There has been an increase in Quick Buying Property companies such as Upstix using algorithms to value properties and make offers to purchase properties quickly. Similar to “We Buy Any Car” providers you simply enter your address and contact details, and you receive an offer but do these work and do customers get a fair price.
Property has many more variables than cars. With Cars there a makes, models and extras which provide clear baseline values. Based on the condition and mileage of the car these values are depreciated against industry and market rates, so they are extremely easy to value and make an offer to purchase the car.
Property has far more variables to factor in a valuation. There is location, construction methods, house types, condition, level of interior fit out, size, schools, hospital, transport links, local amenities as well as all the macro and micro economic factors.
The companies offering quick buying property service in essence are take the average of sold prices in your area, some property information and reducing this by 10%. This 10% is based on their data being correct. I did this for my own property and as there are varying extremes of both high and low values properties in my area, my own being on the higher end it actually resulted in the offer being over £100,000 below the valuation I recently had carried out as part of my re-mortgage by a qualified chartered building surveyor. Was it a fair price, accurate, ethically, and morally right, it definitely was not.
If it were easy to value property, I am sure Banks and lenders would have done this a long time ago, but they have not for good reason and all those variables previously mentioned. Companies making these offers are removing the expert human factor which is required to assess and value property considering all factors coming to a fair value for a property. There then is the service of offering a quick buying service which in itself should be valued and deducted from the value in a transparent way as selling a property quickly does come at a cost but it may be a cost worth paying depending on your circumstances.
I consider the companies using algorithms, to offer quick property buying service, offer poor value for money, are inaccurate, ethically, and morally wrong so I would never recommend using them. Quick Buying Property companies have their place in the market as it does offer solutions for people who need to sell their property quickly for a multitude of reasons but I would always recommend a professional business who has a human at the front end face to face with customers making accurate valuations and offers for properties which are fair, reasonable, ethically and morally justifiable.