Considering selling my house privately

mrjamin

My wife & I wife bought our first house when we got married nearly 7 years ago. After looking through the usual means (local paper, estate agents etc), we actually ended up buying privately through a friend of a friend, and I have to say the whole process was remarkably straightforward, and really made me struggle to understand how estate agents justify their fee. We looked round the house a couple of times, made an offer (in writing), had it accepted (in writing) and then started the ball rolling with conveyancers (not "proper" solicitors, but cheap as chips) to get the legal stuff sorted. Then we had maybe one or two phone calls with the sellers between that and completion. Aside from a few hold-ups further up the chain (IIRC messy trans-atlantic divorce, paperwork getting flown all round the world!), it was really plain sailing.

Now, maybe we were just lucky, but the whole experience has made me really keen to do the same thing again when we come to sell (we've had 2 kids since, and rapidly outgrowing the place). I started looking for a new place last summer, and quickly stopped after getting thoroughly hacked off with the blood-sucking vultures that are estate agents, I couldn't bear the thought of those smug twits representing me and my house.

So, my questions are as follows:

- Have you sold a place privately? How was it?
- Would you consider buying privately? (see poll)
- Do you know anyone who's been part of a private sale/purchase and had a real nightmare?
- (and the big one) are there any sites or services out there for selling privately, given that all the major property sites don't facilitate private sales any more?

Obviously, private sales don't happen all that often, so I'd really like to weigh-up other people's experiences before we consider it.

Thanks in advance,

MrJ

googler

I think you've answered your own question, with (paraphrased and extended from your 'big one')

How will you find buyers, when

- A - you don't have access to the primary websites,

- B - buyers are leaving their details with 'proper' agents to call them back when something that matches their requirements comes up, and aren't leaving their details with you,

- C - the properties and other sellers competing with you for the (possibly limited number of ) buyers out there are displayed on your local high street, and you're not ?

It was easy for you as a buyer, because you didn't need the services of an agent at that point. Agents work for the seller (except in America and other territories where there's a framework of co-operation between buyer's agents and seller's agents)

hazyjo

Unless you know someone who's interested, you'll probably need an agent or at least an online agency. We sold my hubby's flat privately last year, but only because he had a friend who wanted it.

The majority of people use rightmove now. Seven years ago, it was a different story. The internet's almost a necessity now with house sales.

If I happened to notice a house for sale privately, I'd buy if I was interested. Certainly wouldn't stop me or put me off. But the likelihood of me finding that house (unless they had their own makeshift sign outside and I happened to be driving/walking past), is probably pretty remote.

Jx

Davesnave

Yes, I've sold privately, twice.

The first time was in a completely different market from this one. I knew I had a desirable house, so I put the word around and we sold, without haggling.

The second time I sold privately was in 2007. Again, we came to a gentleman's agreement, but the people I was dealing with were not 'gentlemen,' so when they lost their lie-to-buy mortgage in the Northern Rock debacle, they didn't tell me. Instead, I had to drag this out of them months later, after the property crash was well under way. An agent would have checked their ability to pay and alerted me that there was a problem when it happened, but I had no knowledge of who these people had a mortgage in principle with.

As it happens, losing those buyers was probably a good thing , bearing in mind my intentions at the time, but having entered a 'dodgy' market, I went out and found some pricipled, non-smug agents to represent me. Two years earlier, and with a different property that wouldn't sell itself, I'd done the same thing and found it very worthwhile. Not all agents are sharks. You have to sort the sheep from the goats.

So far as I know, House Network, which is an on-line agency will get you onto Rightmove. They will cost less than a traditional agent, but I wouldn't use them in the current market.

googler

Here's another scenario - you put your house up for sale with an agent, and the agent is showing prospective buyers around another house that they have for sale. It emerges during discussion that yours might be suitable for these buyers, even though that wasn't immediately apparent when they booked the viewing on the other one.

The EA says "I've got this other one that might suit you" and the buyers then come and view yours.

Without being for sale with an agent with a decent number of properties on their books, how will you achieve cross-pollenisation like this?

Yorkie1

I bought privately from a friend; I knew the house fairly well, but when new things become apparent it's easy to allow them to cause resentment if you're not careful.

new_home_owner_3

id use a online agent, i know its not selling privately but is gives you all the the coverage a traditional estate agent does but without the shop window.

googler

new_home_owner wrote: »

id use a online agent, i know its not selling privately but is gives you all the the coverage a traditional estate agent does but without the shop window.

... and without any press advertising.... and without the 'word of mouth' that I mentioned above .... etc etc

A single online advert is not 'all the coverage apart from a shop window' ...

new_home_owner_3

googler wrote: »

... and without any press advertising.... and without the 'word of mouth' that I mentioned above .... etc etc

A single online advert is not 'all the coverage apart from a shop window' ...

Ive used online agents and traditional agents and the results where the same, i had even better results using a online letting agent to find my current tenants.

I Also done all my own referencing and im not being funny ive heard of that many nightmare scenarios when letting agents have done no referencing and the landlord has ended up out of pocket due to crap tenants.

id prefer to pay 200 pound and no final fee to have my house advertised online at most of the property sites and rightmove, than pay 2% of the final price to have it in the window and in the local rag, but thats my choice.

This is a money saving website and trust me from my own experiance you can save a lot of money by not selling or letting through a agent.

mel19632

We are using an online estate agent at the moment and so far, so good! We have had quite a few viewings and an offer which the estate agent negotiated on our behalf. We paid £250 up front, and as you say, I would rather pay that than 1.5% on the sale of our house. There are a few out there but we are using www.propertyeagle.co.uk. I personally would recommend that people try an online agent first as all the estate agents round here said that our house would sell itself, so i'm trying out the theory

jamesperrett

With our last house sale we tried the cheap online selling sites first but only had 2 enquiries and one viewing in over 6 months (we're talking about 2006 when the market was fairly buoyant). We then went with an agent who got a few viewings but who was really into selling flats and small houses rather than the unusual 5 bedroom house that we had. We then went with another agent who were a little more expensive but who were used to selling larger properties who eventually found a buyer and kept working for us all the way through the process. I'd say that a Rightmove listing is essential and I would have probably tried House Network if I had known about them at the time.

When I sold my first house I sold it privately but it was sheer luck that some prospective buyers happened to be in the estate agent when I went in to enquire about selling. I knew their daughter so they contacted me through her. It was a fairly painless process as they were keen to buy and my job was relocating so I had all expenses paid by my employers and also had someone who had the job of making sure our moves went smoothly.