Giving Up Equity Can Feel Like a Risk. Our Repeat Landlords Tell a Different Story.

When landlords first speak to us about selling, one of the biggest questions is understandably price.

Landlord Sales Agency doesn’t promise every seller the highest possible theoretical value for their property. Instead, we agree the amount they are happy to receive and use the equity above that figure to create a sale: finding the right buyer, solving problems with tenants, keeping transactions moving and covering many of the costs that would otherwise come out of the landlord’s pocket.

For someone who has spent years building equity, agreeing to accept less than the full vacant-possession value can understandably feel like a big decision.

But there is one thing that perhaps says more about whether landlords think it is worthwhile than anything we could say ourselves. They come back. Time and time again.

Many of the landlords we work with are experienced property investors who have owned rental properties for years, benefited from substantial capital growth and are now choosing to release some or all of that equity on their own terms.

They know what their properties are worth. They also know what their time is worth, what an empty property costs and how quickly a seemingly straightforward sale can become anything but straightforward.

One Landlord. Seven Properties. Plenty Of Different Problems.

One Manchester landlord first came to us in 2021 when he was beginning to sell off part of a long-held portfolio.

His first property had a tenant who had already found somewhere else to live. Rather than wait until it was empty before starting the sales process, we contacted the tenants and by working with them instead of around them, we were able to market the property immediately. We found a cash buyer who was happy to secure the sale with a non-refundable deposit and coordinated completion around the tenant’s move.

We completed in 64 days, he received his agreed £115,000 and the property was only empty for 2 weeks so he collected rent for the rest of the period.

Our sellers walk away with 85 – 90 % of the property’s vacant possession value but giving up equity on paper didn’t necessarily mean giving up money in the bank.

On paper, accepting £115,000 against an estimated £130,000 open-market value might look like giving up £15,000 in equity. But properties don’t usually sell for their full asking price.

If a conventional sale achieved around 95% of asking price, that £130,000 becomes £123,500. Take off around £5,000 in agency and legal costs, plus £3,300–£4,950 in lost rent and an estimated £1,200–£1,800 in basic costs if the property stood empty for six to nine months, and the seller could actually have ended up with LESS left over than he received from us.

Even if he received 100% of the asking price, the amount left in the bank after all fees and costs are calculated would be in the region of £118,000–£120,000.

That’s not a lot more for a HUGE difference in time and risk.

The seller obviously thought the trade-off was good value. Since that first property, we have now dealt with six more of his properties – and they certainly haven’t all been as straightforward as the first.

We’ve sold properties with tenants remaining in situ and properties where tenants were preparing to leave. We’ve worked around tenants who were difficult to contact or reluctant to provide access, found replacement buyers when sales fell through and negotiated solutions to survey problems rather than allowing them to derail transactions.

During the course of the sales, we’ve acted as mediators to settle disputes and used our contacts to find solutions to stop sales collapsing. We’ve chased councils and helped tenants move to negate the need for bailiffs. We’ve tracked down missing paperwork, arranged builders, surveyors and inspectors to satisfy concerns and resolve issues.

These are the types of problems that cause sales to collapse when they’re discovered too late or not resolved quickly enough.

With high street sales, these sorts of problems are usually left to the seller or their solicitor to solve – when you sell through Landlord Sales agency, we take all that off your shoulders. We manage the whole process from listing to completion and make it our responsibility to solve any problem at every stage.

Our Manchester seller is not an isolated example. We have repeat clients all over the country and their business accounts for a significant percentage of our sales.

Experienced Landlords Understand the Difference

Although we can certainly help ALL seller find solution to any issue they might have whether that is in relation to the property, their tenants, timing or cash flow, the majority of landlords who come back to us are not distressed sellers and they haven’t run out of options.

Most have owned property for decades, they’ve made good returns, built substantial equity and they have simply reached the point in their life and their business where they want to access some of their wealth tied into their properties without the process of releasing it to become another difficult job to deal with.

Some sell one property and retain the rest. Others gradually reduce their portfolios over several years. Some use the released equity elsewhere.

We Don’t Expect You to Take Our Word for It

Every company says its service is good. Repeat business is proof it’s the best.

A landlord who uses us once has seen the numbers. They’ve seen what they received, what we received and exactly what we did to get the property sold.

When that same landlord comes back with a second, third or seventh property, we think that’s a considerably more useful endorsement than anything we could put in an advert.

It doesn’t mean accepting less than vacant-possession value will be right for every landlord or every property. It means there is another way to look at the decision.

Rather than asking “How much equity am I giving up?” ask “What is that equity buying me?”

If it buys a buyer, keeps the rent coming in for most of the sales process, helps a tenant move without a lengthy possession battle, solves problems as they arise and gets the equity you do want released into your bank account sooner, it may prove to be money very well used.

Find Out What Your Options Look Like

If you’re considering selling one property, part of a portfolio or exiting completely, talk to us before you talk to your tenant or start down the route of obtaining vacant possession.

Once you start down the possession-for-sale route, changing your mind can have serious consequences, including restrictions on re-letting, substantial fines and potentially a Rent Repayment Order.

There’s no obligation to proceed with our service and no false promises to win your business – just straight-talking, honest opinion based on recent sales of similar properties in the same areas as those you want to sell.

We’ll look at the property, the tenancy, what you want to achieve, then tell you what we believe we can do to help you leave the PRS on your terms.

If you’re happy with the amount you’ll receive, we’ll take care of the hard work from there – including working with your tenants, finding the right buyer and solving the problems that stand between you and completion.

No pressure to sell. Just the opportunity to see whether putting a little of your equity to work could make releasing the rest considerably easier.

Contact us today and your property sale could be complete before Xmas.