Private sale or offers over? (Scottish system)

Paul_O'Kshields

Hi folks -

am putting a 2-bed tenement flat in Glasgow up for sale to fund relocation to southern England, where I already live and am renting. Flat is currently let out to a tenant, who moves out at end of October.

In the past I have had two people, a family member and an upstairs neighbour, express an interest in buying the flat if we were to sell.

This might, you would think, be a no-brainer, in that we should just get a valuation and sell the flat to either, if they were serious buyers, and cut out the estate agent.

However, having had the flat valued, all three estate agents who I asked to value the place insist that the area is "buzzing" and that demand is v high, and that if we were to sell, it would sell very quickly and go to a closing date - a quirk of the Scottish "offers over" system whereby you invite buyers into an auction scenario to submit competing sealed bids for the property, thus driving up the price achieved.

Does this sound like estate agent flannel? Is this likely even with the market tailing off ahead of the Christmas break? Should we wait until after Christmas? Are we likely to make enough of a profit by putting the flat on the market that it would cover the cost of getting an estate agent involved?

And do estate agents perform any other vital role in the transaction, other than putting you in touch with people who want to buy your property?

Thanks in advance for any advice offered.

Skintymcginty

Hi there, I've just sold a house in Glasgow's west end and found the market not as "busy" as I was expecting. Have you mentioned the agents valuation to your prospective private buyers? If they're willing to match the estimated sale price, then it would obviously be a lot easier and cheaper than using an agent.
The agent was useful when it came to negotiating the price for us, we didn't achieve a closing date, but were happy with the result, given the 'lack' of viewers. However the outlay, between marketing fee, advertising and now 1% commision all adds up. They can chase people up who've viewed but I always think if a viewer needs chasing, then they can't be that interested. Watch other flats in your area, I'm seeing a few taking 4-6 weeks to sell and some ending up as fixed prices. Bit of a lottery really and as you say it's getting closer to Xmas, there might be a bit of a flurry in the next week or 2, but after that, it usually dies down. Although I think the markets less predictable than it used to be here.
The other bonus with the agent is if they've recently sold similar properties, then they'll have people on their books who perhaps lost out and they can put onto you straight away

good luck!

Paul_O'Kshields

Skintymcginty wrote:

The other bonus with the agent is if they've recently sold similar properties, then they'll have people on their books who perhaps lost out and they can put onto you straight away

good luck!

That's what I was thinking. The flat is in the south side. One agent insists his firm have sold two houses in the same street in the last few weeks which both went to closing dates - so I presume he may still be in touch with the would purchasers who lost out.

Skintymcginty

The south side market is on a par with the west end these days, I could well believe what the agent says. If you're going to do it this side of Christmas get onto it quickly, if not then Feb/March the next best time (in my opinion - serial house mover, bought & sold 6 times in 9 yrs!)

dccarm

We sold a 2 bed flat in the South Side (Ibrox) 6 weeks ago. We had an acceptable offer before the estate agent got the brochures were printed up.