Quick navigation
You might find that there are extra hurdles involved with selling a leasehold or freehold flat, house or other property when it is located near to a petrol station. Reading this guide will inform you about the possible complications associated with finding a buyer for this type of home, and it also offers advice on how to boost your odds of receiving a fair and fast offer.
- When is your home considered near to a petrol station?
- Reasons why buyers may want a property by a petrol station
- Problems with trying to sell a flat or house near a petrol station
- Mortgage hurdles for buyers for your property by a petrol station
- Your options for selling home located near a petrol station
- Top questions about selling a property close to a petrol station
When is your home considered near to a petrol station?
Recent data on Statista shows that there are 8,365 petrol stations operating throughout the UK, owned by large corporations, small companies, individuals and others.
These petrol stations can be located in rural areas, city centres, suburbs and elsewhere. And in many of these locations, you can find houses, flats and other types of leasehold or freehold residential, commercial and other properties. They’re freehold if you own the land and building completely, whereas you own a leasehold home if you are the owner for a set number of years as specific in a lease agreement with the freeholder, and you pay them a yearly ground rent.
Although there’s no single legal definition of when your home will be considered “near” to a petrol station, if it is located next to or across the street from the business, or within a few streets of the petrol station, then most buyers will consider this to be nearby.
Attempting to sell a property near a petrol station presents some challenges that you might not experience with trying to find a buyer for a house or flat located elsewhere. This guide walks you through the pros and cons of attempting to sell this type of property, and offers tips on how to best attract a buyer quickly.
Reasons why buyers may want a property by a petrol station
It’s important when you’re trying to sell any type of leasehold or freehold home that you have a grasp on the possible pros and cons with which prospective buyers might view your property.
Below you’ll see a couple of common reasons why someone might be interested in making an offer to buy a house or flat that is located close to a petrol station. Having an understanding of these issues can be useful when selling because you could promote them to potential buyers, and maybe even persuade a reluctant buyer to have more interest in making an offer.
Great value: Some buyers could see a property near a petrol station as offering better value than homes located elsewhere, because it might be sold at a lower price than a house or flat of the same size that is in a more desirable area. This can help to attract prospective buyers that might have a strict budget for purchasing their next home. It could entice some investors who believe that the property has the potential for increasing significantly in value in the coming years before they resell it.
Convenient location: Living close to a petrol station could be seen as an advantage for buyers that have to travel often by car for work, because it offers a very convenient way to refuel – and this can be particularly advantageous if the petrol station’s prices are low, as a recent article in The Sun notes. If the petrol station has a small shop offering food and other essentials for the house, this can make the location seem even more appealing to certain buyers.
Problems with trying to sell a flat or house near a petrol station
Although there a few reasons why a buyer might prefer to own a freehold or leasehold property near a petrol station, there are also some cons that may make it harder to sell the home.
Just as it can be helpful to know why some buyers might be more inclined to make an offer to buy a home situated near a petrol station, it’s also important to learn about the reasons why someone could lose interest in your flat or house due to its location.
Health risks: There are some studies that suggest potential air pollution and other risks associated with living near to a petrol station, as the mortgage advisor Teito explains. These concerns could be enough to make some buyers lose interest in your property, particularly if the person that is considering making an offer on the home is already suffering from health issues.
Pollution problems: Along with the possible health risks of living near a petrol station, these businesses can cause various types of pollution. Noise pollution might be a concern because of the many cars using the petrol station, whereas air pollution from the petrol fumes and vehicle exhausts and land pollution from potential fuel storage stills may also be a drawback.
Heavy traffic: Petrol stations may be used by hundreds of cars, buses, lorries and other vehicles on a daily basis, particularly for those businesses that are located in areas with high amounts of traffic. You might discover that many potential buyers view the possible problems associated with living near this elevated amount of traffic to be enough of a justification for them to not want to make an offer on a property that is located near a petrol station.
Mortgage hurdles for buyers for your property by a petrol station
One potential barrier that you could face when trying to sell your freehold or leasehold home near a petrol station can happen if the buyer will need a loan to purchase your property.
Mortgage lenders will assess the possible future resale value of a house or flat before approving a loan to buy the home. They do this because the company might need to resell the property in the future in the event that the buyer defaults on their monthly mortgage repayments, and the lender then moves to repossess the home and sell it to recoup the outstanding debt.
Some mortgage providers might consider a property located close to a petrol station to have a low resale value, and they could worry that they won’t be able to sell it at a high enough price to recoup their costs if necessary. If the lender decides that this justifies rejecting the loan, then the buyer will not be able to afford to purchase your property and the sale will fall through, as The Mortgage Plan website notes.
