Estate agent fees can be a big amount to add on to the cost of moving. It comes as no surprise that some people prefer selling their homes all by themselves. This option dies not appeal to everyone and many prefer to use their skills of an established agent to see them through this stressful and hectic experience. But around a third of us are open to alternatives.
By far the biggest benefit of selling your property via an estate agent is the exposure they offer to your property. They can easily able to put your property in front of people looking for a home exactly like yours. On the other hand, in these Web savvy days there are a whole heap of portals ready to offer your property even greater exposure.
Several property portals will offer you this service for free – nevertheless, do be careful, because it really is a case of ‘you get what you actually pay for’. There are some amazing websites which even review the private sale sites. This should give you a great insight into which website perhaps is best for your house. Typically the more exposure a site can give your property, the greater the cost. On the other hand, this could greatly increase your chances of making a sale out of it.
Do not disregard other avenues such as your local classified or other portals like YouTube, Facebook or eBay. With some clever marketing techniques they could certainly help selling your home without an estate agent.
Prior to putting your house up for sale privately you will have to decide on a price. You will not have the benefit of an agent’s expertise here. Nevertheless, you should be able to get a good guide price from looking at the prices of houses that are up for sale in your locality. Alternatively, you could contact your local real estate agent and get them to get an estimate on your house for free, while having no intention of putting your house for sale through them. Beware that as there is no obligations, there are certain expectations that you will use their services for the sale and you perhaps have to fend off their calls for several weeks to come.
After you have decided on the price, you will then have to promote your house listed for sale. This can be best achieved by taking some high-quality photographs. The more you take, the better it would be. Try recalling what actually attracted you to buy that house in the first place. Make sure you get some great photos of the bathroom and kitchen as they are what supposedly sell a house.
You will need catchy words to accompany these photos and measurements. Check on leading websites to see how they describe properties and what information you should include. Always include crucial details like the outside space, locality and details about parking spaces.
You must be accurate while describing your house as you do not want to fall foul of the Property Misdescriptions Act.
When you have received and accepted that all crucial offers you will then require to instruct a solicitor.
You can certainly take care of your own legal work but for efficiency and speed it is best that you leave it to professionals. Agree on a timescale with your solicitor and then contact them on a regular basis for updates and to ensure the timescale is being fully adhered to. Also make sure you keep the buyer informed of any hiccups as this involves them in the entire process and also ensure they are very less likely to pull out at the first sign of trouble.
The last stage is to hand over the keys. Make sure you have your solicitor’s confirmation that the funds have been received prior to parting with the keys.
