In 2021, iamproperty launched MoveButler: a digital platform promising to slash estate agents’ admin time and speed up traditional property sales.
Four years on, with MoveButler now used by over 2,000 estate agency branches (part of iamproperty’s wider network of 7,000+ branches across the UK), it’s worth asking: has proptech actually made traditional sales faster, or is a cash buyer still the quickest route to completion?
From what we’ve seen after 20+ years buying houses in England and Wales, the answer might surprise you.
What MoveButler Promised (and Delivered)
MoveButler was designed to tackle one of the biggest complaints from estate agents: administrative burden.
According to Ben Ridgway, group managing director of iamproperty, the platform aimed to address issues agents were dealing with first-hand: “increasingly high levels of administrative burden, meaning they don’t always have time to delight their customers and maximise their own revenue-generating opportunities.”
The platform launched in May 2021, initially with over 900 agents, and has since expanded to serve thousands of branches.
It offers:
- Digital onboarding journeys for buyers and sellers (saving agents roughly 2 hours per transaction)
- End-to-end transaction management
- Communication hub for all parties at each stage
- Optional legal and mortgage services
On paper, that sounds brilliant. Less admin, better communication, happier clients.
But here’s the critical question for home sellers: does reducing an agent’s admin time actually speed up YOUR sale?
The Reality: Traditional Sales Still Take 12-16 Weeks
Despite the proptech revolution, property transactions in England and Wales reached an average of 123 days (about 17.6 weeks) from instruction to completion in 2025, making England and Wales one of the slowest property markets in the world.
Propertymark reported that in March 2024, only 29% of transactions reached exchange of contracts within 12 weeks of offer acceptance, down from 78% in 2016.
Why? Because proptech platforms address agent efficiency, not the underlying structural issues that delay traditional sales:
The Problems Technology Can’t Fix
1. Chains
Even the slickest digital platform can’t prevent your buyer’s sale from falling through, or their buyer’s sale from collapsing. Chains still break at roughly the same rate they always have.
2. Mortgage Delays
According to 2024 lender data, mortgage applications still take 3-6 weeks to process. No amount of digital onboarding changes that timeline.
3. Searches and Surveys
Local authority searches take 2-4 weeks. Surveys take 1-2 weeks to arrange and report. These are external dependencies that platforms can track but not accelerate.
4. Legal Processes
Conveyancing solicitors still need to review contracts, conduct due diligence, and handle Land Registry processes. While digital tools help with document sharing, the actual legal work takes the same amount of time.
5. Gazumping Risk
Until exchange of contracts (typically week 8-12), your sale is legally non-binding under s.2 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989. MoveButler can’t change statute law.
From what we’ve seen in our two decades working with sellers, these structural delays affect every traditional sale, whether your agent uses cutting-edge proptech or a filing cabinet.
How Cash Buyers Change the Timeline
When we buy a house at Property Rescue, here’s what the timeline actually looks like:
- Offer: Within hours of your enquiry
- Survey: We handle this (3-5 working days)
- Exchange: As little as 48 hours after agreement
- Completion: 2-4 weeks total from first contact
Why the difference? Because we eliminate the structural delays:
No Chain
We’re not waiting for our buyer to secure a mortgage. We’re the end buyer.
No Mortgage
No 3-6 week mortgage application. No risk of mortgage offer being withdrawn. No lender surveys causing renegotiations.
Streamlined Legal Process
Because we’re a cash buyer with no onward chain, there are no linked parties waiting on each other and no mortgage lender involved (although the seller and buyer still each have their own solicitor). No upstream delays from buyers’ sales or lender requirements.
Certain Completion
Once we exchange (which can happen in 48 hours), completion is guaranteed. We’ve never pulled out of an exchanged contract in over 500 purchases.
The Proptech Adoption Reality
Here’s something else worth knowing: despite MoveButler being used by over 2,000 branches (within iamproperty’s network of 7,000+), 55% of UK property professionals report never using proptech tools.
Even among those who know about leading platforms, the correlation between knowing and using them is just 43%.
What does that mean for you? There’s a decent chance your estate agent isn’t using these platforms at all, and even if they are, the timeline difference is marginal.
