Cash offer vs estate agent calculator
Cash offer or estate agent: which leaves me more?
Enter the agent price and the cash offer to compare.
Agent sales can fall through and often take longer than planned. Cash offers are usually below market value. Try a few numbers, including a longer wait. Nothing you type is sent or saved.
A cash offer is usually lower than the price an estate agent could get, but it comes with lower costs and a quicker sale. This calculator puts both routes on the same footing: what you'd have left after fees and after paying to keep the house until completion (when the money arrives and the keys change hands). For many homes in good condition, the agent route leaves more money, and the calculator will show that when it's true. Nothing you type is sent or saved.
How the calculator works
Estate agent route: the price you'd expect, minus the agent's fee (including VAT), minus your solicitor's fees, minus the monthly cost of keeping the house multiplied by the months to sell and complete.
Cash route: the cash offer, minus the monthly cost of keeping the house for the weeks it takes to complete.
There's no agent fee on the cash route, and its legal fees are £0 because we pay the seller's legal fees. If you're comparing an offer from a buyer who doesn't pay them, take your solicitor's fee off that offer before you enter it. The calculator turns weeks into months using an average month of 30.44 days, so 4 weeks counts as 0.92 of a month.
Getting the numbers right
The answer is only as good as the figures you put in, and the easiest mistakes all flatter one side.
- The agent price. Use what similar homes nearby actually sold for, not asking prices or the highest valuation. You can look up sold prices with GOV.UK's sold property price search, which uses HM Land Registry data. MoneyHelper suggests getting at least three valuations, as some agents may overvalue a home to win the business. If the house needs work, use what it would fetch as it is.
- The agent fee. Enter it including VAT at 20%: 1.2% plus VAT is 1.44%, and 1.5% plus VAT is 1.8%. The estate agent fee calculator converts any quote.
- Months to sell and complete. Count from today to completion, not to an accepted offer. Agent sales can fall through, and timescales vary a lot, so try a longer wait as well.
- The monthly cost of keeping the house. The mortgage, council tax, utilities, insurance and upkeep. The empty house costs calculator adds these up. If you're living there and would pay similar bills anyway, enter only what a sale would save.
- The cash offer and timescale. Use the actual figure offered and the completion date you'd choose.
Example 1: the agent route wins
A house in good condition that buyers could get a mortgage on. The agent expects £200,000 and charges 1.2% plus VAT (1.44%), and the solicitor quotes £1,500. Selling and completing takes 6 months, and the house costs £800 a month to keep. An illustrative cash offer is £175,000, completing in 4 weeks. These are example figures, not a quote from us or anyone else.
| Agent sale | Cash sale | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £200,000 | £175,000 |
| Agent fee (1.44%) | −£2,880 | £0 |
| Solicitor | −£1,500 | £0 |
| Costs while you wait | −£4,800 (6 × £800) | −£736 (0.92 × £800) |
| Left with | £190,820 | £174,264 |
The agent route leaves £16,556 more. The cash sale saves £8,444 in fees and bills, but its price is £25,000 lower. For a home like this, an agent sale is likely to suit you better unless speed or certainty matters more than the money.
Example 2: the cash route wins
A house that has been empty for over a year and needs rewiring and a new kitchen, which can make it hard for buyers to get a mortgage on it. An agent thinks it would sell for £150,000 as it is, at 1.5% plus VAT (1.8%), with £1,500 of legal fees, but expects selling and completing to take 12 months. It costs £1,400 a month to keep: the mortgage, council tax with an empty homes premium, insurance, utilities and upkeep. An illustrative cash offer is £132,000, completing in 4 weeks.
| Agent sale | Cash sale | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £150,000 | £132,000 |
| Agent fee (1.8%) | −£2,700 | £0 |
| Solicitor | −£1,500 | £0 |
| Costs while you wait | −£16,800 (12 × £1,400) | −£1,288 (0.92 × £1,400) |
| Left with | £129,000 | £130,712 |
The cash route leaves £1,712 more, because a year of high running costs adds up to more than the gap in price. But notice how close it is. If the agent sale took 6 months instead of 12, the agent route would leave £6,688 more. That's why it's worth trying a few different timescales before you decide.
Who a cash sale suits, and who it doesn't
A cash sale can make sense when:
- the house costs a lot each month and an agent sale is likely to be slow
- it may be hard to mortgage, which limits who can buy it
- a sale has already fallen through, or you need a fixed completion date
- you'd rather have a certain figure now than wait for a possibly higher one
It's unlikely to suit you if:
- the home is in good condition and would sell to buyers with mortgages
- you're not in a hurry and can cover the costs while you wait
- getting the highest price matters more to you than speed
Cash buyers, including us, pay below market value. Our offer is based on recent sales nearby, and we explain how we worked it out. There's no obligation to accept, so you can get a cash offer and still sell through an agent if the numbers favour it. An auction is another route with its own fees and risks. For more, see below market value explained and cash buyer vs estate agent vs auction, and before accepting any cash offer, check the buyer.
Questions people ask
Why are cash offers lower than estate agent valuations?
A cash buyer takes the house as it is, pays for any repairs, pays the costs of buying and reselling, and carries the risk that prices fall before they sell. To make that work, cash buyers, including us, pay below market value. An estate agent's valuation is an estimate of what a buyer on the open market might pay, which is usually more but takes longer to turn into money in the bank.
Is a cash offer ever better than selling with an estate agent?
It can be when the house would take a long time to sell and costs a lot to keep, when it's hard to get a mortgage on, or when a sale has already fallen through and certainty matters. For many homes in good condition, an agent sale leaves more money even after the fee. Put your own figures into the calculator, including a longer wait, to see which applies to you.
What should I include in the monthly cost of keeping the house?
Include the mortgage, council tax (with any empty homes premium), gas, electric and water, insurance and upkeep such as gardening and small repairs. If you live in the house and would pay similar bills wherever you lived, count only the costs a sale would actually save. With a repayment mortgage, part of each payment reduces what you owe, so you could enter just the interest.
Do I pay legal fees if I sell for cash?
It depends on the buyer. We pay the seller's legal fees, which is why the cash route in this calculator has no legal fees. Not every cash buyer does, so if you're comparing an offer from one that doesn't, take your solicitor's fee off that offer before you enter it. Whoever the buyer is, ask them to confirm in writing what they'll pay for and whether any fees fall to you.
Sources
Related guides
Cash buyer vs estate agent vs auction: which suits you?
An estate agent usually gets the highest price but takes longest (about 5 months on average, says GOV.UK), and sales can fall through until contracts are exchanged. A traditional auction is binding when the hammer falls and usually completes about 20 working days later, but there are fees and the price depends on the bidding. A cash buyer is usually quickest and simplest, but pays below market value.
Selling fastBelow market value explained
Below market value (BMV) means a price lower than a home would be expected to fetch on the open market, given proper marketing and a reasonable amount of time. Cash and quick-sale buyers usually offer below market value because they take on costs and risk and need to make a profit. Whether a BMV offer is fair for you depends on what you'd actually keep from each route, and how soon you need the money.
Selling fastWhat is a cash house buyer?
A cash house buyer is a company or investor that buys homes directly from owners using money it already has, so there's no mortgage or chain to wait for. Sales can complete in weeks, and many buy homes as they are and cover legal fees. The trade-off is price: offers are usually below market value, because the buyer has to cover its costs and make a profit when it resells or lets the home.
General information for England and Wales, not legal, tax or financial advice. Last checked 26 October 2026.