For property owners
There is usually more than one way out.
If you need to sell — quickly, quietly, or in circumstances you didn’t choose — the first useful thing anyone can do is lay out the real options and what each one costs you. That’s the conversation we’d start with.
- No sale, no fee
- We won’t be beaten on fees
- 0% sales fee on the auction route
- Everything agreed in writing first
Where people usually are
The reasons people call us
None of these are unusual, and none of them are anything to be embarrassed about. They just change which route makes sense.
The mortgage is bigger than the house is worth
Negative equity narrows the options but doesn’t close them. What matters is what your lender will accept, whether a shortfall can be arranged, and how much time you actually have. Those are answerable questions, and the answers are usually less bleak than the silence.
A relationship has ended
Two people, one property, and a decision that has to be made while everything else is already difficult. We’ll deal with both of you evenly, keep the process businesslike, and work to whatever your solicitors have agreed.
There’s a deadline you can’t move
A job starting elsewhere, a chain about to collapse, a completion date on somewhere else. Certainty of sale can be worth more than the last few thousand on the price, and auction exists precisely for that trade.
The house needs more than you can put into it
Properties needing real work often struggle on the open market, because most buyers are borrowing and most lenders are cautious. There are routes built for exactly this, and they don’t require you to do the work first.
Selling more than one property?
A portfolio is a different transaction entirely — valued on income rather than on what each house would fetch empty, and sold to different buyers. We handle those separately →
And sometimes the answer is a high-street agent
If your property is in good order, you’re not against the clock and the market is moving locally, a traditional sale will very likely get you the best price. We’ll tell you that. A referral we shouldn’t have made is worth nothing to anybody.
Route one
A fully managed sale
The whole sale handled for you, from the first valuation to the day the keys change hands. Suited to sellers who want the price a proper marketed sale can reach, without running the process themselves.
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Valuation and an honest opening view
What it’s realistically worth, what it might reach with a fortnight of tidying, and what the market is doing in your specific town rather than nationally.
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Presentation and marketing
Photography, listing, portal exposure and enquiry handling — the parts that decide how many people through the door you get in the first ten days, which is when most of the price is won or lost.
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Viewings and qualified offers
Buyers checked for their ability to actually proceed before an offer is put to you. A high offer from someone who can’t complete costs you months.
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Sale progression to completion
Someone chasing solicitors, surveys and the chain on your behalf, and telling you what’s happening before you have to ask.
No sale, no fee — and we won’t be beaten
No sale, no fee. Our commission is payable on completion and not before. If your property doesn’t sell, you owe us nothing for trying.
We won’t be beaten on fees. Find a like-for-like quote from another agent for the same service on the same property, show it to us in writing, and we will match it or better it. No small print, no “introductory” rate that climbs later.
The comparison has to be like for like — a fee that excludes photography, floorplans or portal listing isn’t the same service. On the auction route, the 0% sales fee is separate from legal pack and marketing costs, which are itemised for you upfront either way.
Expert Property Shop
The managed sale route is fulfilled by Expert Property Shop, a firm we work alongside rather than a department of ours. We stay involved as your point of contact; they do the selling.
We’ll tell you clearly, in writing, who is doing what and how everyone is paid before you agree to anything.
Route two
Sale by auction
A different trade entirely. You give up the long negotiation and gain a fixed date, a binding buyer and no chain. Suited to sellers who need certainty, or to properties the open market handles badly.
Why sellers choose it
- You set the reserve. It cannot sell below the figure you agree in advance, so the downside is capped before bidding starts.
- The date is fixed. You know when it ends, which matters enormously when something else in your life is already scheduled.
- The buyer is committed. Contracts exchange on the fall of the hammer. No renegotiation a week before completion, no chain above you collapsing.
- Condition is less of an obstacle. Auction buyers are frequently cash buyers and investors, so a property needing work isn’t the problem it is on the open market.
What you’re giving up
Auction is not free money. If the room is quiet on the day, you may achieve less than a patient open-market sale would have reached, and marketing costs and legal pack preparation still have to be paid for. It is the right answer when certainty and speed are worth more to you than squeezing the last few percent. We’ll say so if that isn’t you.
Pattinson Auction
Auction sales are run through Pattinson Auction, an established auction house with national bidder reach. Again, a partner rather than a part of MosStone — we’ll introduce you and stay alongside you through it.
A 0% sales fee doesn’t mean a sale costs nothing — legal pack and marketing costs still apply, and they’ll be itemised for you upfront.
Choosing between them
Speed, certainty, or price. Usually you get two.
A rough steer, though the honest version depends on your property and your deadline.
Choose a managed sale if…
The property is in reasonable order, you have a few months rather than a few weeks, and achieving the strongest price matters more to you than knowing the exact end date.
Choose auction if…
You need a certain sale on a known date, the property needs work, the title is unusual, or a previous sale has already fallen through and you can’t risk another.
Choose neither if…
Your situation is really a mortgage or a legal problem wearing a property costume. Some calls end with us pointing people at a debt adviser or a solicitor instead. That’s a good outcome, not a wasted call.
Straight answers
Questions sellers actually ask
Does it cost me anything to talk to you?
No. The first conversation is us understanding your situation and telling you what the options are. Any costs on either route are set out in writing before you agree to anything, and you can walk away at that point.
Are you going to try to buy my house cheaply?
Fair question, and worth asking anyone in this business. MosStone does buy property as an investor — that’s the other half of what we do, and it’s on this site in plain view. If there were ever any prospect of us being the buyer, you’d be told before anything else happened, and you’d be strongly advised to get an independent valuation and your own solicitor. Most sellers who come to us end up on one of the two partner routes above instead.
How quickly can a sale actually complete?
Auction gives you the tightest and most predictable timetable: exchange on the day, completion typically within a set period afterwards. A managed sale depends on the buyer, the chain and the solicitors. Anyone promising you a specific number of days without having seen your property or your title is guessing.
Why do you need my ID and proof of funds?
Anti-money-laundering rules require identity checks on property transactions. It applies to everyone and it isn’t a judgement about you. We’ve written a plain explanation of what those checks involve and what a legitimate request looks like.
I’m behind on my mortgage. Is it too late?
Usually not, but time genuinely matters here and the earlier you speak to someone the more options remain open. Talk to your lender, and consider free independent debt advice from a charity such as StepChange or Citizens Advice alongside anything we discuss. We’re not a substitute for that advice and won’t pretend to be.
Do I have to decide on the call?
No, and you shouldn’t. Take the information away, talk to whoever else needs to be part of the decision, and come back when you’re ready. Pressure on that call would be a reason to distrust us.
Get in touch
Tell us where you are with it
As much or as little detail as you’re comfortable putting in writing. If you’d rather just talk, call 07890 566668.
Message received.
Thanks — that’s with Sam now.
What happens next:
- Sam reads it personally. No call centre and no automated sequence.
- You’ll hear back within two working days, usually sooner.
- The first reply lays out the options as we see them. Nothing is committed to at that point.
If it’s urgent, call 07890 566668 rather than waiting.
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