Who we are, in one paragraph
Curran Homes North East is a small, owner-run local firm. We buy around twenty houses a year across the North East — usually houses that need real work — refurbish them fully with our own in-house team, and sell them on as finished family homes. We're not a national call centre, we view every house in person, and the person you deal with is the person whose name is on the company.
Us, an estate agent, or auction?
Three honest routes to selling a house. Here's how they actually compare:
| Selling to us | Estate agent | Auction | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price achieved | Below open-market value — our offer reflects the work the house needs | Usually the most money, if the house shows well and you can wait | Unpredictable — can go well, can go cheap on the day |
| Speed | Weeks, at your pace — you pick the completion date | Typically several months from listing to completion, longer with a chain | Fixed timetable — roughly a month to the auction, then about a month to complete |
| Certainty | Very high — no chain, no mortgage lender on our side, and our offer doesn't drop at the last minute | A meaningful share of agreed sales fall through — chains collapse, surveys spook buyers, lenders say no | High once the hammer falls — the buyer is legally committed |
| Fees to you | None — you only pay your own solicitor | Commission (commonly 1–2% + VAT) plus your legal costs | Entry fees and/or commission, plus legal pack costs — varies by auction house |
| Condition of the house | Doesn't put us off — houses needing full refurbishment are exactly what we buy | Poor condition shrinks your buyer pool — most mortgage lenders and families want move-in ready | Fine — auctions handle rough houses well |
| Hassle | One visit from us, then it's done | Photos, listings, repeated viewings, negotiations, and keeping the house presentable throughout | Legal pack up front, open viewings, and the nerves of sale day |
| Best when | The house needs work, and speed, certainty and simplicity matter more than the last pound | The house is in decent condition and you have time to wait for the right buyer | You want a fixed date and the house is hard to value or very unusual |
Figures like agent fees and timescales are typical ranges, not quotes — they vary by agent, auction house and market conditions. The point of this table isn't to claim we win every row. It's that each route wins different rows, and which one is right depends on what you need.
Why so many house sales collapse — the numbers
The biggest hidden cost of selling the normal way isn't the fee. It's the risk that the sale dies halfway through. The figures on this are grim reading:
Industry research put the UK's fall-through rate at around a quarter of agreed sales in 2025 — and estimates for England and Wales often run closer to one in three. Agreeing a sale is not the same as selling.
The two biggest killers are buyers failing to get their mortgage, and buyers walking away or demanding a price cut after the survey. Houses that need work are hit hardest by both.
Industry estimates put the typical cost of a collapsed sale in the low thousands per household — legal fees, surveys and lost time, with nothing to show for it — and months added to the process.
Selling to us removes the three failure points at the root of most collapses: there's no mortgage lender on our side to say no, no survey renegotiation because we've priced the work in before offering, and no chain to fall over. That certainty is the real product — the thing you're trading a slice of price for.
Situations we buy in most often
Every seller's situation is different, but the same handful come up again and again:
Often full of belongings, often needing decades of updating, often owned by two or three siblings who just want it dealt with fairly and without months of viewings. We handle these regularly and we handle them gently.
Years of tenants and light-touch maintenance leave houses that mortgage buyers won't touch. That's our core stock — and in some cases we can buy with tenants still in place.
Listed for months, viewings dried up, price cut once already. Usually the house's condition is filtering out every mortgage buyer. We're the buyer that condition doesn't filter out.
Relocation, separation, care-home fees, or simply wanting the certainty before Christmas. When the timeline matters more than the last few thousand pounds, a direct sale is built for it.
No kitchen, no bathroom, structural movement, non-standard construction — issues that make a house unmortgageable kill open-market sales entirely. They don't kill ours.
We can view, agree a figure in principle and be ready the moment probate is granted, so the legal wait doesn't cost you a second search for a buyer.
What happens after you accept our offer
You appoint yours, we appoint ours, same day if you like. From here it's a normal conveyance — contracts, title, searches — just without a lender slowing it down.
Nothing changes for you day to day. You stay in the house, there are no viewings and no board outside. If anything crops up in the title, we work the problem rather than walking away — buying houses with wrinkles is our normal.
Exchange makes it legally binding, completion hands over the keys and the money — on the date you chose at the start. Weeks if you need it fast, months if you need time to sort the next move.
The honest bit, in plain words
How it works
Address, condition, and your situation. The form below — a couple of lines is plenty to start.
No obligation, no pressure, no fee. We'll tell you honestly what we can pay and why — and if another route would serve you better, we'll say that too.
No chain on our side, so we move at your pace. Weeks if you need it fast, months if you need time.
Questions people ask us
Do you charge any fees?
No. There are no fees for selling to us — no commission and no charge for the offer. You'd instruct your own solicitor for the sale in the usual way, and each side pays its own legal costs.
Will your offer change at the last minute?
No. Price-dropping at exchange is the reason quick-sale companies have a bad name, and we don't do it. We view the property properly before we offer, so the offer we make is the offer we stand behind.
How do you work out your offer?
We start from what the finished house will sell for, then deduct the full cost of the refurbishment, our buying and selling costs, and a margin for the risk and the work. We'll talk you through the logic when we make the offer — it's not a number from a formula, it's a number from a builder's costing.
What condition does the house need to be in?
Almost any. Dated interiors, damp, old wiring, tired kitchens and bathrooms, structural issues — houses needing full refurbishment are our bread and butter, because we refurbish everything with our own in-house team.
How fast can you actually move?
Quicker than an open-market sale, because there's no chain on our side and no mortgage lender to wait for. Once a price is agreed, the pace is largely set by the legal work and by you — weeks rather than months, and you choose the completion date.
Can I stay in the house until completion?
Yes. Nothing changes day to day until the sale completes on the date you've chosen. There's no board outside and no stream of viewings — one visit from us, then it's the solicitors' job.
Do you buy inherited houses and probate properties?
Yes, often. If probate hasn't been granted yet we can still view, agree a price in principle and be ready to move the moment it comes through, which takes one job off your plate during a hard time.
Do you buy houses with tenants in them?
We can, depending on the situation. Tell us the position honestly — tenancy type, rent, whether the tenants know the house is being sold — and we'll give you a straight answer on whether it works for us.
Do I need an estate agent as well?
No. Selling to us is a direct sale — no agent, no listing, no commission. If your house is already listed with an agent, check your agency agreement first, as some contracts claim commission on any buyer during the contract period.
Is your offer legally binding?
Not until contracts are exchanged, same as any house sale in England. What we promise is that the figure we offer after viewing is the figure we proceed at — we don't renegotiate at the door of exchange.
What areas do you cover?
The North East of England only: Sunderland, Durham, Newcastle, Gateshead, South Shields, Washington and the towns and villages between and around them. If you're unsure, ask — the answer is usually yes.
What happens to the house afterwards?
We refurbish it properly — the full story of our projects is on our main site — and sell it on as a finished family home. Your old house gets a new lease of life, which matters to a lot of the people we buy from.
Selling in a specific town?
We buy right across the region. If you'd rather read about your own patch: Sunderland, Durham, Newcastle, Gateshead, South Shields, Washington — or see everywhere we buy.
Tell us about your house
Fill this in and we'll come back to you quickly — usually the same day.