The chain breaks after you've gone
Roughly one in four agreed sales collapses before exchange. Starting again from abroad is a great deal harder than starting again from here.
You become a landlord by accident
The sale doesn't happen in time, so it gets let out as a stopgap. Years later it's still let, and now there's a tenancy to end first.
You carry two sets of costs
The UK mortgage, council tax, insurance and standing charges keep running while you're paying to set up somewhere else.
Not sure where you stand?
Tell us about the property and we'll come back the same day with a written offer, valid for 14 days. No obligation, and no pressure either way.
Get my free cash offerYour realistic options when you're leaving
There are three, and we're only one of them.
Sell with an estate agent. Usually the most money, and the right answer if your date is far enough out. Budget around 22 to 26 weeks from listing to completion, and accept that the date isn't yours to set. If you've got six months or more, start here.
Let it out. Keeps the asset and any growth. It also makes you a landlord in a country you don't live in, with the Renters' Rights Act, income tax on the rent, and a managing agent taking a cut. Some people want that. Many find out too late that they didn't.
Sell to us. Less than the open market would get you, and we won't pretend otherwise. What you get for that is the date. No chain, no mortgage offer to wait on, no viewings, and a completion you can plan a move around.
If your deadline is soft and the house is in good order, use an agent. We'd rather tell you that now than take a call in six weeks.
Selling a UK house when you're already overseas
If you've already gone, you can still sell. You don't need to be here.
The sale is handled by solicitors, and completion happens between them. Your solicitor will need to verify your identity and get signed paperwork from you, and they'll explain what that involves from the country you're in, because the requirements differ depending on where you are.
We can help you through it. Practically, that means we'll work to the hours you're actually awake for, we'll deal with whoever holds a key if the house is empty, and we won't ask you to fly back for a viewing.
There's no need to empty the house first either. Leave what you're not shipping. We buy properties as they stand, and clearing it afterwards is our job.
Want a real figure rather than an estimate?
Two minutes on the form is enough. We price on the property itself, not to a set percentage, and it's our best offer first time.
See what we'd payHow it works when you're moving
- Tell us where you're going and when. The date is the first thing we ask about, because it decides whether we're the right route for you at all.
- We ring you back. You'll speak to someone who can talk about the property and the timing, not a call handler reading a script.
- Written offer the same day. Our best offer, first time. We don't open low and creep up. It's valid for 14 days, and there's no obligation.
- One visit, if it's needed. If you've already left, we'll work around that.
- You set the completion date. Typically 7 to 28 days if you want it done quickly, or months out if that suits the move better. Solicitors handle the rest.
Agreeing now and completing later is fine
We are not only useful when something has to happen this month. A lot of people moving abroad want the sale settled before they start packing, then completion later, when the visa lands or the school year ends or the shipping is booked.
That works. You can accept an offer now and complete on a date months out if that is what the move needs. Our written offer is valid for 14 days as standard, so if your date is further away than that, tell us at the start and we will agree a timescale that holds rather than one that expires on you.
What we will not do is push you to complete faster than you want to. The date is the thing you came here for, and it is yours to set.
Free, no obligation. Tell us your date and we'll tell you honestly if we can hit it.
What it costs you, and what it saves
We buy below what the open market would pay. That's the trade, and it's the whole basis of the thing, so we say it plainly rather than burying it.
Against that: there are no estate agent fees, no listing costs, and we can cover your legal fees if you use our panel solicitor. There are no months of council tax, insurance and mortgage interest on a house you've already left. And there's no risk of a chain collapsing after you've handed back the keys to your rental and got on a plane.
Whether that trade is worth it depends entirely on how firm your date is. If it isn't firm, it probably isn't worth it.
Tax is not covered by our offer and stays your responsibility. Capital Gains Tax and non-resident reporting duties can both apply when you're leaving the UK or selling a UK property from abroad, and the deadlines are real. Take independent tax advice.
Is the trade worth it in your case?
That depends on how firm your date is, and we would rather tell you straight than talk you into it. Send us the property and the date and we will come back the same day in writing, valid for 14 days.
See what we'd payFrequently asked questions
Yes. Plenty of the people we buy from are already overseas. You don't need to be in the country for the sale, and we can help you work through what's needed. Your solicitor will handle identity checks and signing, and they'll tell you what can be done from where you are.
No. You don't need to be here. Completion happens between the solicitors, and the money is sent to your account. What your solicitor needs from you is identification and signed paperwork, and they will talk you through how to provide it from abroad.
Usually, if there's enough time. Most sales complete in 7 to 28 days from you accepting, and 7 days is the fastest we've done. Tell us your date at the start and we'll tell you honestly whether it's achievable rather than agreeing and hoping.
Tell us and we'll move with it. You choose the completion date, so if the job start slips or the visa takes longer, the date moves. You can also agree the sale now and complete months later if that suits the move, as long as you tell us at the start. We're not in a chain, so there's nobody else's timetable to work around.
Sometimes that's the better answer, and we'll say so. Letting it keeps the asset and the growth, but it makes you a landlord in a country you don't live in, with the Renters' Rights Act, tax on the rent and an agent to manage. If you want out cleanly, selling does that. If you want to keep it, letting is a real option.
Rather just ask us directly?
If your move has a complication we haven't covered here, tell us about it. We buy across South Yorkshire and the surrounding counties, and we will say so plainly if we are not the right route for you.
Get my free cash offerIt depends on whether the property has been your main home and how long you've lived in it. Non-residents have separate reporting duties on UK property disposals, and there are deadlines. This is genuinely worth paying an accountant for. We can't advise on tax and you should take independent advice.
No. Leave what you don't want to ship. We buy properties as they stand, furniture and all, and clearing it is our problem after completion, not yours before it.
Yes. Check the terms of your agency agreement first, because some are sole agency for a fixed period and there may be a fee if you sell elsewhere during it. Read what you signed, and ask us if you want a second view on it.
No. There are no open-market viewings. One of our team usually wants to see the property once, and if you've already gone we can arrange that with whoever holds a key, or with the agent if it's still listed.
Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley, plus Chesterfield, Worksop, Retford, Gainsborough, Mansfield and Wakefield. If your property is nearby but not on that list, ask anyway.
Working to a flight date or a visa date?
Tell us the date. Most sales complete in 7 to 28 days, or months out if that suits the move better, and if we can't work to your timescale we'll say so straight away.
Talk to us todayRelated situations
Moving often overlaps with these: selling urgently · a sale that fell through · selling with tenants in situ · cash buyer versus estate agent.
Worth reading before you decide
How Much Do Cash Buyers Offer Below Market Value?
The trade you're making when you sell for a date rather than for the last few percent.
Read guide →
Your House Has Been on the Market Too Long
What to do when the listing is going stale and your moving date is not.
Read guide →
Letting It Out Instead: What That Really Involves
Before you default to renting it out from abroad, what being a landlord actually costs you.
Read guide →Tell us where you're moving and when
Postcode first, then the date. We'll work the sale around it, and if we can't hit your timescale we'll say so straight away.
Our promise to you: We will never pressure you into a sale. Your enquiry is completely confidential. If we make you an offer and it isn't right for you, there is absolutely no obligation to proceed.