If you need to sell a property quickly in the UK, you have four main routes. Each trades speed, price and certainty differently — the right one depends on how fast you need the money and how much price you're willing to give up to get it.
The four routes
- Estate agent (private treaty) — 4–6 months typically, but closest to full market value once a buyer is found.
- Traditional auction — 28 days from hammer to keys, near-market value, no chain.
- Modern Method of Auction — 56 days, mortgage-friendly buyers, lower hammer prices but wider pool.
- Cash buyer / WBAH — 7–21 days, but expect to lose 15–25% of market value.
"Speed always costs you something. The trick is knowing what."
Where an estate agent fits
A private-treaty sale through an estate agent tends to net the most before fees, because it reaches the full pool of owner-occupier buyers. The trade-off is time and certainty: 4–6 months is typical, the price can drift during negotiation, and around a third of agreed sales fall through before completion. It suits a property in good condition, in a popular area, where you can afford to wait.
Where traditional auction fits
Traditional auction can be a strong fit when your property meets some of the following:
- Needs work (anything more than redecoration)
- Has a complex title (e.g. unusual leasehold, restrictive covenants)
- Is in a rentable area with strong investor appetite
- You need certainty of completion within 28 days
A regulated auctioneer typically guides at 5–10% below your expected sale price to draw competitive bidding, then sets a confidential reserve close to your real floor. If it sells, completion is unconditional and locked in. The trade-offs: the buyer pool is smaller and investor-led, the hammer price isn't guaranteed to reach your reserve, and properties in pristine, owner-occupier areas can do better on the open market.
Where Modern Method of Auction fits
MMA can suit when:
- Your property is move-in ready and would attract owner-occupier buyers
- You don't need cash in 28 days but want more certainty than the open market
- You're prepared for a 4.2% reservation fee paid by the buyer (which sometimes suppresses bids)
Where a cash buyer fits
A cash buyer or WBAH company trades a meaningful chunk of price for the fastest possible completion. That trade can make sense when:
- Probate properties where the family wants to be done in two weeks
- Repossession risk where missing a mortgage payment causes catastrophic damage
- Properties in poor condition that other routes would still need to market for 4–6 weeks
For all three, the discount is the price of certainty — worth weighing against what the slower routes would net.
Try the maths yourself
The clearest way to compare what each route would net you is to run your postcode, bedrooms and condition through our sale-method comparison tool. It pulls real HM Land Registry sold prices for your area and applies the realistic deductions for each route, so you can see the speed-versus-price trade-off side by side.
Try the calculator
Sale method comparison
What "fast" actually means
| Route | Realistic completion | Net of fees | | --- | --- | --- | | Traditional auction | 28 days | ~97% of market value | | MMA | 56 days | ~92% of market value | | Cash buyer | 7–21 days | ~75% of market value | | Estate agent | 4–6 months | ~93–98% (after 2% commission and chain risk) |
If you need cash this month, only the bottom two routes are quick enough — and they differ sharply on how much of the property's value you keep.
The honest summary
There's no single right answer — only the route that best fits your priorities. If you can wait several months and the property is in good shape, an estate agent usually nets the most. If you need certainty within four weeks, traditional auction or MMA sit between full market value and the fastest cash sale. If you genuinely need to complete in days, a cash buyer or WBAH company will do it — at a 15–25% discount that's worth weighing against what the slower routes would return. Run the numbers for your own property before deciding.