Three sales fell through.The fourth completed in 9 days.
Subsidence made Margaret's family semi impossible to mortgage, and three buyers walked away. Here's how we stepped in with a fair cash offer that didn't change.
Own a house lenders won't touch? Read the full guideThe story at a glance
Three-bedroom 1930s semi, Manor Lane, Sheffield.
A solid family home with one word attached.
Margaret inherited her late father's semi on Manor Lane in early 2024. Much loved, built in the 1930s, and flagged for subsidence.
Decades of ground movement had left a long diagonal crack up the side return, and a structural engineer's report flagged historic subsidence that had never been underpinned.
That single word was enough to make the property effectively unmortgageable. High street lenders wouldn't touch it without underpinning, which Margaret was quoted at over £28,000. That was money she didn't have, for a house she had to sell to help fund her mother's care home fees.
It's a common problem. Our unmortgageable house guide explains what lenders look for and why one report can stop a sale. If you've inherited a property too, see how we handle a probate house.
Three sales, three collapses.
Margaret listed with a local agent at £142,000, in line with similar homes on the street. Then the same painful cycle played out three times.
Buyer 1: £138,000, withdrawn after 7 weeks
The mortgage valuation flagged the subsidence and the offer was pulled.
Buyer 2: specialist lender, out after 5 weeks
The survey came back worse than expected, and the buyer pulled out.
Buyer 3: requoted to £110,000, then vanished
A cash buyer reselling to a broker dropped the price at the last minute and disappeared.
Thousands lost in fees, and a deadline closing in
Wasted solicitor and survey costs on each failed attempt. A similar pattern to a collapsing chain.
Same house. Only one number held.
Buyers offered close to asking, then fell away one by one as lenders and surveys caught up. Our offer was lower than the listing, but it was the only one that stayed put.
Because we buy with our own cash, there was no mortgage valuation to fail and no chain to collapse.
Margaret's house, four numbers
None of the first three offers completed. The £106,000 offer made on day three was the figure that completed on day nine.
Margaret found us after the third collapse. Nine days later it was done.
She searched for "sell unmortgageable house Sheffield" in September 2024.
A call within the hour
Margaret called on a Tuesday morning. James, our head of renovations, called back within 40 minutes to talk through the property and the subsidence report.
Day 1A fair offer, no survey drama
Because we buy with our own cash, the subsidence wasn't a dealbreaker. We visited within 3 days and made a firm offer of £106,000, allowing for the repair work, with nothing to haggle over later.
Day 3Completed in 9 days
Margaret accepted on the Friday. Our solicitors handled everything, and funds landed in her account in time for her mother's care home deposit deadline.
9 daysNo mortgage valuation, no chain, no renegotiation.
Margaret's situation is one we see often: a genuinely good house that mainstream buyers and lenders won't touch because of one structural issue. On the open market, that one word had already cost her eight months, three collapsed sales and thousands in wasted fees.
Because we're the buyer, not a broker passing her details to someone else, there was nothing to fail along the way. The number we offered on day three was the number that completed on day nine.
Selling in Yorkshire? We buy across Sheffield and Leeds, and the same approach worked for a tenanted flat in Leeds.
From cracked corner to warm family home.
Our renovation team fully underpinned the affected corner, repaired the brickwork, and modernised the kitchen and bathroom. The house is now structurally sound and back on the market, which is the kind of transformation we aim for on every unmortgageable property we buy.
See more of that work on our projects page.
More customer stories and guides.
Different problem, same approach: we explain it, deal with it and buy it as it stands.
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A buy-to-let bought with tenants still in place.
Read the story Customer story · CardiffThe fire-damaged house
Uninsurable and unmortgageable, completed in 10 days.
Read the storySubsidence, structural issues, failed sales. We buy it anyway.
Tell us about the house and we'll come back with a firm cash figure, sort out the paperwork, and complete when it suits you.
What you get
- No mortgage to failWe buy with our own cash, so a survey can't end the sale.
- A firm priceThe figure we offer is the figure you receive.
- Solicitors handledWe take care of the legal work from offer to completion.
- Your timelineComplete in as little as 9 days, or when it suits you.
Details in this story have been adapted to protect the seller's privacy; amounts and timelines reflect a typical case of this kind.