Liverpool · Property Insider · Founder

The system told me
to stay
in my lane.
I built a new one.

Co-founder of Howsold. Founder of Property Decoded. I spent years watching an industry overcharge, underdeliver, and exploit people's biggest financial decisions. So I built the alternative.

£400k
Revenue, year one
56
Day completion via MMA
£0
Seller fees. Ever.
Joshua Owens, co-founder of Howsold, Liverpool
The problem with the industry

The property industry
was built to profit from you.

Here's what nobody in the industry wants you to understand: the whole system is structured to extract value from the moment you decide to sell. Estate agent fees. Six-month exclusive contracts. Buyers with no financial commitment who can walk away the morning of exchange.

The letting agent tells you to hold because they lose your management fee the day you sell. The mortgage broker has limited options. The government layers on legislation that squeezes your returns year after year. None of them have skin in your outcome.

The average UK property seller pays £6,000–£12,000 in agent fees and loses 6 months they'll never get back — for a process designed to benefit everyone except them.

I know this because I was inside it. I was a Sales Director at an estate agency. I watched it happen every single day. And I decided to build the exit route.

So I stopped working inside the machine — and built the alternative.

See what I built →
The broken system — in numbers
1 in 3
UK property sales fall through before completion
Buyers with zero financial commitment can walk away at any point — with no consequence whatsoever
171 days
Average time from listing to completion in the UK
Six months of mortgage payments, maintenance, and uncertainty
£9,400
Average seller cost on a £300k property via estate agent
Commission, legal fees, holding costs — paid by the seller, always
2.8m
UK landlords facing compliance pressure under the Renters Rights Bill
With no clear path out that actually protects their position
Joshua Owens — the forklift truck that preceded Howsold

"This was the turning point. Not the low point — the moment I decided no one was ever going to determine my ceiling again."

The story

From nothing.
No map. No safety net.

I didn't come from property money. I didn't have a mentor, a trust fund, or a contact book. I came from a background where you were told to be grateful for the job you had and not ask too many questions.

The problem was — I always asked too many questions. I thought differently than everyone around me. For a long time, that felt like a flaw. It took years to understand it was the only advantage I ever needed.

"I was told I wouldn't amount to much. That assessment turned out to be the most useful thing anyone ever said to me."

After a failed business that left me driving a forklift truck to cover the bills, most people would have taken the lesson and stayed small. I took a different lesson: I understood what it felt like to have nothing — and decided that was information, not identity.

I rebuilt. Became Sales Director at an estate agency. Learned the industry from the inside — how it really worked, who it served, and what it was missing. Then I walked away and built Howsold.

The beginning
Multiple businesses. Became one of the top performers in energy sales nationally. Learned that sales is psychology, not script.
The bottom
A failed business. Driving a forklift to stay afloat. The moment that changed everything.
The inside
Sales Director at an estate agency. Watched the system extract value from sellers every single day. Decided to build the alternative.
Now
Co-founder of Howsold. £400k revenue, year one. The UK's specialist Modern Method of Auction platform — built to give sellers the exit the industry refused to offer them.
The platform

Howsold isn't a property company.
It's a correction.

Modern Method of Auction was used by institutional sellers — housing associations, receivers, probate administrators — for decades. The mechanism worked. Nobody had built it properly for the individual seller. That's the gap Howsold fills.

01
The buyer pays. Not you.
The buyer pays a non-refundable reservation fee to secure the property exclusively for 56 days. You pay no Howsold fee — none. Your only cost is your own solicitor, as with any property sale. Our recommended solicitors typically operate no-sale-no-fee.
02
A defined timeline. Not a hope.
From the moment a buyer reserves, the clock runs. They have 56 days to exchange and complete. No endless renegotiations. No buyers stringing you along. A defined process with real financial consequences for walking away.
03
No vacant possession required.
Tenanted property, inherited property, property that needs work — MMA buyers are investors. They're not looking for a family home. They want stock. That means you can sell what the estate agent can't shift.
04
MMA only. No hybrid.
Howsold doesn't do traditional auction alongside MMA and hope you pick the right one. We do one thing, properly. That focus is what makes the platform different — and why it's growing.
05
Built to exit, not to grow headcount.
Howsold is a build-to-sell asset. Systemised, founder-independent, with consistent deal flow. We make decisions that are right for the long term — which means every seller interaction is structured to produce a result, not a relationship we can bill monthly.
Visit Howsold How MMA works
Howsold — by the numbers
£400k+
Revenue generated in year one without external funding
56
Days maximum from reservation to completion
£0
Howsold fees charged to the seller — ever
MMA
Only. Not traditional auction. Not a hybrid. One model, done properly.
What people say

Results speak.
People confirm them.

From sellers who used Howsold to professionals who've watched the platform grow — and landlords who made the decision to stop letting the system win.

I'd had the property on with an estate agent for four months. Two buyers, two fall-throughs. Joshua's team had it reserved within three weeks. I didn't even have to get it empty.

S.M.
Landlord — Liverpool portfolio, 3 properties
Completed in 49 days. Zero seller fees paid to Howsold.

I refer clients to Howsold when they need to sell and can't wait for the estate agent process. The MMA model is what I wish had existed years ago. The solicitor coordination alone saves weeks.

D.H.
Property Solicitor — North West
Now refers clients regularly. Consistent completion timelines.

I've watched Joshua go from nothing — and I mean nothing — to building something that's genuinely changing how property sales work. He doesn't talk about what he's going to do. He does it.

