Who are WeBuyNow
WeBuyNow is a trading name of Springbok Properties.
What services do WeBuyNow provide?
WeBuyNow’s website doesn’t offer much detail about their services, but they suggest they can pay ‘up to 100% of market value’ and enable you to sell in ‘7-21 days’.
What is the buying process for WeBuyNow?
eBuyNow’s website – webuynow.co.uk – doesn’t provide much information about their buying process. However, if you google ‘WeBuyNow reviews’ it will take you to another page of their website: webuynow.co.uk/reviews. On this page, the company goes into a little more detail about how they operate.
According to this area of their website, WeBuyNow “facilitate sales agreements within 30 days for 56% of their clients”. It’s important to note some of the language they use here. They ‘facilitate’ sales – this suggests they are finding a buyer for your property and not buying it directly. They also refer to ‘sales agreements’, not sales completions. This suggests they find buyers for 56% of their clients within 30 days, not that 56% of their buyers complete the sale of their property within 30 days. Finding a buyer does not guarantee a property sale.
A genuine cash homebuying company will be able to complete the sale of your property in 7-14 days. What WeBuyNow is referring to on their website appears to be a very different service.
Their website goes on to say: “We Buy Now relies on buyer enquiries for much of their business – so there is still the chance of your sale falling through…They are also unable to guarantee a precise sale time”. This makes it clear that the service being offered by WeBuyNow is not a genuine direct cash homebuying service. Unless they are buying your property directly with their own cash funds, a company will be unable to offer you any certainty around speed of sale or the price you will achieve.
How much below market value do WeBuyNow offer?
It’s unclear how much WeBuyNow pay for properties. Their website says they can pay ‘up to 100% of market value’, but their customer reviews suggest that this applies to their online estate agency service rather than a ‘quick sale’ option.
Pros & Cons of WeBuyNow
WeBuyNow - Positives
- UK-based company
- Members of The Property Ombudsman (TPO)
- Positive customer reviews relating to estate agency services
WeBuyNow - Negatives
- Lack of information on their website. It’s unclear from their website whether they buy any properties directly or simply offer an online estate agency service that aims to be quicker than high street competitors.We couldn’t find any customer reviews that suggested WeBuyNow bought their property directly. Any other method of sale is unable to offer any guarantees around speed or price.
- A large number of customer reviews mention poor communication. Issues include unreturned phone calls, missed appointments, and an unresponsive call centre environment.
- Several customer reviews suggest that the company tries to get negative feedback removed. This calls into question the accuracy and reliability of positive reviews left for the company.
- Customer reviews mention being tied in with contracts and having charges placed on their property titles – this is a major red flag for a property buying company
Is WeBuyNow legit? - Our verdict
WeBuyNow don’t have any presence on Trustpilot or Google reviews, so it’s difficult for us to get a feel for customer experience. They claim to have more than 8,500 reviews, but this appears to refer to reviews of the company they are a trading name of: Springbok Properties.
With no customer reviews referring exclusively to WeBuyNow, it’s difficult for us to assess what service they provide. WeBuyNow’s main website claims to be able to provide quick cash house sales, completing in 7-21 days, but other pages of the same site seem to dispute that. We’ve also not found any customer reviews on either Trustpilot or Google that support this claim.
WeBuyNow’s own review page clearly states that they are unable to guarantee a sale timescale and says they rely on buyer enquiries so the sales are not guaranteed.
The value of genuine cash homebuying services lies in the speed and certainty they are able to offer. If a company is not purchasing your property directly, with their own cash funds, it’s difficult to see what benefit they could offer over selling with a high street estate agent.
Many of WeBuyNow/Springbok’s customers seem to have been encouraged to use their online estate agency service, but several reviews criticise a lack of property viewings, a lack of knowledgeable staff, and long protracted sales. Others state that the promised ‘pool of investors’ never materialised and they struggled to get much interest on their property at all.
