Sell your house fast in Birmingham, Nottingham and the Midlands
If you want to sell your house fast in Birmingham, Nottingham or anywhere across the West and East Midlands, Resolute Estate Solutions can make a written offer to buy it. We consider Victorian terraces, 1930s semis, former council houses and homes needing serious work, whether lived in or empty. Offers are below open-market value, and we show you how we worked the figure out.
Birmingham and the Black Country: terraces, semis and tower blocks
Birmingham's housing tells the story of how the city grew. Inner areas such as Handsworth, Small Heath, Sparkbrook, Aston and Balsall Heath are full of Victorian terraces, often with bay windows and long, narrow gardens. Kings Heath, Stirchley, Cotteridge and Erdington have Edwardian terraces and semis. Further out, Kingstanding, Northfield, Chelmsley Wood and Castle Vale have large interwar and post-war estates, many of them former council homes, along with tower blocks and maisonettes.
The Black Country towns, including Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley, West Bromwich and Sandwell, have a similar mix of terraces, 1930s semis and post-war estates, with a long industrial history underneath.
If you want to sell your house fast in Birmingham, the building type makes a real difference to how many buyers can get a mortgage on it. We are the buyer, not an agent, so we can look at homes other buyers pass over.
The 1930s semis found across both the West and East Midlands are a good example. Many still have original layouts, old wiring and ageing bay windows, and some have extensions added without the paperwork a buyer's solicitor will ask for. Those things do not rule a house out for us.
Nottingham, Leicester, Derby and the East Midlands
As Midlands property buyers, we consider homes across the East Midlands cities. In Nottingham, Sneinton, Hyson Green, Radford and Forest Fields have dense Victorian terraces, while Clifton, Bilborough, Bestwood and Aspley have large council-built estates, parts of which are now privately owned. Leicester's Highfields, Belgrave and Evington have long terraced streets, and Derby has similar railway-era housing around the city centre.
If you want to sell your house fast in Nottingham, we consider these homes whatever their condition. The towns around them, including Mansfield, Worksop, Chesterfield, Loughborough, Kettering, Corby and Northampton, add a wide range of pre-war and post-war housing, plus plenty of 1930s semis.
Some former council homes across the region were built using precast concrete or steel-framed systems rather than brick. Lenders can be cautious about non-standard construction, which can narrow the pool of buyers. Our page about selling a derelict or unmortgageable house explains how we approach it.
Mining history and ground movement in parts of the Midlands
Large parts of the Midlands sit over old coalfields: the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire coalfield, the Black Country, parts of Staffordshire, north Warwickshire and Leicestershire. That history can matter when you sell.
In former mining areas, a buyer's solicitor will usually order a mining search, which looks at recorded workings, shafts and any past subsidence claims. Records for the coalfields are held by the Coal Authority. A search result that mentions old workings does not necessarily mean there is a problem with the house, but it can prompt further questions from lenders and buyers.
Houses in former mining areas sometimes show:
- older cracking that has been repaired, sometimes with paperwork and sometimes without;
- doors and windows that have moved slightly out of square over the years;
- garden walls and outbuildings showing movement more than the house itself.
We take these points into account in the offer and explain how in writing. We would never ask you to hide anything you know about; sellers should not conceal defects, and being open at the start avoids problems later.
Coventry, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and the Midlands shires
Beyond the big cities, we consider homes across the region's towns and villages:
- Coventry and Warwickshire: Coventry's post-war rebuild, the terraces of Nuneaton and Rugby, and the Regency and Victorian streets of Leamington Spa and Warwick, where some homes are listed.
- Staffordshire: Stoke-on-Trent's terraces built for the potteries, plus Stafford, Tamworth, Burton upon Trent and Cannock.
- Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire: market towns, black-and-white timber-framed cottages and rural homes, some a long way from the nearest town.
- Lincolnshire and Rutland: Lincoln, Grantham, Boston and the coastal towns such as Skegness, along with farmhouses and bungalows in the countryside.
- Northamptonshire: Northampton's terraces, Corby's post-war housing, and the towns of Kettering and Wellingborough.
Heading north? See our page for sellers in the North of England. For everywhere else, see every region where we buy homes.
Rented and empty homes in the Midlands
Midlands terraces have long been popular with landlords, and some of those landlords now want to wind down. We buy rental properties with vacant possession, so the tenancy must have ended and the house be empty by completion. How a tenancy ends is a question for your solicitor, and GOV.UK has the official guidance. Our page for landlords selling up explains more, and our guide to selling a house with tenants sets out the rules in England.
Other Midlands homes are empty for different reasons: a house inherited from a parent or a family home left after a move into care. Executors can read about selling a probate property with us. If the owner has died and the home stays empty, no council tax is payable until probate is granted, and after the grant an exemption of up to six months can apply while the property stays empty and in the deceased person's name. In England, councils can charge a premium on homes left unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for a year or more, though it is optional and set locally; see council tax on empty homes and GOV.UK's guidance on empty properties. Always check your own council's rate.
Empty homes are more at risk of property fraud, so we check identity and ownership on every purchase. See why we check identity and ownership.
How we price a Midlands home, and what it costs you
Our offers are below open-market value. We say that plainly because it is the most important thing to know before you choose to sell to a company like ours. In return, you get a buyer who does not rely on a mortgage, there are no fees, we pay your legal fees, and you can sell as seen.
We base the figure on comparable sales nearby. After viewing, we send a written offer with our reasoning and terms. If the offer depends on a survey, we tell you before you accept, and we only change an offer later for a new, evidenced finding, explained in writing. You can read how our offers are calculated, follow our step-by-step selling process, or ask us for a written offer.
If you live in the house, it must be empty by completion. We do not let sellers or their families stay on as tenants. If a well-presented home would sell readily through an agent, we will tell you so; our comparison of selling to a buyer, through an agent or at auction can help you decide.
Questions from sellers in the Midlands
Do you have an office in Birmingham or Nottingham?
No. Our registered office is in Gravesend, Kent. We travel to view Midlands homes and handle the rest by phone, email and through the solicitors.
Will you buy a former council house of non-standard construction?
We consider them. Non-standard construction can limit mortgage lending, so we look at the construction type and any repair work that has been done and explain the effect on the price in writing.
My house is in an old mining area. Is that a problem?
Not necessarily. A mining search may be carried out as part of the conveyancing. We take any findings into account and explain how they affect our offer.
Can I sell a house with tenants to you?
Only once it is empty. We buy rental properties with vacant possession, so the tenancy must have ended and the house be empty by completion. A solicitor can advise you on your obligations to your tenant, and GOV.UK has the official guidance.
Do I have to clear the house before the sale?
Talk to us about the contents on the first call. Whatever is agreed, nobody can be living in the property by completion, and anything you want to keep should be removed before then.
Is there any charge if I decide not to sell?
No. The offer is free, and there is no obligation. You can say no without paying anything. Read more about the company.
Do you buy flats in Birmingham or Nottingham city centres?
We consider them, including flats in converted buildings and newer blocks. The lease length, service charges, ground rent and any building safety forms all affect the price, and we set out how in the written offer. Our page on selling a leasehold flat as it is explains the leasehold points buyers and lenders look at.
Page last reviewed on by the Resolute Estate Solutions team.