When Digital Platforms Actually Help
To be fair, proptech platforms like MoveButler do deliver real benefits:
Genuine Improvements
- Better Communication: Having all parties on one platform reduces the “solicitor not returning calls” frustration. You can see where your transaction is in real time.
- Fewer Admin Errors: Digital onboarding reduces the risk of typos, missing forms, and lost paperwork.
- Transparency: You’re not left wondering what’s happening. The platform shows exactly which stage you’re at and what’s outstanding.
These are genuine improvements to the experience of selling via estate agent. But they’re quality-of-life upgrades, not speed upgrades.
If your priority is certainty and speed (because you’re relocating for work, settling a divorce, facing repossession, or dealing with probate), a faster, more pleasant 14-week sale is still a 14-week sale.
The Real Question: What Do You Actually Need?
This isn’t about whether MoveButler or similar platforms are good. They are; they make the traditional route smoother.
The question is: what matters most for your specific situation?
Choose Estate Agent + Proptech If:
- You have 3-6 months to sell
- You want maximum market value
- Your property is in good condition and will appeal to mortgage buyers
- You’re not in a chain yourself (or have somewhere to move to with flexibility)
- You can afford the risk of fall-throughs and renegotiations
Choose Cash Buyer If:
- You need to sell within 2-4 weeks
- Certainty matters more than squeezing every pound
- Your property has issues (structural problems, tenants, probate complications)
- You’re in financial distress (repossession risk, divorce, debt)
- You’ve already tried the traditional route and it’s fallen through
- You need to break a chain to secure your onward purchase
What We’ve Learned From 20+ Years and 500+ Purchases
We’ve bought houses from hundreds of sellers who initially listed with estate agents, many of whom used modern digital platforms.
Here’s what they tell us:
“The platform was great, but three buyers in a row pulled out.”
Proptech can’t fix gazumping or mortgage refusals.
“I could see exactly where we were in the process: stuck at week 11 waiting on searches.”
Transparency doesn’t equal speed.
“My agent’s communication was brilliant. But the chain broke anyway.”
Even the best agent can’t control what happens three transactions up the chain.
“I wish I’d known about the cash option earlier. I needed out fast, not a nice dashboard.”
This is the one that stays with me. For sellers in urgent situations, the traditional route (even a modern, tech-enabled version) just doesn’t solve the core problem.
The Bottom Line
MoveButler and similar platforms represent real progress for the estate agency industry. If you’re selling via traditional route, you’ll absolutely benefit from your agent using these tools.
But if you’re comparing estate agent + proptech vs. cash buyer, understand this:
| Route | Timeline | Fall-Through Risk | Dependencies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Estate Agent (even with best tech) | 12-16 weeks average | ~30% fall-through rate | Mortgage-dependent, chain-vulnerable |
| Cash Buyer | 2-4 weeks total | Certain completion post-exchange | No chain, no mortgage risk |
The platforms have made the traditional route better. They haven’t made it fast.
Getting a Cash Offer (No Obligation)
If you’re curious what a cash offer would look like for your property (whether you proceed with it or not), we can usually provide one within hours of your enquiry.
You’ll get:
- A fair, transparent offer based on current market value and property condition
- Clear explanation of how we’ve calculated it
- No pressure to accept (many sellers use our offer to benchmark estate agent valuations)
- Guaranteed completion timeline if you do proceed
Because we’re regulated by the FCA for our Sale and Rent Back service (FCA Register 522471) and have been doing this for over 20 years across England and Wales, we’re not here to pressure you. We’re here to give you a genuine alternative if the traditional route isn’t working.
And if an estate agent with cutting-edge proptech is the better fit for your situation? We’ll tell you that too.
Sources
- iamproperty develops movebutler estate agency platform – PropertyWire
- movebutler officially launches with over 900 agents – Inside Conveyancing
- Celebrating reaching 4,000 Estate Agents in our Partner Network – iamproperty
- How long does conveyancing take in 2025? – Juno Legal
- How long does it take to buy a UK property? – Tilly Bailey & Irvine
- Revealed – How long do property transactions take? – Today’s Conveyancer
- Agents divided over PropTech – Property Industry Eye
- Top 9 PropTech Trends in the UK Housing Market (2025 Edition) – Hometrack
