Selling a house privately - Any tips?

vbt

Hi,

Me and my partner want to move house and to save money we want to try and sell our flat privately for a few months before considering hiring an estate agent if we don't have any luck.

Has anyone tried or managed to sell their home privately since the credit crunch started?

We have a two bedroom flat in the Northern Quarter in Manchester city centre which supposedly is a desirable area so are hoping we get at least a little interest. We are realistic though, we know there are a lot of city centre flats for sale out there and that it might take a while to sell.

Does anyone have any tips for selling privately in the current market?

Also, if anyone's sold/selling through an estate agent have they managed to get a good deal (1% fee with a 1 week lock in after written notice for example)?

Thanks in advance for any advice people have!

googler

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1881609
Similar thread question above - nobody seems to have said 'Yes' to this.

Honestly, in the current market, you need MORE promotion for your property, rather than less. Trying to sell privately for 2 or 3 months then hiring an agent after no success seems like false economy to me. You want to hit the market with every sales avenue straight away, not announce your intention with a whisper......

Thrugelmir

Gambler wrote: »

I requested house particulars via rightmove from 4 different estate agents.

Agent 1 : emailed me a link to the very same page I had already seen. I requested the particulars because my partner and I find it easier to sit down and compare properties using the particulars.

Agent 2: sent us totally the wrong house details.

Agent 3: took them a week to send out.

Agent 4: still waiting

These people charge extortionate fees for doing very little in my opinion.

Why not pay the agents a visit? You'd probably get a far better service. Just asking for details from off the internet doesn't give them any indication as to how serious you are. In a sense you are costing them money as, as a buyer you wouldn't be paying them in any case. So they might call you a timewaster. :rolleyes:

JonLake

I agree that using as many media outlets as you can to sell your property in the current climate is the way to go. Selling your own property does not impinge on the use of an estate agent (as long as you are not with a sole agent clause).

goggle

I have driven past a couple of houses that seem to be up for sale privately. I have not exquired about either because:
1) I can't read the phone number easily, esp by street light when I drive past at dusk on my way home from work
2) there is no info on the sign telling me if it's a 2 bed/4 bed/conservatory or how much - if you put a clear sign up saying "4 bed house, conservatory, £250K" - I'd be far more likely to phone you than if it just says "for sale phone 0123456789"

googler

Madmel wrote: »

....... saved the £5k of EA fees. I had quite a lot of chasing to do, especially towards the end, but it all went well.

... to which I'm tempted to say -

How much chasing did you do? (in terms of hours, days or weeks) and

How do you value your own time?

Apply a theoretical hourly rate to what you did yourself, multiply that by the number of hours you did, and how much did you spend? Was it worth it? Did you spend as much as the EA would have charged you?

googler

goggle wrote: »

I have driven past a couple of houses that seem to be up for sale privately. I have not exquired about either because:
1) I can't read the phone number easily, esp by street light when I drive past at dusk on my way home from work
2) there is no info on the sign telling me if it's a 2 bed/4 bed/conservatory or how much - if you put a clear sign up saying "4 bed house, conservatory, £250K" - I'd be far more likely to phone you than if it just says "for sale phone 0123456789"

If you can't read a phone number easily, there's little value in placing MORE text on the sign......

poppysarah

http://www.sellmyhouse.co.uk/
Another new site for selling your house privately...

Can't think what the sarah beeny one is called - telipo I think - but there's probably lots if you look.

Near me they seem to use a site (thought it was propertyladder but it's not and I can't think for the life of me what it is at the moment)

AdmrlByron

... you need to get your property marketed on Rightmove at the end of the day. Pretty much everyone I know looks at the this website rather than slog round the high street agents. The free sites are okay but they just don't have the expose that Rightmove does. There are a couple of on line agents that will charge around £300 to get you on Rightmove for a year. It will be interesting to see how the proposed Google property site & Tescos property sites take off. The high street agents will then have to start reconsidering their business models in face of considerably cheaper competition.

morph1

Friend of mine has just put theirs on axeyouragent.co.uk ..... it's a new one site and totally free to list and you can get a for sale sign through them too. They reckon it's got to be worth giving a go.