15th Jul 2025 (2 days ago)
Overpromised, Underperformed and Untrustworthy – My Costly Mistake with HSD
I initially listed my property with PurpleBricks in March 2025 for £535,000. After limited viewings over a three-month period, I began exploring other options and submitted an enquiry to WeBuyAnyHouse. They quickly came back with an offer of £460,000—roughly 14% below asking—claiming it would allow for a quick sale. I immediately declined, as I was not in a rush and didn’t want to take such a significant loss.
Shortly after, my details were apparently passed on to House Sales Direct (HSD), seemingly a sister company, without my explicit consent. HSD came across as professional and engaging at first. They promised a 98% success rate in selling properties within 28 days, citing a strong network of pre-approved buyers and investors who could complete within 6–8 weeks. They suggested a sale price spread of £510k–£535k, assuring me they would work to get me the best price possible. It sounded promising.
Based on these assurances, I decided to proceed with HSD. I withdrew my PurpleBricks listing—costing me £300—with the understanding that HSD’s investor network would accelerate the sale. But things quickly began to unravel.
Despite supposedly having investors lined up, HSD said they needed to relist my property on Rightmove first. When I questioned why investors couldn’t simply view the home, the response was vague. It took nearly two weeks for them to relist, and the new asking price was £525,000. A full week passed without any communication.
Then came a call recommending the price be dropped to £499,000. I was told this was “just a marketing tactic,” and that they still aimed to get me a sale within the original £510k–£535k range. But I struggled to understand how listing a property nearly £40,000 lower would achieve that. I asked again about the investors. They finally admitted the only offer received was the same £460k I'd declined weeks earlier through WeBuyAnyHouse.
This was when the red flags really began to show. Why wasn’t I told this upfront? Why present an optimistic price range if their investor offer was fixed at £460k from the beginning? Why was I encouraged to pull the property from PurpleBricks if they intended to rely on the open market anyway? I could have just reduced the price there and avoided unnecessary costs and delays.
Doing more research online, I found stories from others with eerily similar experiences. It appeared HSD’s real model was to attract sellers with high expectations and then drop the price, relying on open-market tactics to force a quick sale. Despite claiming not to charge commission, they would never clearly explain how they made their money. It seems they may be negotiating higher prices with buyers while offering sellers less—profiting off the gap. No transparency, no trust.
Meanwhile, they knew I was paying a high mortgage on an empty property. It became clear they were hoping I’d become desperate enough to accept the same low £460k offer I had already rejected twice.
In the four weeks my property was listed with them, only four viewings were arranged. Two were no-shows. Of the remaining two, one viewer stayed for just five minutes—asked no questions and didn’t even view all the rooms. It felt performative, not serious. As expected, neither viewer submitted an offer, despite supposedly being “pre-qualified and keen.”
Eventually, I told HSD I wanted to withdraw the property. That’s when I was informed—shockingly—that I had unknowingly signed up for a 52-week contract, and I’d need to pay £1,500 to exit, or £999 if paid within 7 days.
I wrote to them, acknowledged that they had done some work, and offered a reasonable £699 exit fee, explaining I needed to rent the home out due to financial strain. They refused and insisted on full payment. I paid the £999 immediately—but it still took a full week and several chasers before they finally removed the property from Rightmove.
By the end of the ordeal, it was clear I was no longer a priority for them.
In summary:
Do I regret choosing HSD? Absolutely.
Would I recommend them to someone looking for a fair, transparent, and professional house sale experience? No.
If your only goal is to sell quickly and you don’t care about value, they might work for you. But if you want to sell your home at a decent price with a partner you can trust, I strongly advise staying away from HSD.... Read more