Looking to sell your property fast but not sure who to trust? Call us now on 0800 046 1949
Instant Cash Valuationwww.gaffsy.com
Gaffsy is among the newest property buying companies we have reviewed, having registered with Companies House in January 2020.
The name under which it appears on the site is in fact “Sell House Quick Now Limited”, and the listed address is Argyle House, 29-31 Euston Road, London, England, NW1 2SD.
The company operates across England and Wales and appears to offer a very straightforward cash home buying service. Its website is fairly simple and easy to navigate, and Gaffsy appears to be very transparent regarding its inner workings.
One aspect of the organisations’ services that is perhaps less clear than would be preferable is its timescale.
As with many “we buy any home” companies, Gaffsy claims to be able to complete and exchange within a timeframe set by the seller. Its website states that the process can be completed “within 7 days” , but stops short of explaining how long a typical sale takes.
Of course, as the company is fairly new, it may be that there simply isn’t a sufficient sample size to find an accurate average at the time of writing. Still, time is an important factor when comparing service providers, and it would have been handy to have more specific information.
Gaffsy is much clearer when it comes to its average offer. In its FAQs, the company states “we offer up to 85% of the true market value of your property”.
In the “How it Works” section of the site, the company goes into some detail to explain why cash buyers offer below market value for properties. It is fairly rare for cash home buyers to do this, and it gives a greater sense of transparency.
They talk about Stamp Duty, conveyancing costs and other overheads, market-related risks and the costs of ownership and renovation. One factor that they do not mention is that the chief way in which most companies of this kind make a profit is to buy at a discounted price and sell on the open market.
When it comes to the fees involved in selling your property, Gaffsy appears to be fairly clear in their stance. In their FAQs, they state “there are absolutely no fees involved in our selling process”.
They also claim that “you can pull out of the process at any time. All our offers are free with no obligation to accept”.
However, it is worth noting that there are conditions attached to some of these statements. For example - also in the FAQs - Gaffsy explains that “we will even cover your legal costs when you use a solicitor we provide”.
On their “How it Works” page, they say that “when you sell your home to us, we can contribute up to £1500 to your legal fees”. This particular part of the process is, therefore, not totally clear, making it a matter that is worth discussing with a representative of the company before taking any major steps.
Below, you’ll find our perceived upsides and downsides regarding the use of Gaffy’s property buying services.
Generally, the company comes across as transparent and trustworthy.
Under the name “Sell House Quick Now Limited”, they are registered with the National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB), The Property Ombudsman Service (TPOS) and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which means that your sale and your right will be protected when you sell to the company.
They work to the preferred timescales of the vendor and cover agency and legal fees (though the detail of this requires some further clarification).
They have had no legal disputes to date, and they claim that the seller may drop out of the sales process at any time with no hidden charges.
Their website is straightforward and easy to use, with the nature of their services and the likely size of their offer revealed in a transparent manner throughout.
As a brand, Gaffsy is very new and not yet well-established within the cash home buying industry. While this is not always reflective of the quality of a company’s services, there is still the strong possibility of teething problems.
Their lack of history is particularly apparent when exploring their reviews. They only have feedback on Google - and, while it amounts to an overall rating of 5 stars, this is only based on 17 writeups in total; a very small sample size indeed.
It is noted on their site, however, that the Gaffsy team has “decades of combined experience in the property market and have dealt with numerous property purchases”.
The lack of clarity in terms of average timescales is another drawback, as the company provides no information on how long the process usually takes.
Gaffsy states that they will work to a schedule specified by the seller and can complete “within 7 Days of you accepting our offer but the purchase time period can be longer than 7 Days”.
The confusing messaging on their site regarding the instruction of solicitors and the payment of legal fees may also be considered something of a pitfall.
Is the seller required to use Gaffsy’s chosen legal advisors in order to use the organisation’s services? If not, will the company provide £1500 to cover legal costs if the seller uses their own conveyancer but cover the entirety of their expenses if they use a service provider chosen by Gaffsy?
The company’s site features content on this subject that could be construed in a number of ways.
At the time of writing, Gaffsy only has reviews on a single platform - the Google SERP.
With just 17 reviews, the company has fewer write-ups than most of the “we buy any house” organisations we have analysed. It is worth noting, however, that every piece of feedback the company has received has rated Gaffsy’s services 5 stars.
“We guarantee to buy your house fast, whatever the condition, reason, or problem.”
As there is no explicit evidence on the company’s website to state that this is a legally binding guarantee, we would advise checking the details of this claim with a representative of Gaffsy before opting to use their services.
Gaffsy states that they offer a “guaranteed property sale” in multiple places across their website. However, a disclaimer in their Terms and Conditions states that the company “accepts no liability where the completion date is changed or it is unable to complete on the purchase. We will not be responsible or liable to you for any loss of income or revenue, loss of business, loss of profit, or loss of anticipated savings”.
As it appears on Companies House, the name of the company behind the brand “Gaffsy” is “Sell House Quick Now Limited”.
Its account on this site also reveals that during the brief period between January 2020 and May 2020, the company operated under the name “Redhot PCL LTD”.
We have been unable to find any other businesses connected with Sell House Quick Now Limited or the Gaffsy brand.
In this section, you can learn a little more about Gaffsy and its inner workings before you take the first step towards selling your home.
