Selling your house privately.

[vipper]

I am about to put my house on the market and am interested in the private sale / don't pay scumbag estate agents for doing sweet fa option.

Anyone been down this path and have any advice, know any good websites / advertising agencies?

Couldn't find any threads on the topic when searching so I await the infux of "here" posts.

Cheers!

 

[Errol's son]

I know someone who bought a house out of Loot. It was a bargain IMO. But I think the sellers were happy with the price too.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

I did this with my dad's flat after he died. It was in a really bad state and hadn't been cleaned or tidied since he buggered off from the family home in the 70s. He died having paid no bills for years and his considerable debts had to be settled fast for practically the whole value of the flat. My son-in-law bought it for a fair price and spent a long time doing it up before it was fit for habitation. The only problem I had was is that there is a point where a solicitor has to be engaged and I engaged the nearest one who was useless and ended up costing dosh that basically was money down the drain before I wised up and engaged another one.....

 

[Mrs Magpie]

I would add that doing a private sale was an option because I knew someone who was prepared to buy it and do it up and I trusted them not to piss me about.

 

[Donna Ferentes]

We're thinking we might do the same
(though things work differently in Spain).

 

[Hood]

Tried it with mypropertyforsale.co.uk. Had a few enquiries and a couple of viewings, whereas the agent got hordes of people in and found someone. Buyers like agents.

 

[beeboo]

TBH I don't think estate agents add very much to proceedings other than providing you with advertising and access to potential buyers.

However, when I was hunting for my first house I was put off private sales because I assumed (wrongly) that people selling privately would also be doing their own conveyancing (which sounded like a recipe for disaster to me. Assuming you're not intending to do that, I'd make that clear when you advertise, just in case people are as confused by the process as I was.

 

[Errol's son]

If I owned a desirable pile in the country or a flash town house in Chelsea or Belgravia, I would probably defo sell privately. Put it in the Sunday Times property section and I reckon you would get loads of interested parties. It would be worth it with the fees agents charge if your property was worth a million or more.

But if your property is nothing special, I reckon you may be better off with an agent. How many people look for properties privately as a proportion of house hunters? Not that many IMO but it is probably growing as house prices become ever more silly. Just get the agent down to about 1.25%.

 

[vipper]

But if your property is nothing special, I reckon you may be better off with an agent. How many people look for properties privately as a proportion of house hunters? Not that many IMO but it is probably growing as house prices become ever more silly. Just get the agent down to about 1.25%.

I spoke to 2 in a row this afternoon asking about sole agency rates and they both said "It is usually 1.5% but we are prepared to go down to 1%". Hmmm.

 

[Errol's son]

I spoke to 2 in a row this afternoon asking about sole agency rates and they both said "It is usually 1.5% but we are prepared to go down to 1%". Hmmm.

1% is good. Unless your house is worth loads (in which case push for even lower) or not very much (then ask yourself how do they make any money).

Estate agents charge loads. Get them to tell you what advertising they are going to do if you think the fee is high and ensure they stick to it. If they are just going to put your house on their website, they don't deserve a huge fee. But, if they are going to take an ad out in the Sunday Times or the like, obviously a big fee is more justifiable.

Agents do get punters through the doors though.

 

[nonamenopackdrill]

1% is very good.

Do not go for more than one estate agent though (even on a 60/40 or 70/30 split) because both will just wait for the other to sell it and get their 40/30 %)

 

[vipper]

We're thinking we might do the same
(though things work differently in Spain).

Wherever you are, an estate agent
Will take your money, and leave you vagrant

 

[Cobbles]

TBH I don't think estate agents add very much to proceedings other than providing you with advertising and access to potential buyers.

Not much then - no potential buyers = no potential sale - QED

 

[beeboo]

Not much then - no potential buyers = no potential sale - QED

But, particularly if you're not in a hurry, you can find potential buyers on your own.

A friend of mine set up a website advertising his house for sale and managed to get it good ranking on google when you typed in the name of the area. He managed to sell it this way.

 

[Cobbles]

But, particularly if you're not in a hurry, you can find potential buyers on your own.

A friend of mine set up a website advertising his house for sale and managed to get it good ranking on google when you typed in the name of the area. He managed to sell it this way.

A whole lot of questions going begging there - how did he value the property for sale; did he achieve the same level of sale that an agent could have negotiated; did the extra time taken cost more in mortgage interest than an agent's fees; how many potential buyers were put off by lack of access to mortgage advisors etc on offer from an agent - and so on.

 

[The Boy]

When I was selling my old flat, my old man was spending his weekends decorating to get it ready for going on the market (I was working nights, and I think he enjoyed the time away from my mum!). Since he was there all day two days a week he stuck a hand written sign in the window (was a main door flat) with his mobile number on it. Withing two days we had an offer on the flat.

Might be worth doing? *Shrugs*

 

[sumimasen]

I was forwarded to this link by another thread that's brought up this issue of selling privately. Couple of weeks ago there was a group of people standing around in Central London all dressed up pretty funkily. They were promoting their new site, which cuts out the middleman?

www.skipthemiddleman.co.uk It looks quite slick, but I would prefer it if someone uses them before I consider doing so

 

[suzee blue cheese]

Depends where your property is I guess. We were in Brixton and were lucky to link up with people interested enough to lead to a private sale.

First of all get a few EAs in to give you a valuation, get at least 3 if you can. Then go with an internet company like www.thelittlehousecompany.co.uk (there are a few of them - do a search) who for something like £75 will advertise your property on line. This is most useful not for the presence on their own site necessarily but because it'll be included in some of the big sites such as www.findaproperty.com etc exactly the same as any Estate Agent's property advert. Please check these details as I'm going from memory. You'll need to write your own blurb and take your own photos.

In addition to advertising in Loot, your local paper, you can also make up your own sign to stick outside your place as well as generally putting the word around everyone & everywhere you know.

The process of selling privately was a complete doddle. I asked around and was recommended a good value conveyancer by a U75er - very efficient though based in Essex, however, as everything was done over the phone and by post, location wasn't an issue. Pm if you'd like his details. £350 basic fee plus VAT and standard costs for Telegraphic Transfer etc. Everyone else I'd been recommended was charging upward of £600 basic.

Edited to say: An EA doesn't haggle for you to get the 'best price', they usually just let someone in to have a look around then close up after them. Maybe call the next day, find out if they were interested. The real work is done by the conveyancer. As for going through an EAs mortgage advisor to sort out a mortgage.. I went that route with the place I've got an offer on, I didn't do it before and I wouldn't bother doing it that way again. I ended up finding myself a mortgage that suited me better and it's easy enough to fill in the mortgage forms. An EAs mortgage person adds nothing of real value to the experience.

 

[liberty]

I spoke to 2 in a row this afternoon asking about sole agency rates and they both said "It is usually 1.5% but we are prepared to go down to 1%". Hmmm.

Thats good I paid 3%

 

[suzee blue cheese]

3% ouch... estate agents