Online agent Nested, which offers a chain-breaking service, has had an £8m cash injection.
The latest investors of the firm, which went live four months ago and charges a 2.5% commission on the sale, are Passion Capital and GFC.
Nested guarantees to sell for 95%-98% of a property’s valuation within 90 days. If not, it will take out a first-charge mortgage on the property and transfer the cash to the owner. The loan is repaid when the property sells.
Nested says is incentivised to achieve a price higher than the agreed valuation, splitting any extra payment 70:30 in favour of the vendor.
The firm’s founder is Matt Robinson, who previously co-founded online payment company GoCardless.
The £8m in new funds will enable Nested to grow.
It is currently handling some five sales a month – all currently in the London area – but is targeting 100 by the end of this year.
A spokesperson for Nested said that there have not yet been occasions where the vendor has taken up the 90-day chain-break option, because so far all the properties have sold within that time.
The spokesperson also said that where the chain-break option is taken up and and where it means the vendor still owning one home while buying their next, and therefore become liable to the 3% Stamp Duty surcharge on the purchase of a second home, Nested would also take on this payment.
The spokesperson said: “Nested will pay any second home stamp duty via a customer’s solicitor. Nested will then claim this back from HMRC after the customer’s former residence is sold (if within 36 months). However, Nested would only expect homes to become liable for second home Stamp Duty in a very small number of cases.”
Robinson said: “In today’s market, it has become almost impossible to buy and sell at the same time. With one in three transactions falling through, sellers are reluctant to accept offers from buyers in a chain, and when they do, the whole chain is at risk of falling through.
“People regularly miss out on their dream home or waste months stuck in limbo as a result and we are passionate about solving this important problem for UK home owners.”
You know what they say about “sounds to good to be true”. Please can we see the small print?
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Surprising lack of comment on an article that shows a completely different (wait for it…. genuinely disruptive) business model that is taking more funding. All run by the guy who co-founded Go-Cardless and backed by some guys with very deep pockets.
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Robinson said: “In today’s market, it has become almost impossible to buy and sell at the same time. With one in three transactions falling through, sellers are reluctant to accept offers from buyers in a chain, and when they do, the whole chain is at risk of falling through. What utter rubbish! If we can maintain a fall-trough rate of between 10% – 12% year on year in South Wales surely it can be done anywhere. With many transactions involved in chains its all about offer qualification.
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