MORE than 100 firms in the “quick house sale” sector are being urged by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to make sure their business practices are up to scratch.

The companies function by offering to buy a property directly from the owner, or to find a buyer extremely quickly, then in return for fast access to cash, the seller will accept a below-market-value price for their home.

Firms that offer speedy sales can help homeowners looking for a guaranteed and hassle-free way to get their property off their hands, and the OFT said it can be a “dynamic and innovative” way to make a house sale.

Of course though, there is a big catch – people who sell their home in this way usually receive about ten to 25 per cent less than the market value of the property, and the OFT’s investigation found some hard-pressed consumers end up handing over their home for less than half of its market value.

It has seen firms dropping the prices they will pay by 53 per cent on initial offers that were already below market price, leaving people tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket compared with the market value. The average price for a quick house sale is about £100,000.

The watchdog has found that some home sellers, particularly those in vulnerable situations or older people, are not always able to use the sector confidently.

Concerns have also been raised that some firms will offer one price, then sharply reduce it at the last minute, when the seller is too far down the line to back out of the deal.

In one case seen by the OFT, a seller approaching retirement accepted an initial offer from a firm of £73,000, only to have it reduced to £58,000 later that day. The seller agreed to the new offer because they felt caught “between a rock and a hard place”.

A sudden drop in a firm’s offer can sometimes be caused by factors such as a survey bringing up problems with the house, but the OFT is concerned that firms are not always being clear enough about how the initial price they have offered can change.

The watchdog said some firms were also making misleading claims about the value of the property or the level of discount, and were trying to lock consumers in with heavy penalties if they decide to sell to someone else.

It warns that by acting in such a way, certain firms give the whole industry a bad name.

So what factors should you consider before agreeing to a quick house sale?

You might have a pressing need to sell your property, but try not to get rushed into making a deal with a firm before you have checked out all your options and made sure you understand the process.

Not all firms offering a quick house sale service are the same, so look at what different ones can offer. Do not accept claims at face value.

If the firm says it will complete the deal in a certain number of days or that it pays close to full market value, ask for more detail and how often that actually happens.

The OFT found some firms stressed the fastest time in which a sale could be completed, such as a week, rather than the more typical time of about a month.