M.B.
Business contact — 8 years
Has watched the full journey. From forklift to platform founder.

"The Renters Rights Bill was the moment I knew I had to exit. Joshua's content was the first time someone actually explained what my options were — without trying to sell me something. Ended up selling through Howsold. Completed in 51 days."

R.T.
Portfolio landlord — Manchester
4 properties, 2 sold via Howsold
Free Yield Calculator

The formula
I actually use.

Gross yield is a number agents use to sell you a deal. Cash-on-cash return is the number that tells you whether the deal actually works. I built this calculator because I was tired of watching landlords make decisions based on the wrong metric.

Toggle between basic and advanced. No sign-up. No email wall. Just the numbers.

Rental Yield Calculator

Basic
Advanced
Mortgage
Purchase Costs
Annual Running Costs
Your Results
Gross Annual Rent
Gross Yield
Est. Monthly Cashflow

Pre-tax estimates only. Not financial advice. Consult a qualified adviser before making any property decision.

Yield below 4% — after the Renters Rights Bill bites, your real return will be lower still. See what you'd net via MMA →
Cash-on-cash below 5% — your capital may work harder elsewhere. Get a free MMA valuation →

MMA vs Estate Agent

Net Proceeds Comparison
Estate Agent
£238,200
~6 months
MMA via Howsold
£247,000
56 days
Advantage with MMA+£8,800
Time saved4.1 months faster

MMA: no Howsold seller fees — buyer pays reservation fee. Seller legal costs ~£1,500 apply as with any sale. Estate agent: commission + legal (~£2,000) + holding costs.

AI Exit Analyser

Should you sell
your rental right now?

Answer 5 questions. The AI cross-references your profile against live Howsold buyer demand data and generates a weighted exit assessment in under 10 seconds.

Not a generic calculator. A real assessment built for the market as it actually exists in 2026.

Live buyer demand dataCross-referenced against Howsold's current active buyer pool
Under 10 secondsWeighted assessment — not a dropdown result
Vacant property priorityBuyer demand for vacant stock is running high right now
Live Howsold Buyer Demand — Current
Vacant property94%
Renters Rights Bill affected87%
Tenanted — fixed AST79%
Your Exit Assessment
Property Decoded

The industry doesn't want
you informed.
We do.

Property Decoded is the media and education layer I built separately from Howsold — for one reason: the content only works if people trust it. And people only trust it if they know it's not designed to sell them something on every video.

The YouTube channel is free. The Skool community — Property Decoded — is where the real work happens. Deal analysis, exit strategy breakdowns, live market intelligence, and direct access to someone who is actually operating in this market right now.

Not a course. Not a coaching programme. A community for people who are serious about making the right decisions — and tired of getting information from people who profit from keeping them confused.

Free AccessFreeJoin now
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"The letting agent tells you to hold because they lose your management fee the day you sell. The estate agent overpromises because their commission depends on the listing. The bank offers limited options because their product set is limited. Nobody in the room is there for you. That's what Property Decoded is trying to fix."

Joshua Owens · Founder, Property Decoded
The Exit
When to sell, how to sell, what you actually net
The Landlord Reality
RRB, EPC, tax — what it actually means for you
The Deal
How to assess a property properly before you buy
The Market
What's moving and why — Liverpool and beyond
Writing

What I actually
think about property.

No generic advice. No content produced to fill a schedule. Opinion, analysis, and strategy from someone with skin in the game.

Common questions

What people
actually ask me.

What is Modern Method of Auction and how does it work?
MMA allows sellers to sell in as little as 56 days with no Howsold seller fees. The buyer pays a non-refundable reservation fee, securing the property exclusively for 56 days — within which they can exchange and complete at any point. If they walk away, they forfeit the fee. The seller pays no Howsold fee — only their own solicitor costs, as with any property sale.
What does it cost to sell through Howsold?
Nothing to Howsold. The buyer pays the reservation fee. You pay your own solicitor's fees as with any property sale — our recommended solicitors typically operate on a no-sale-no-fee basis. You can also use your own solicitor if you prefer.
Can I sell a tenanted property through Howsold?
Yes — and it's one of MMA's strongest use cases. You don't need vacant possession. Howsold buyers are investors specifically looking for tenanted stock. The property doesn't need to be empty, refurbished, or staged.
Will I get less than market value?
This is the most common misconception — it conflates MMA with distressed cash buyer sales. You set a reserve price. If bidding doesn't reach it, the sale doesn't proceed. Competitive bidding frequently pushes above the guide price. You retain full control of the minimum you'll accept.
What is Property Decoded and is it free?
Property Decoded is my independent education brand — YouTube channel and Skool community. The YouTube channel and free Skool tier are completely free. Core membership and Mastermind are paid tiers with more direct access and detailed analysis. Property Decoded is entirely separate from Howsold.
What is cash-on-cash return and why does it matter?
Cash-on-cash return measures your annual net cashflow as a percentage of the total cash you deployed to buy the property — deposit, stamp duty, legal fees, any works. It's the only metric that tells you what you're actually making on your real capital. Gross yield measures return on the full property value, which systematically distorts the picture depending on your leverage.
The Landlord Exit Guide

The guide most landlords
never get to see.

The complete breakdown of your exit options — MMA, estate agent, cash buyer — with real numbers, timelines, and the questions to ask before you sign anything. Written by someone who's been on both sides of the table.

No daily emails. No fluff. Just the guide — and occasional updates worth reading.