We Buy Any House: How Much Below Market Value They Offer?

If you type “We Buy Any House” into Google, you’ll see a lot of confident promises and very few straight answers. So let me give you one. A genuine cash buyer in England and Wales will typically offer between 75% and 80% of your property’s open-market value. At Property Rescue, that’s 80% for houses and 75% for flats, which puts us right at the top of that genuine range.

Anything dramatically higher than that should make you suspicious, not excited. I’ll explain exactly why in a moment.

I’m Danny. I’ve been buying property for cash since 2005, and we buy more than 500 homes a year. I also resell those homes through estate agents once we’ve refurbished them, so I see both sides of the deal. That gives me a clear view of what a genuine offer looks like and what’s just a number designed to win your business.

Here’s everything you need to know about how much below market value these companies really offer, and how to tell the real ones from the rest.

How Much Below Market Value Do “We Buy Any House” Companies Offer?

The honest range is 75% to 80% of open-market value.

That means a 20% to 25% discount. On a £300,000 home, a genuine cash buyer would offer somewhere around £240,000. Anything advertised above 80% is usually a headline figure designed to win your call, not a price that survives into a contract.

It’s not a small gap, and I’d never pretend it is. But that figure isn’t plucked from thin air. It reflects the costs we take on, the risk we carry, and the speed and certainty we give you in return.

The Honest Range: Why 75% to 80% Is the Genuine Zone

We’re a business, and we’re a cash buyer. We don’t pay full market value, because we can’t and still operate.

When we make an offer, we explain exactly how we got there, then tell you the percentage. No mystery, no moving goalposts.

The trade-off is simple: a lower price in exchange for speed and certainty. In a buyer’s market, the real risk isn’t shaving a few percent off the price. It’s your property sitting static on the market for months while you carry the costs and stress.

Houses vs Flats: Why the Percentage Differs

We offer 80% for houses and 75% for flats. That’s not arbitrary.

Flats are harder and slower to resell. They come with service charges, ground rent, and leasehold complications, and right now there is a lot more competition on the market.

Houses tend to hold value better and sell faster. So the percentage we can offer is a little higher.

What About Properties Under £150,000?

For properties below £150,000, the percentage varies depending on the value of the property.

The fixed costs of buying, surveying, and reselling don’t shrink in proportion to a lower price. So on cheaper properties, those costs take a bigger bite, and the percentage reflects that.

Why Do Cash Buyers Pay Below Market Value?

Because we absorb everything a normal sale would throw at you, and we take on the risk.

When you sell to us, there’s no estate agent commission, no months of viewings, no chain that can collapse at the last minute. We buy the property as it is, then spend our own money refurbishing and reselling it.

We’re also carrying the risk you’d otherwise carry. If the market dips, if the refurbishment costs more than expected, if the property sits unsold once we own it, that’s on us, not you.

That certainty has a value. The discount is the price of it.

How We Actually Arrive at Your Offer

Plenty of companies are vague about this. I’d rather show you the workings.

• Fact-find. We start with a short conversation to understand the property and your situation.
• Underwriter review. Our underwriters review the details before any figure is shared.
• Indicative offer. We give you a market value and a percentage, usually within 24 hours.
• Property visit. We attend the property to take videos and photos.
• Two local agents. We speak to two local estate agents to confirm our final offer.

That last step matters. We don’t value your home in a vacuum. We anchor it to what two independent local agents say it’s actually worth.

Do We Knock the Offer Down After the Survey?

This is the question every seller is right to ask, because it’s where the cowboys do their damage.

No, we don’t knock offers down after the valuation visit. Our formal offer matches the indicative offer around 95% of the time.

So what triggers a revision in the other 5%? Two things, and only two things: something adverse showing up on the survey, or the local agents’ valuations coming in lower than we expected.

That’s it. We don’t make a strong offer to win your instruction and then quietly chip away at it once you’re committed. If you’ve ever heard a horror story about a price being slashed days before exchange, that’s the practice we built our reputation against.

Beware the Too-Good-to-Be-True Offer

Here’s what most sellers get wrong: they assume the highest percentage is the best one. Often, it’s the opposite.

A higher headline figure is exactly what should make you suspicious.