Further, if there are any potential contamination concerns about pollution from the petrol station affecting your home, this can cause lenders to be even warier about approving a mortgage.
If you discover that you’re struggling to sell your home because buyers are unable to get a loan to pay for the purchase, then don’t worry that the property will never sell – you have alternative options, as the next section of this guide explains. One solution could be selling to LDN Properties or another quick home buyer, because these companies have the funds upfront to purchase all types of properties, without having to first get approved for a mortgage.
Your options for selling home located near a petrol station
When you are looking to sell your freehold or leasehold house, flat or other property close to a petrol station, you’ll need to decide which method to use for finding a buyer. You can choose among selling to a quick home buyer, selling through an auction, selling with an estate agent or selling without any assistance – and the methods all have their own pros and cons.
For example, if you decide to sell your home to a quick buyer like LDN Properties then you won’t have to pay any commission, which helps with lowering your overall selling expenses. But if you opt for selling your property through an estate agent, you could be waiting for many months, or even more than an entire year, before you are able to complete the sale.
Before choosing your selling method, write down your main aims with finding a buyer, which can include your goal selling price, how long you are willing to wait to sell and whether you are open to paying commission for the sale. Then compare these details against the information about all four methods below and this should help you to find the best match for your situation.
Selling to a quick home buyer
LDN Properties, founded in 2003, is one of many quick home buyers that make fast and fair offers to buy almost any type of leasehold or freehold house, flat or other property throughout the UK, regardless of its age, condition, location, shape or size. You’re promised a competitive price even if your home is suffering from a major problem such as structural damage.
For example, since launching, LDN Properties has not only purchased and made offers for homes located near to a petrol station but also houses with a drainage problem, self-build houses, timber frame properties, listed buildings, homes that do not have a structural warranty, flats with bad wiring, properties that are uninhabitable, smoker’s flats, holiday lets, Wimpey No-Fines properties, homes without a Fenestration Self-Assessment Scheme certificates, houses that have chancel repair liability, park homes, flats located near to traffic junctions and other scenarios.
Whatever type of property you’re trying to sell, a quick buyer should be able to complete the process within a few short weeks, and this includes the time taken to exchange contracts and pay you the full proceeds. They can move so speedily because they already have the funds to buy your home, without first needing to wait to get approved for a mortgage for the purchase. This makes selling to a quick buyer often by far the fastest way to sell a property.
Remember also that legitimate quick home buying companies like LDN Properties will never charge owners commission when selling their flats or houses. This can help to reduce your total selling costs, because it’s one less expense that you will need to worry about, and it can make selling your home to a quick buyer a streamlined, stress-free and no-hassle option.
And for your extra reassurance, you could ask individual quick buyers if they belong to an independent organisation called The Property Ombudsman (TPO). This entity issues rules, which all true members must follow, that shield homeowners from falling victim to scams in the quick property buying industry. Don’t sell your home to a quick buyer that cannot prove its TPO membership status, because there’s a risk that it could be a fraudulent business.
Thankfully, it is free, swift and simple to check on the membership status of an individual quick home buyer. Just visit TPO’s website and then look for the "Find a Member" button on the left of the welcome page, and click on it. You’ll be asked to type in the name of a specific quick home buyer, and then if the company is genuinely registered with TPO – like LDN Properties – you’ll next be shown their membership details. If a quick buyer is not registered with TPO then you won’t get any results after you type in the company’s name on the website.
Selling through an auction
Selling your home at an auction can be a slow process, taking many months. You’ll have a delay of many weeks or longer between when you list your home for sale and when the auction takes place. During this time, the auctioneer will prepare and advertise a listing that describes your home and includes photographs of it, to generate interest from auction attendees.
Then they’ll host the auction, where you’ll choose a reserve price, which represents the lowest value you’ll accept for selling your property. If nobody places at bid at this amount at least, your home goes unsold and you’ll have to begin again with finding a buyer, delaying the timeline further. But if someone places a single bid at the reserve price, this is a binding legal agreement to sell your property and the winning bidder could sue to enforce this if you try to cancel it.
For that reason, you need to opt for a reserve price that should still produce some profit from the sale even after paying the auctioneer their fees for the work that they’ll have done in selling your home. Typically this is charged at 2.5 percent of your property’s final auction sale price, and it will increase your selling costs because the fee is deducted from the sale proceeds immediately.
You may want to ask specific auction houses about the possibility of them reducing the rate of commission that they’ll charge, or to have the winning high bidder pay for some of your costs, because both outcomes can be solutions for reducing your overall selling expenses.
If your home does sell at the auction, there’s another delay after because the buyer will have about 28 days to sign all of the mandatory legal paperwork and complete their other required steps. If you’re looking for a fast way to sell your home, you should review some other methods.