Springbok’s listing on Companies House (the government’s register of companies) states that their principal activity is ‘real estate agency’. It also does not appear that they have the funds available to be able to purchase any volume of properties without relying on mortgages or investors. This, again, would make them unable to offer any guarantees around speed or certainty.
Online estate agencies provide a very different service to cash homebuying companies. An online estate agency can connect you with buyers (investors or buyers wanting to live in the property) but will have no control over how quickly the sale will complete once an offer has been accepted. One customer highlighted that what was supposed to be a ‘quick sale’ had taken nearly a year.
Genuine cash home buyers offer speed and certainty that cannot be matched by any other method of property sale. If you want a guaranteed sale or need your sale to complete on a specific date, an online estate agency simply cannot deliver any certainty.
Are WeBuyNow any good?
With a very sparse website and no customer reviews that explicitly refer to WeBuyNow (rather than the wider company they’re part of), it’s very difficult for us to assess whether WeBuyNow are any good at what they do.
We do know, from their own website, that they rely on buyer enquiries for much of their business. This suggests that they operate an online estate agency, but it’s unclear whether this is alongside a direct cash homebuying company or whether that is their main business model. Their latest company account suggest they do not have the cash available to buy any volume of properties directly without relying on mortgages or investors, which would mean they’re unable to offer any certainty around sale completion times or price achievable. We couldn’t find any customer reviews that suggested they successfully sold a property to WeBuyNow or Springbok within the 7-21 days suggested on WeBuyNow’s website.
The biggest concern we have about WeBuyNow is a lack of transparency and detail around the service they offer. WeBuyNow’s website gives very little information about the service on offer or their property buying process.
If you need a quick or guaranteed property sale, your only option is to sell to a genuine cash homebuying company. A genuine cash homebuying company will be able to purchase your property directly on a date of your choice, completing the sale in as little as 7 days if required.
Much left to be desired.
The busines model and advertising is not correct. 4 months for me to complete at a very reduced price to me… and a huge fee for Springbok was not good. My sales contact Abbie LLoyd was excellent and she kept me in the sale, otherwise I would have left Springbok with nothing and gone to auction. I will never use Springbok again, nor can I recommend this company. The impressions I received from the advertising was that Springbok would have a number of interest buyers, not settle for the first one, because that was less trouble for them, irrespective of what the seller was going through. Also Springbok, should have a list of conveyancers they can recommend to sellers because they are quick and efficient! Waiting many weeks for my buyers solicitors to respond to the local search results was ridiculous!
Great initial sales pitch – thereafter not impressed
They claim to give 70-75% of value of your house for a fast cash sale
In actuality the surveyor will ‘undervalue’ your house and you will end up with 50% of the actual value of your house
To me that is exploiting people’s desire to ‘move quick’ to an unacceptable level.
One further footnote the surveyor used was extremely patronising and condescending and needs to remember he is coming into a person’s house as a guest not as some sort of judge and jury.
My advice – be very careful when using these guys as they are very good at giving the ‘pitch’ and being amenable as long as everything is going their way. The second that anything isn’t going their way they run for the hills. There are other companies who do cash for a quick sale with far more moral AND ethical backbone
The fast sale that is offered is not correct information. Then initial set up was quick and painless with good communication but once it’s set up communication becomes somewhat difficult and involves chasing chasing constantly. Then my buyer converted to cash and was advised of a the figure only to find out near completion it was 1k less but no signed documents of the new figure could be provided. Then they don’t wish to discuss and hope you will accept absolutely not! Sadly I would not recommend this company if you want a quick sale, no stress and a decent price for the property.
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WeBuyNow customer reviews
WeBuyNow Reviews Trustpilot
Trustpilot Score: 4.4 / 5
WeBuyNow Trustpilot review score: We were unable to find any WeBuyNow reviews on Trustpilot. WeBuyNow is a trading name of Springbok Properties Limited. When WeBuyNow refer to a high number of customer reviews on their website, they seem to be referring to reviews left for Springbok.
Although they have a relatively high score on Trustpilot, the majority of their reviews refer to an online estate agency service. We couldn’t find any reviews that mentioned a quick cash home sale service.
