Springbok Properties: 2022 Review

With its beginnings back in 2012 - first registered on Companies House in 2014 - Springbok Properties is a property buying company based in Manchester, serving the whole of the UK.

As with a great many “quick home buying” organisations and "sell house fast" firms, the organisation sets itself apart from the standard high street or online estate agent by providing sellers with a cash offer to buy houses directly.

Individuals who wish to use Springbok Properties’ cash house sales process are usually those looking to sell property much more quickly than is typical via a regular estate agency business model or auction house.

Here, we’ll review Springbok’s customer service standards and property sales approaches to see how the organisation measures up against others of its kind - and against more traditional property companies.

Customer Service

As part of their Mission Statement, Springbok Properties sets themselves the goal of “obtaining the best possible price while giving the best service humanly possible”.

So - does Springbok Properties offer great service?

In order to determine the true quality of their services, a great approach is to examine online reviews for Springbok Properties.

According to its website, Springbok is “the most reviewed cash buyer ever”. Indeed, at the time of writing, there are 2,220 Springbok Properties reviews onTrustpilot, 3011 online reviews onallAgents and 965 reviews viaGoogle.

This earns the organisation a five star rating on allAgents - with 93% of reviewers saying they would highly recommend the company. Springbok also boasts an “Excellent” customer service rating on Trustpilot, complete with a 4.5 star “TrustScore”, and a four star review on Google.

Springbok Properties’ bad reviews are swiftly investigated and resolved, with current response times on Trustpilot sitting below one week. 

Complaints procedure

The company provides a clear outline of its complaints procedure on its website. This states that if a client is unhappy with the service they have received, their first port of call should be to report this directly to the team handling the sale of their property.

If the issue cannot be resolved in that manner, the next step should be either to send a detailed message to Springbok’s specialist customer service email address or to write to Springbok Properties Complaints, Universal Square, Devonshire Street North, Manchester M12 6JH.

Should the company’s initial response (promised within 15 working days) fail to satisfy, Springbok says that the information will be passed on to a different member of their management team for resolution. 

The client should expect their final response within another 15 working days. Should they be unsatisfied with the outcome, Springbok Properties recommends that they approach The Property Ombudsman.

Property Sales Process

So, how easy is it to sell property to Springbok?

The company claims that it can buy any house in 30 days or less, whatever its condition. Springbok achieves this target with around 63% of sales. Typically, the fast sale process follows these steps:

1. The client elects to receive a free valuation and/or cash offer from the company
2. The offer is accepted and Springbok manages the transaction
3. Legal fees are covered and agency costs waived with the aim of a hassle free sale
4. The company proposes a completion date, to which the client must agree
5. Springbok and the client exchange contracts and the sale is completed

Most commonly, customers who select this service will receive around 85% of their home’s market value.

Online estate agent alternative

An alternative approach is to use Springbok Property’s “Sell Your House Fast” service. Via this method, the company can help sellers to find the right buyer for their home in as few as 7 - 14 days, while receiving up to 100% of its market value.

There is also a “back up” cash offer available if the seller needs the process to move faster, or if the other method fails to achieve the desired results.

The organisation’s allAgents listing states that the company offers 90% sales valuation accuracy and 93% sales fee satisfaction.

Springbok’s website and social media pages include links to numerous video testimonials detailing high levels of customer satisfaction

Should I Approach Springbok Properties to Sell My House Fast?

Springbok Properties operates on a “no sale, no fee” basis, with any potential fees agreed upfront.

In order to achieve quick house sales, the company relies on a network of property investors to buy houses belonging to clients. In this way, Springbok differs from many other cash sale firms - as a large number of industry specialists will fund the purchase in-house.

This approach means that there may be some variation in terms of the speed of the process, as well as the amount the homeowner can expect to gain from the sale. However, that is no bad thing - in fact, it can increase the likelihood of a property selling for 100% of its market value.

This is not Springbok’s only approach, however. Depending on the client’s requirements and preferred product, the organisation may list homes on the open market, using platforms such as Rightmove and Zoopla.

Pros and Cons

The positive elements of Springbok Properties’ services are fairly clear, as evidenced from the information above. The company has a great track record of customer service and offers impressive potential turnover speeds and sales outcomes. So, what are the downsides?

Well, the use of a network of investors may be seen as more of a gamble than the in-house approach employed by other fast home buyers. 

While yes, it does lay the groundwork for offers worth well over the industry average of 75 - 82% of a property’s market value, there is also the risk that your house could go for less. It also means that the pace of each sale is less predictable.

It is worth noting, however, that the Springbok Properties team consists of numerous highly experienced negotiators, all of whom work to prevent any snags in the process. While this can never entirely prevent problems from arising, it does serve to reduce the risk factor somewhat.

The small number of bad reviews listed online tend to focus on the company’s communication. 

Springbok’s use of an external network of investors does have the potential to cause slight holdups in the process, which then has a knock-on effect on the information that the team can feed back to users.

Furthermore, on the company's website, there is something of a lack of transparency when it comes to the potential fees that a seller might be charged when using Springbok. 

Of course, the company utilises a “no sale, no fee” method - so more often than not, the client isn't charged at all. However, there is no official information online regarding the potential fees that may be incurred, which may put some sellers off enlisting their services.

Springbok Properties does make this information transparent upon enquiry, but that may be too late for more cautious individuals.

Springbok in Summary

As an organisation, Springbok Properties is clearly dedicated to customer service - as is evidenced by the large number of reviews on various online platforms, the vast majority of which are extremely positive.

The company holds itself to an extremely high standard and offers the very real possibility of a speedy, hassle free sale in under 30 days, with many completed in as few as one or two weeks thanks to its expert negotiators.

There are risks inherent in the company’s use of external investors to buy houses - but more often than not, this seems to pay off. 

The result is that a large number of Springbok’s clients are able to receive an offer of at least 85% of their property’s market value - higher than the industry average.

To summarise, while some of the techniques employed by Springbok Properties differ somewhat from that of a typical fast home buying company, the proof of the organisation’s success is quite clear.

The company takes great pride in the large numbers of written and recorded testimonials that are shared across its website. 

What’s more, when compared with atypical estate agency sale, it seems clear that using Springbok as a fast home buying company can garner significantly improved results for the right client. 

On its site, Springbok claims that at least 8,700 sellers have opted to use their services after being let down by a high street or online agent.

At the time of writing, the company has just celebrated its ten-year anniversary - having grown from a tiny team of five to an organisation that falls into the “50 - 200 employees” division of Glassdoor.co.uk.

Interested parties can contact Springbok Properties via telephone (0800 068 4015) oronline contact form to receive their free valuation and cash offer.

It is a good idea to have a frank and open discussion with the company’s advisors regarding the suitability of their methods of sale for your particular circumstances. 

However, in the majority of cases, it seems that Springbok Properties are able to secure satisfactory results within a short time frame, proving that their claims regarding both a smooth and stress free process and a good cash offer are usually very accurate.