Selling your house without an estate agent!!

Financial_Savvy

Hi all,

Has anybody had any experience in selling their home without using an estate agent?

I fancied trying to sell our home (when the time comes) with a for sale board and a website showing signnificant detail of the property.

The idea of saving £1000 + VAT on fees appeals at the moment.

A member of my family sold their house to the next door neighbour and still had to pay the estate agent fees. Another reason why a DIY sale would be good.

Thanks

mister_t

Have a look at

http://www.housenetwork.co.uk/

they are web only estate agent so the fees are only £199 up front then 0.5% on completion (capped to £199). I am considering it for when try and sell ours. The main point with them is that it will get the house listed on rightmove.co.uk to get lots of exposure. Something you won't get with you own website and forsale board.

Like you I don't fancy give an estate agaent a couple of grand for little work.

mister_t

sorry, that should have said 0.25%

Financial_Savvy

Thanks for the response.

I am happy to put together a basic website and register a domain and then advertise this on a for sale board outside the house on an old Estate Agent board which they nevery collected. My theory is if I include detailed description and pictures of the property then people can virtually view the house on the Internet. Although I would need to get it listed on rightmove.co.uk. Excellent website I think.

Anybody else had any experience of such things?

Debras_Angel

Financial_Savvy wrote:

Thanks for the response.

I am happy to put together a basic website and register a domain and then advertise this on a for sale board outside the house on an old Estate Agent board which they nevery collected. My theory is if I include detailed description and pictures of the property then people can virtually view the house on the Internet. Although I would need to get it listed on rightmove.co.uk. Excellent website I think.

Anybody else had any experience of such things?

Hi Financial_Savvy,

This might help as it was a previous thread I remembered.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=113029

Regards

DEbs

Canucklehead

Good morning: We have just sold our house....a couple viewed yesterday morning then made an offer after lunch which we accepted. Our property has been on the market with Housenetwork since August. We had several viewings over the months and had lots of positive comments from potential purchasers about the property and the details provided online by Housenetwork. We have been very impressed by the company, saved ourselves about £4000 in traditional estate agents fees, and would definitely give 2 thumbs up to the services provided.
Fingers crossed that the sale goes through...I've been following some of the horror stories on MSE :eek:

nogoodreason

It depends on a lot of factors. How much of a demand is there in your area? Like, do people drive around looking for for sale signs? How much time you have .etc.,

I have seen a lot of houses in my area trying to sell themselves and then ended up going to an agent. Recently I sold my house - through an agent. Not because the agents are essential or great, but just because of the exposure they can give.

If you are not in a hurry, you can always try to sell it yourself using sites like the one above, and if it doesnt work for a period, go to an agent. Its always worth trying as you might just pull it off.

You will always have more exposure with a mainstream agent.Still most people looking for houses look at agents adverts and sites - and thats what the agents are cashing in on!

BTW, well done canucklehead. More people should start doing this and the culture should spread. :beer:

rozeepozee

Part of me doesn't want to tempt fate by posting this but I think I should share: I was thinking about selling my flat privately and as part of my research, had a browse round my city's chat forum in the "property wanted" section. One poster was asking if anyone had a flat in the area to sell privately. I very casually responded. Within a couple of days we'd met (in the pub), sized each other up, negotiated a price and have now instructed solicitors. The buyer has a property a little below market value and I have a hassle free sale (I hope!) I havent ever sold a property down the pub before so I won't feel entirely confident until contracts are signed, but so far it's been a hellluva lot cheaper than an estate agent or advertising on line

nmiah786

rozeepozee wrote:

Part of me doesn't want to tempt fate by posting this but I think I should share: I was thinking about selling my flat privately and as part of my research, had a browse round my city's chat forum in the "property wanted" section. One poster was asking if anyone had a flat in the area to sell privately. I very casually responded. Within a couple of days we'd met (in the pub), sized each other up, negotiated a price and have now instructed solicitors. The buyer has a property a little below market value and I have a hassle free sale (I hope!) I havent ever sold a property down the pub before so I won't feel entirely confident until contracts are signed, but so far it's been a hellluva lot cheaper than an estate agent or advertising on line

What websites are those! Fancy posting a link!

rozeepozee

Well, I live in Sheffield and there's a pretty lively scene on one called Sheffield Forum, I'm sure there are others for the area, but I haven't looked as I'm enough of a net junkie as it is! It's a chat Forum like this but with Sheffield related info such as what's on in and around town. There's also a "moving and living in sheffield" classified section where anyone registered can post an ad for free.

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/

I'm assuming most large conurbations have something similar - perhaps associated with the local newspaper. Bol!

$17mma

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=143017

This is such a good idea...

Anyone know if the general public can list/advertise on rightmove or do you have to be an agent?