How to Sell Your Property Privately

by Leah Matthews

With the current high property prices, more and more people are opting to sell their properties privately to avoid paying the Estate Agents fees, which can sometimes be as high as 2 of the value it sells for.Already you can see the huge benefit of selling your property privately. Think about it, if your house is worth £300 000, you could save anywhere from £3000 - £6000 depending on the Estate Agents fee.The Internet has changed the way people search for property. Research has shown 70 of people search for new houses use the Internet as their main source of property information. This makes advertising on the Internet one of the best methods to promote your property.This is where property portal websites could save you thousands by advertising your property on them. The usual fee ranges from free to £50 depending on the website. Property portals bring buyers and sellers of houses together to purchase properties without the involvement of the middleman.How easy is it? What about the legal side of things? I hear you ask. To start with it is no more difficult than going through an Estate Agent. Basically all the Estate Agent is a shop window, and you are paying them highly for that, but if you have your property on a property portal website, it is available to many more people.I have put together the main points about selling your house yourself so you can see that you can do it.Determining the Asking PriceThis is a critical point in selling your house. Too high and you will not attract potential buyers, too low and you will loose money.The actual truth is, Estate Agents do not value properties; Chartered Surveyors are the professionals who do this. Estate Agents estimate the price using their knowledge of the local market, so there is no reason why you can’t research the market and set your own asking price. There are various methods to do this·Local Estate Agents·Property Finders·Property websites·Hire a professional property valuerThe most important thing to remember is your house is only worth what someone will pay for it.Selling Alongside An Estate AgentContrary to popular belief, you can sell your home privately even if you have signed a Sole Agency or Multi Agency agreement with an Estate Agent. If you introduce the buyer or tenant then you will NOT have to pay the Estate Agents commission. Please read the Office of Fair Trading report for more legal information regarding this.For Sale SignsMost property portal websites offer for sale signs with their logo and website address and either your phone number or the phone number for the company you are selling through. A for sale sign will help attract local buyers who see you house for sale while driving by, resulting in a faster sell.ViewingsWhen selling your house yourself the viewings are organised and conducted by you. The main thing to remember with viewings is preparation is crucial as first impressions are the main decisive factor about buying a property. Potential buyers make a decision about the property as soon as they walk through the door.Accepting OffersHard negotiation is all part of the making and accepting of an offer. You may find having to 'haggle' frustrating, but it is part of the process of getting the price you need for your property. Try to find out if the buyer has offers in on any other properties. If you receive a lower offer than you wanted and may turn down their offer if you get a better one - this is called 'gazumping' - tell them so. It is quite legitimate for you to say you will accept an offer less than your asking price until a better offer comes along. You can also place time limits on your acceptance if you need to move quickly; if you need to exchange within two weeks, make sure your buyers know that. Always be direct with buyers. Remember that you will not be able to 'gazump' once you have exchanged contracts. To do so could result in costly legal action.Even if you have accepted an offer, there is nothing in law to prevent you from changing your mind and accepting a higher offer from someone else.When you have accepted an offer take the details of buyer, the name, address and phone number and the details of buyer’s solicitor, their name, address and phone number and pass these details on to your solicitor.The Legal ProcessMany people incorrectly believe that an estate agent is involved in the legal side of selling your house. Estate Agents have no legal qualifications. Whether you are selling with or without an Estate Agent, you will still need a solicitor to carry out the conveyancing for you.When contracts are exchanged, the buyer may wish to visit the house, for example, to get an estimate for building work. However, you should not allow any work to be done by the buyer before the completion date.You should inform the electric company and phone company that you are leaving and ask for final readings to be made of the meters on completion day. You should also inform the Rate Collection Agency responsible for rates collection.If the buyer is paying a deposit, this will be paid to your solicitor at exchange of contracts. The solicitor will hold this deposit until completion.The completion date is the day you hand over the keys. Your solicitor will receive the rest of the purchase price from the buyer and will pass this, together with the deposit, to you.

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