There are some auctioneers that might be willing to set a tighter deadline for the buyer to complete their tasks, so it may be worth inquiring about this with individual companies. Just beware that some auction houses could give winning high bidders even more than 28 days.
Selling with an estate agent
Or you might consider selling your property by a petrol station through an estate agent, who will do most of the work – from preparing and advertising the listing to scheduling viewings for anyone interested to tour your home, and they’ll also field genuine offers from serious buyers.
Many homeowners find the viewings to be very disruptive to their lives and invasive, although in most cases the estate agent will be responsible for actually leading the viewings.
For putting in all of this effort, estate agents will charge you commission if they are able to sell your house or flat. Usually this is between 1.15 percent and 1.40 percent of the property’s final sale price, but it could be higher or lower depending on the company that you use. This fee will raise your total costs because the commission is taken out of the eventual sale proceeds.
Selling via an estate agent could be a slow process that takes several months or possibly even more than an entire year – this is why people sometimes choose to sell without an estate agent. And remember that a buyer could make an offer but then withdraw it and not face any penalties, so long as you have not yet exchanged contracts. If that occurs, you’ll face further delays because you’ll have to start over with trying to find a buyer.
It is possible that some estate agents could have zero experience with selling a home near to a petrol station, and this implies that they might struggle with getting people interested in making an offer on your house or flat. Always ask companies whether they have succeeded in selling properties like yours before, and avoid selling with anyone that lacks this experience.
Selling without any assistance
This is often the hardest way to sell a home because you will need to handle all the steps, from the initial creation and advertising of a listing through to scheduling viewings and hearing offers from buyers. It can create a lot of stress for you, and it’s not an option that you will only be able to handle in your spare time, because of the massive amount of work involved.
You could be looking at more than an entire year before you receive a serious offer from a buyer, and even then, the buyer could cancel the offer and face no penalties, so long as contracts have not yet been exchanged. That’s why you should only really consider this method if you’ve managed to sell a property near a petrol station in the past, or you have a suitably qualified family member or friend that’s willing to help you sell the home at no charge.
The clear benefit of selling this way is that you won’t need to pay any commission to a third party like an auctioneer or an estate agent. But this cost saving could be wiped out by the money that you’ll need to spend on advertising your listing and other selling expenses.
As an alternative, consider contacting LDN Properties or another zero-fee quick home buyer. Not only will they commit to not charging you any commission when purchasing your flat or house, but you will also get a much more rapid sale – these companies can generally finalise the process of buying a home within weeks, and that includes the exchange of contracts. It’s a swift and stress-free alternative to the problems associated with selling on your own.
Top queries and answers about selling a property near a petrol station
Homeowners considering a fast sale of their property can have questions that need answering, ranging from the types of property that can be sold through to selling a house near an airport. Here are some of the top questions we’re asked about selling a property near a petrol station:
Your top questions when selling a property near a petrol station
There is no strict geographical definition for when a leasehold or freehold house, flat or other residential property is considered to be near a petrol station. But if you are able to see the business from your home, particularly if you on the same street as the petrol station or within a few hundred feet from it, then buyers will see your property as being near the business.
Some buyers may see living near to a petrol station as being very convenient, particularly if they need regular access to the business to refuel their car for travel. These same buyers might look favourably on owning a home close to a petrol station if the business also sells food and other items, because this can make it very convenient for buying essentials for their house or flat.
Unfortunately, many buyers could have a range of concerns about making an offer to purchase a home located near to a petrol station. Some prospective buyers might worry about air pollution, noise and traffic associated with the business and the many cars using it. Other buyers might worry about how living so close to a petrol station could harm their health.
Possibly, depending on several factors such as the proximity of the petrol station to the property, whether there are any pollution problems from the business that are negatively affecting the home and other issues. Mortgage lenders may be wary about approving a loan to buy your property if they fear that it will be hard to resell the home at a profit if necessary later.
Often the fastest option for selling any type of property, including those located close to petrol stations, is contacting a quick home buyer like LDN Properties, because they have the ability to complete the purchase within a handful of weeks. The other methods of selling on your own, selling at an auction or selling with an estate agent can all take at least several months.
Not if you opt for selling your leasehold or freehold home to a genuine no-fee quick buyer such as LDN Properties, or you sell without the help of a fee-charging third party. But if you decide to seek a buyer through an auction or an estate agent then you will need to pay them commission for selling your home, and this fee will be subtracted right away from the final sale proceeds.
You can ask individual quick buyers to prove that they are registered with an independent entity known as The Property Ombudsman (TPO), which writes rules that all members must follow that are designed to guard homeowners against falling victim to fraud in the industry. Never sell your home to a company that cannot show it’s a TPO member, as it could be a scam.
