Sheffield property: Buying a quick sale home in Sheffield can save you £24,000

Sellers in need of a quick sale are prepared to offer a discount of £24,256 to buyers who are able to complete the process as quickly as possible.

The figures come from property purchasing specialist HBB Solutions and show the biggest savings are available in Yorkshire and Humber where the average price for a quick sale property is 14.8 per cent, or roughly £24,000 below the regional average.

Buyers have got to be able to move swiftly to secure a quick sale property and it’s vital to have a mortgage approved in principle before submitting an offer. Not only does this mean your journey to getting the mortgage fully guaranteed is much shorter, but it shows the seller that you’re serious about moving quickly.

It’s also a massive benefit to be free of a chain. Chains are the bane of the quick seller’s life - they create delays, uncertainty and frequently result in fall-throughs.

Cash buyers will also rocket to the top of an impatient seller’s list, beating off any competitors who are still fumbling around trying to sort their mortgage paperwork.

So how do you find quick sale properties?

Buyers should not be afraid to ask estate agents if they are representing a seller who is keen to sell quickly and may have listed below market value or be willing to take a bigger hit when negotiating.

Most of the well-known property portals also enable searches to be filtered by terms such as ‘quick sale’.

Managing director of HBB Solutions Chris Hodgkinson said: “Lots of people move home because of changing life circumstances, such as new jobs, bereavements or the start of, or breakdown of a relationship, and this means speed is of the essence.

“In these instances, a buyer in a strong position is often far more preferable to one with a bigger cheque book and sellers in need of a quick sale will return the favour in the form of some quite notable asking price reductions.

“Ensuring you’re in the strongest possible position as a buyer is the best way to secure such a property and so the very minimum you should have is a mortgage in principle.”