If a company is not buying your property directly with their own cash funds, they’ll be unable to offer you any guarantees around when your sale will complete or what price you’ll achieve.
Trustpilot reviews suggest that most customers choose to use the company for an online estate agency service. In their customer review responses, the company says that they target buyers who do not have a property to sell in order to complete the sale. Whilst, in theory, this should speed up a property sale and avoid property chains, sales will still likely take months rather than weeks and will not be guaranteed. This seems to be reflected in the reviews left. One customer suggested that the ‘quick sale’ they were after with Springbok was now running into its 12th month.
Their less positive reviews also mention some other worrying issues.
Several customer reviews mention being tied in with contracts and having ‘applications’ placed on their property titles with Land Registry. Whilst contracts are standard for an estate agency, they are a major red flag for a quick sale company, so homeowners should be wary if they’re asked to sign a contract when they think they’re signing up for a quick cash sale.
The company’s ‘call centre’ business model also attracts criticism in customer reviews. Customers report struggling to get hold of members of staff and leaving multiple messages that get ignored.
Referring to their online estate agency service, would-be buyers report being unable to book viewings, get any information about properties for sale, or make an offer on a property. Several also mention staff not turning up for property viewings or agents not knowing key information about the property they are showing. If these reviews are accurate, these practices are likely to have a significant impact on your property sale. Difficulty booking viewings and making offers will impact both the speed of your sale and how much you achieve for your property.
Springbok have responded to 99% of negative reviews left in the last 12 months. They have also requested for 110 reviews to be removed during that time period. Of those 110 requests, 75 were rejected, 30 were removed because Trustpilot couldn’t get hold of the reviewer, and 5 were removed after Trustpilot found them to be in breach of guidelines.
WeBuyNow Reviews Google
Google Score: 4.1 / 5
WeBuyNow Google review score: Again, we couldn’t find any WeBuyNow Google reviews. As WeBuyNow seem to consider Springbok reviews their own, we once again did the same.
Customer reviews on Google largely mirror those on Trustpilot. They have a fairly high score overall, but the negative reviews raise some serious concerns.
Several customers mention promises of quick sales that never materialise, being asked to sign contracts that tie you into using their services, and charges against properties with Land Registry that prevent you from selling to anyone else.
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Compare WeBuyNow with Quick Move Now
| Quick Move Now | WeBuyNow | |
|---|---|---|
| Established since | 1998 | Springbok Properties Limited was incorporated in 2014 |
| Annual turnover | £20.3 million | WeBuyNow is part of Springbok Properties. As a small company, Springbok are exempt from having to publish full company accounts, so we’re unable to see their annual turnover. However, their most recent financial statement suggests they may not have the cash available to buy properties without relying on investors or mortgages. |
| Members of any professional associations or redress schemes? | Yes, Quick Move Now are members of The Property Ombudsman (TPO) and the National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB) | WeBuyNow are members of The Property Ombudsman (TPO) but not the National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB). However, the group WeBuyNow are part of - Springbok - are members of the NAPB. |
| Is the company registration number available on the website? | Yes | Yes |
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Frequently Asked Questions About WeBuyNow
WeBuyNow’s website doesn’t specify how much you will achieve for your property, but it suggests ‘close to market value’.
It’s not clear how WeBuyNow value properties.
WeBuyNow’s website states that there are no fees for using their service.
Yes, WeBuyNow state on their website that they cover your legal costs.
A comparison graphic on their website suggests that WeBuyNow can complete a property say in 7-21 days, but it’s not sure whether this is just the conveyancing element of the sale or the whole process.
It’s unclear whether WeBuyNow buy any properties directly with their own cash funds or whether they are simply an online estate agent.
Unfortunately the property buying industry is unregulated. Companies can voluntarily join professional organisations or redress schemes to offer reassurance to their customers. WeBuyNow is part of The Property Ombudsman and their parent company, Springbok, is part of the National Association of Property Buyers.