Selling a House |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Be your own estate agent By Nikki Watkins
Buying a house is the most expensive and financially binding thing that you're ever likely to do. But it's not just house prices themselves that are hitting our pockets. According to the Woolwich Cost of Moving survey, upgrading from Aside from stamp duty, one of the biggest expenses is likely to be the fee you pay your estate agent for selling your property. Estate agents can charge between 1% and 3% - so on a £300,000 family home that could be anything from £3,000 to £9,000. It is not only fees that are causing sellers anguish. Estate agents have long been mistrusted, and recent undercover investigations into this unregulated industry - revealing over-valuations, false offers and shady deals with property developers - have knocked the public's faith even further. There is, however, another option. If you don't feel confident putting the sale of your house into the hands of an estate agent, then why not do it yourself? Martin Charlick, managing director of Thelittlehousecompany.co.uk, says: "Around 90% of people do go through agents. Even though they don't like them, they still use them. People are mystified by private selling." Mark Desvaux, managing director of Houseweb.co.uk, agrees: "It feels like an underground movement here but it is very established in France and Germany where 50% of people sell privately." New opportunities In the days before the internet it would have been incredibly difficult to market your property without an agent. However, with more than 70% of homebuyers now starting their search online, according to Thelittlehousecompany.co.uk, it's now much easier to market your home yourself. There are numerous property sales websites that will not only host an advertisement for your home, they'll also link in to the leading portals like Rightmove.co.uk and Propertyfinder.co.uk, which between them cover the bulk of the properties available for sale in the UK. And, unlike estate agents they don't charge commission. You simply pay a fixed fee irrespective of how long your home takes to sell or its eventual selling price. Most sites will have a number of advertising packages - usually a basic and a premium option. The cheapest options won't usually link to other websites however and may only let you display one photo, so it may be worth paying a little extra for wider exposure and the opportunity to show off more of your home. The most expensive options include professional photos and virtual tours. The process of getting your home on the market is quick and easy. Using a digital camera you simply take some photos of your home, showing it in it's best possible light, which can then be uploaded to the site. "We usually recommend a picture of the front of the house, two interior shots - usually kitchen and lounge - and one of the rear garden," advises Charlick. All you then have to do is enter a brief description of your home. You will of course also need to include a realistic asking price. You can research online, searching property portals to see what equivalent properties are on the market for. Pitching power Ourproperty.co.uk is another useful resource - enter in your postcode and it will tell you what local properties have been selling for using data from the Land Registry. If you aren't sure of the price, it's worth remembering that estate agents don't charge to value your property. Three valuations from different agents should give you a good idea of where to pitch your property. As soon as you have completed the registration of your property, your advertisement will be put onto the site. Interested buyers will then get in touch with you directly if they want to arrange a viewing. You will, however, have to manage these yourself. Once you have received and accepted an offer you pass on the sale details to your solicitor who will pick up the process from there. It's not just potential cost savings that are encouraging people to sell privately. Desvaux also points out that there will be better communication between seller and buyer which can take much of the stress out of the home buying process. "People are less likely to let you down further down the line as they are dealing directly with the homeowner," he says. Charlick agrees. "If there is more of a relationship, all those little niggles that can cause sales to fall through can be addressed directly, and you don't have to worry about messages not being communicated properly by the middlemen." Mix and match Another advantage of these sites is that you can also use them to supplement the efforts of your estate agent, which is particularly useful if you already have your home on the market and are struggling to sell. Sole agency agreements mean that you can only employ one agent to market your property, but marketing your property yourself does not count. "Using the internet and a local agent is a good option," says Charlick. "Lots of smaller agencies don't have a good internet presence and many won't link up with more than one site." It's important, however, that you tell your agent if you are doing this to avoid any confusion over the payment of commission. Online selling, however, is not for everyone. Graham Ireland, a conveyancing partner at law firm Haworth and Nuttall in Blackburn, thinks that it can be easier, legally, if you involve an estate agent. "Estate agents charge for the service they provide but it is often much easier for inexperienced sellers. Many sellers do not like to talk about money themselves and therefore having an estate agent means that you have a middleman to do this for you," he explains. Disadvantages of selling online Chris Hall is the President of the National Association of Estate Agents, and is also a hands-on estate agent practising in Norwich. Although he believes different ways of selling a house are viable he says there are disadvantages to selling online. His main concern is security: "You don't know who the buyer is. With an estate agent experience comes into play and there are security measures in place. There are guidelines about how to check who people are, for example, before they view a property." He adds that estate agents will also check whether potential buyers have their finances sorted. Of course, these are all enquiries sellers can make - the key is knowing to make them in the first place to ensure you only accept offers from serious buyers. So, when you come to sell your house, remember you don't have to use an estate agent. If you don't have time to do viewings, don't want to show strangers around your home or aren't happy talking serious money - then private selling isn't for you. However, if you're comfortable doing viewings yourself and don't mind handling the negotiations, ditching the middleman could be a simple way to slash the costs of selling your home.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Send Article by Email