On the company’s “How it Works” section, there is a short three-step summary of the process of selling a property to Gaffsy, which goes as follows:
Receive a cash offer by filling in an enquiry form or calling us…. We promise a quick cash offer.
Once you have agreed the initial offer we will handle the rest and get back to you with our final offer.
Once the final offer is accepted, we will agree a completion date to suit you. The sale will be complete and you receive the cash.
There is a more in-depth breakdown on the same page, shortly afterwards, which reads:
Due to its size, Gaffsy is exempt from filing full accounts with Companies House - which means that we have not been able to get a full grasp of its financial status.
However, abridged accounts are available online, in which are displayed its Profit and Loss Account statements under Capital and Reserves, relating to the year 2020-21.
These statements reveal a significant increase from one year to the other. As of January 2021, Gaffsy recorded a total of £7,578 in its Profit and Loss Account, whereas the amount in 2022 had risen to £46,446. This is a rise of almost £513%.
While there are various statements across the company’s website claiming that Gaffsy will cover all client legal fees, on their “How it Works” page, the company states that “we can contribute up to £1500 to your legal fees”.
There is also a statement in the FAQs that reads ““we will even cover your legal costs when you use a solicitor we provide”.
In their Terms and Conditions, Gaffsy states that “legal fees are only refunded if the exchange of contracts takes place within 30 days of your signed and dated original acceptance of our offer”.
For this reason, we highly recommend seeking full details regarding the payment of legal fees and the associated conditions before moving forward with Gaffsy.
Gaffsy’s initial cash offer is free, and they claim that sellers may drop out at any point. However, in their Terms and Conditions, the company states that “in most cases, Valuation Fees are non-refundable prior to completion of purchase. The fee is inclusive and no further charges will be incurred”.
This suggests that there will at least be a charge related to any in-person valuation that is undertaken - though there is no clear information about the amount.
As is stated above, across Gaffsy’s website, the company claims that they charge no agency fees. It even seems that clients are not charged for dropping out of the process “late in the day” - though we would highly recommend checking this with the company.
As part of the more in-depth process presented in the “How it Works” section of Gaffsy’s website, the company states that “our estate agents will carry out an in-person valuation of your home”.
However, in the FAQs, Gaffsy explains that “we are always happy to offer on a property without viewing”. Naturally, as they say, “a viewing will often allow [them] to offer a higher amount with more confidence” - and we would therefore highly recommend accepting a visit from the Gaffsy team before going forward with their offer.
As Gaffsy buys directly from the vendor, you will not receive any visits from third parties or house hunters.
At this early stage in its operations, it does not appear that Gaffsy has yet won any awards for its processes or standards of customer service.
Gaffsy only appears to have received customer feedback on Google - with no account on other popular reviews sites like Trustpilot, allAgents, Feefo or Reviews.io.
At the time of writing, it only has 17 Google reviews. This is likely due to the fact that it is a relatively new organisation. All of the write ups it has received on this platform have rated Gaffsy as a 5-star company.
In its Terms and Conditions, Gaffsy claims to have accounts on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
The link from the company’s website to their Facebook page is broken - however, there is an account with no profile or background images that, strangely enough, appears to have been set up on the day of writing.
It currently has no posts, no likes and no followers - though this is almost certainly due to the fact that it is brand new.
There is also a link on Gaffsy’s website to a Twitter page that does not exist, with the handle @house_quick. However, upon searching the platform, we quickly came across its active Twitter account - with the handle @GaffsyUK.
This account has 744 followers at the time of writing, and the company joined Twitter in July 2020.
Gaffsy posts at least once or twice per week, with its content usually focussing on current affairs in the world of property and finance as well as general guidance regarding property sales.
The company’s LinkedIn account has 224 followers at the time of writing, and tends to post once or twice per week, sharing similar content to its Facebook page.
We hope you have found the above information useful when choosing a fast home sale company.
This Company Review and in-depth Summary have been created to provide users with a clear understanding of the organisation’s specialisms, processes and practices.
All of the information above was researched and fact-checked using:
The company’s official website
The Companies House website
Relevant review sites, including allAgents, Feefo, Google, Reviews.com and Trustpilot
Relevant social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
The websites of regulatory bodies such as the National Association of Property Buyers, the Information Commissioner’s Office and The Property Ombudsman
The websites of relevant rewarding bodies (from which the company claims to have received accolades)
Independent reviews of the company found via Google’s search engine
If you wish to double check any of the information provided in this summary, you can refer to these same sources.
The entirety of the information we have included in this review was correct at the time of writing. We will continue to fact-check and update the review at regular intervals in order to achieve the highest possible levels of accuracy.
We highly recommend that you undertake your own research into any home buying organisation you may be considering, as we understand that you may have unique requirements or specific queries that are not covered on this page.
You can learn more about our company comparison techniques and approaches in the “About Us” page of this site.
You’ll find a selection of handy guides in our “Resources” section. These articles may provide you with valuable information regarding selling your property fast, for the best possible price.
Alternatively, if you require a fast valuation to get a clear idea of the amount you should be offered for your property, please tap the “Valuation Tool” button below. For further information, to make any enquiries or to request advice, please tap the “Help and Support” button.
0800 046 1949
0800 046 1949
Download two free guides loaded with insider information about how cash buyers work