Take that £300,000 property. We’d offer around 80%, which is £240,000. A non-genuine company might dangle 90% or even 100%. But once you factor in stamp duty (including the 5% surcharge on additional properties) and all the other costs of buying, it’s effectively impossible for a real buyer to pay that and survive.

So how do they get away with advertising it?

• The “100%” crowd often have no intention of buying your home at all. They take your details and sell the lead to companies like us.
• The “90%” crowd may simply put your property straight onto the open market at a reduced price, rather than buying it themselves.

Either way, the number that pulled you in was never the number you’d actually receive.

Is the Highest Percentage Always the Best?

No. As the £300,000 example above shows, the headline figure and the final contracted price are often very different things.

If one company quotes 85% and another quotes 75%, don’t just grab the 85%. A company may quote 85% on the phone to win your instruction, but that figure may not survive into the contract.

Ask two questions:

1. Is that percentage the actual contracted price, or just a number to win my instruction?
2. How can you realistically afford it once stamp duty and all the costs of buying are accounted for?

A genuine buyer will answer both without flinching. Then read the small print on the contract. The figure that matters is the one written into the agreement, not the one shouted down the phone.

What to Check Before You Sign

A few quick checks save a lot of pain:

• Get the offer in writing, with the percentage and the figure clearly stated.
• Confirm whether the company is actually buying, or just marketing your home.
• Check whether they’re a member of a redress scheme such as The Property Ombudsman.
• Read the contract terms on price revisions before you commit.

The “90%” Trick: Cash Purchase vs Assisted Sale

This is where a lot of the confusion comes from, and almost no one explains it properly.

When a company advertises 90%, they’re usually not talking about a straight cash purchase. They’re talking about an assisted sale, which is a very different animal.

We can offer up to 90% on an assisted sale, depending on the value of the property. But it works differently: it’s a managed sale on the open market, not an instant cash purchase, so it takes longer.

Who’s it right for? Usually a landlord or second-home owner who isn’t in any major rush. Or someone working full time who simply doesn’t have the time or energy to manage agents and handle the negotiating.

Who’s it not right for? Anyone in a chain who’s already found their onward purchase and needs to move and complete within 28 days. If speed is your priority, an assisted sale isn’t your route.

The bottom line: if you see 90%, ask whether it’s a guaranteed cash purchase or an assisted sale. They are not the same thing.

The Real Gap Is Smaller Than You Think

When sellers first hear “80%”, they focus on the 20% they’re “losing”. But that comparison isn’t honest, because a traditional sale is far from free.

By the time many homeowners come to us after months on the market with no sale, they’ve typically spent up to £2,000 in fees already. Agent marketing costs, solicitor fees for deals that fell through, an EPC. All for nothing.

That money’s gone. So the real gap between our offer and the open market is smaller than it first looks.

Then there’s the risk you avoid. Our own data makes the point: across thousands of open-market sales we have tracked in England and Wales between 2020 and 2026, more than one in three (34.6%) fell through before completion, with survey issues a common cause (Property Rescue). Estate agent fees average 1.42% including VAT on top (HomeOwners Alliance, 2025).

A guaranteed cash offer takes all of that uncertainty off the table.

When Does a Below-Market Cash Offer Actually Make Sense?

Let me be straight with you, because I tell sellers this every week: a cash sale isn’t right for everyone.

If you’ve got time on your side and you’re not under any pressure, the open market may well serve you better. I’ve talked plenty of people out of selling to us for exactly that reason.

But a below-market offer earns its keep when speed and certainty genuinely matter:

• You’re facing repossession or a tight deadline.
• A buyer has pulled out and your chain has collapsed.
• You’re handling a probate or divorce sale and want it done cleanly.
• You’re a landlord exiting the market and want out without the drama.

In those situations, the certainty of a fixed cash figure beats a slightly higher number that might never materialise.

So which route is right for you? It comes down to what matters most. If you need to sell fast and you’re happy to accept a fair discount in return for speed and certainty, a cash purchase at 75% to 80% is the straightforward choice, with a figure you can hold us to in writing and trust right through to completion. If you’ve got a little more flexibility on timing and would rather push for a higher return, an assisted sale could get you closer to full market value, up to 90% depending on the property.

Not sure which one fits your situation? Get in touch and we’ll talk it through honestly, with no pressure either way.