Selling house, best places to advertise?

benz52

Hi all,

We have finally come up to selling our house which is a new built we purchased at the top of the market in 2007. Our equity of course has dropped but is still positive.

Selling at around 230-240 mark, the estate agent fees are like 4k + vat which is a very hefty chunk and will actually be stripped from our equity. This sounds very unfair for the amount of work these people do. Also, we do not live in London where new EAs are popping up everyday with lower and lower fees.

Just wondering what would be the best affordable and efficient ways of selling our house. We aren't in a rush to find a buyer for at least the next 4-6 weeks and would there by like to try and save the agency fees.

All advise appreciated.

Many thanks
T

sophie27

Hello!

We have just sold our house through House Network:

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

They took great photos and we sold within three weeks. Maybe you should have a look and see if they would suit?

They put the house on rightmove and all of the normal websites but you do miss out on the estate agent window.

It cost me approx £450 instead of the quoted £4,000.

Sophie

benz52

I've found out two companies:

Jane Earl that is providing £235 (inc vat) and will advertise with rightmove and globtrix.

MyPropertyForSale is providing £299 + vat and will advertise with rightmove, zoopla, propertyfinder, fish4 and a few other websites.

Can anyone advice me which package is better? Is advertising only with rightmove sufficient?

Thanks

googler

Dare I point out that the process of selling your house doesn't consist solely of 'advertising' it.....?

benz52

googler wrote: »

Dare I point out that the process of selling your house doesn't consist solely of 'advertising' it.....?

Many thanks googler. Our house is in an immaculate condition if you mean that and we are always around for viewings. We will be asking a modest price for it considering the tumbled markets and all. We have in excess of 100 good quality recent pictures of which we will of course short list some 15-20. Our HIP is ready and solicitors awaiting instructions too. Is there anything we are missing out on?

googler

benz52 wrote: »

Many thanks googler. Our house is in an immaculate condition if you mean that .....

I wasn't referring to its condition at all.

I was at the point of suggesting that the two 'packages' you referred to are merely advertising packages. Take your money (upfront? also out of your equity....) and put your house on a website or two. No incentive to sell once they have your money?

What's the likelihood that either of the companies mentioned will have a buyer list for your county, town, village or neighbourhood? Isn't a local EA more likely to have a list of people who are actually looking in your area?

benz52

I'm quite sure that a local EA may have a buyer list, but again, as we are not in a rush to find a buyer at least until the end of May, we might as well try going with an online agent who will publish our advert with rightmove and other major online players. I'm not worried about these companies having a buyer at all. Its just the fact that to list on rightmove, which is probably the largest online property website in the UK, I need to register my property with a proper estate agent who will come out to the property and verify all the facts.

This maybe an upfront gamble, but then again, it looks like there has been a court ruling relating to the term sole agency where we may avoid paying the agent fees if we find a buyer ourself? Need to look this up though.

Thrugelmir

benz52 wrote: »

I'm quite sure that a local EA may have a buyer list, but again, as we are not in a rush to find a buyer at least until the end of May,

A good EA is worth the expense if you wish to sell that quickly. (I have no connection to the industry before you ask). You may get a lot of viewings for your property but finding the serious buyer whose in a position to proceed is another matter.

daisbuys

Try housesimple.

They take nothing up front and only charge 0.5%....

Itsallgood_2

I too am looking to use an online agent and have been considering the options.

Do you still get feedback and viewings booked via the telephone with these agents does anyone know?

Haven't sold before but definately think online is the way for me and is it classed as multi agency if I go with a local agent after using an online one if that didn't work?

JQ.

Personally I pay an EA to negotiate the best possible price for my house - it's what they do for a living after all. If I'm the vendor, I don't care what sharp practices they may use to up the price, every penny counts. If they can negotiate an extra £10k on the price, their £4k fee is insignificant.

In the 3 house sales we've done we've always got at least £10k more than the best initial valuations. The key is finding a good estate agent - not all are born negotiators.

Good luck with the sale, but be aware whilst you may achieve a sale going cheap and cheerful, it may not be for the best possible price.