The Great 'what you wish you'd known before selling your house' Hunt

art_for_arts_sake

You don't need a Home Information Pack to sell a house now but you are still required to have an Energy Performance Certificate. Commission one yourself, get a For Sale sign made up for you by a friendly local signmaker for a few pounds, and put a "Tempt Me" on Zoopla as a bare minimum.

If you have to have an estate agent to fend off interested buyers you probably aren't that desperate enough to move anyway.

Nan_Dingle

Yep, get an EPC for £40 from an independent, much cheaper than via the EA.

I suppose we should talk about filling in the sellers property information form (not in Scotland). Never volunteer information, obviously. However, ”don't know" isn't going to wash for many questions!

I guess sellers in Scotland need some different advice!

googler

Nan_Dingle wrote: »

I guess sellers in Scotland need some different advice!

Sellers in Scotland must have a Home Report, which includes a surveyor's report from their survey of the property, their mortgage valuation and report, an EPc and a seller's property questionnaire.

They must have a complete HR before doing any marketing at all. No sale board, no press adverts, online listing; nothing until the HR is completed.

Upset_Nanny

Nan_Dingle wrote: »

Your house is only 'worth' what a buyer will offer today, not what you bought it for in 2007 and regardless of how many special memories it has for you

Don't expect any meaningful feedback from viewers, you'll just get a bland 'not what we are looking for'

Do your own viewings as EAs will just sent out the office temp with the keys

You'll have 3 viewings within 48 hours of instructing the EA, these are his family and friends to fool you into thinking the EA has loads of proceedable buyers on the books.

You need to keep the property immaculate as you never know when a viewer will want to come in

The solicitor recommenced by the EA will be rubbish

Everything should be payable on completion, pay £0 up front to EA or solicitor

Don't hang about thinking you'll get a few quid more, the costs and aggro of waiting for a better offer quickly outweigh this

Independent EAs might work harder for sales commission than chains.

Your first point, what the house is worth, is so valid but homeowners just do not get it, don't even think about selling your house if you are already thinking I cannot afford to drop below £X, you have to be selling for the right reason.

Meaningful feedback is what your Sales Negotiator at the EA is for, they should convey this to you after the viewing so that you have actual constructive critisism if necessary or positive vibes if you have it right, but expect some people to say it's just not for them, some people don't know how to express themselves.

I work for an independent EA and we do not have "an office temp with keys". Seek feedback from others who have used local agents, this is where I am proud to say most of our clients are from. We also do not have pretend viewers i.e family and friends.

You would be surprised how many people think keeping the property imaculate is not necessary because "I'm not selling the items in my house, just the house" is quoted all the time and people do not realise that some people can be put off by absolutely anything and cannot see past the clutter.

The solicitors we recommend are far from rubbish, we recommend them because we have had dealings with them and know how efficient they are.

Why should a solicitor not charge up front for work they have to do immediately, e.g search fees. The biggest portion of the bill is paid from the proceeds of the Sale. I sometimes wish we (EA's)could charge something for our time and efforts but we would never get any business. No one ever thinks about the houses we have for which we invest time advertising, pushing to eligible applicants, reviewing and tweaking every month, conducting viewings with feedback to then have the property withdrawn for varying reasons with absolutely no payment whatsoever. We may have managed that property warts and all for anything up to a year and then get absolutely nothing, cos no sale no fee.

I wish everyone realised that an early offer, normally within the first 2 months of advertising, is usually as good as it gets, waiting for a better offer (unless ofcourse it was rediculous)is usually fruitless.

Independant EA's DO WORK HARDER and are not all commission based, some of us do it because we are passionate enough about the job to be happy with a salary (quite a low one at that!).

So as my post says EA's have a bad press but PLEASE don't TAR US ALL WITH THE SAME BRUSH!!

John_Pierpoint

googler wrote: »

Excuse me? Changes in the envelope?

The outer surfaces/walls of the dwelling, those meant to protect the contents from cold damp outside air.

See what I mean, does one person in 50 understand the terminology, let alone the regulations that apply to their home?

Does the government want them to understand - every time the Daily Mail tries to explain, it causes fuss and bother for "the authorities".

moneyistooshorttomention

I think it would be useful if we could please have explained what is meant exactly by changes to the outside of the building?

Obviously repainting a house (or even painting the walls in the first place) won't "count". I guess you mean things like doing external wall insulation or if anyone put up one of those "cosmetic" outside effect things (like pebbledashing or something)?

On the other hand - the comment from another poster about "Dont even think about selling your house" if you have a minimum price you must achieve for it sounds a bit odd to me. Obviously we are all moving to "improve our circumstances". That may or may not mean a better house. To some of us it might mean a worse house (eg because we HAVE to pay off the mortgage and selling is the only way to do it). I know my own circumstances are that my house sale HAS to provide enough money to cover the cost of the house I will be moving to and also the "in transit" costs (legal/removal/etc). If my current house wouldnt provide enough money from the sale to do that - then I couldnt move in the first place.

googler

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

The outer surfaces/walls of the dwelling, those meant to protect the contents from cold damp outside air.

See what I mean, does one person in 50 understand the terminology, let alone the regulations that apply to their home?

Not if you persist in using obscure terms. In over 50 years on this planet, I've never heard ANYONE, anywhere refer to the outside of a house as its 'envelope'.

If the substance of your statement is that changes to the outside walls by extension and modification, such as conservatories, lean-to rooms, etc will require building regulation and planning approval, then I think you're drifting into stating-the-flipping-obvious territory....

googler

Upset_Nanny wrote: »

Independent EA's DO WORK HARDER and are not all commission based, some of us do it because we are passionate enough about the job to be happy with a salary (quite a low one at that!).

.....but surely the only way the business owner can pay you a salary is if the commission keeps coming in....?

John_Pierpoint

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I think it would be useful if we could please have explained what is meant exactly by changes to the outside of the building?

Obviously repainting a house (or even painting the walls in the first place) won't "count". I guess you mean things like doing external wall insulation or if anyone put up one of those "cosmetic" outside effect things (like pebbledashing or something)?

.

You local over stretched planning/building control section has an increasing list of responsibilities - that might go some way to explaining the increase in costs by 13% at a time when building applications are down 35%. Nothing to do with work expanding to fill the budget available.

If you want to do significant work to the envelope of your building you are required to notify your local authority.
Your local authority is meant to check that the finished result complies with modern standards, especially in the case of thermal insulation.

Yes this does include renewing your windows, pebble-dashing your existing walls and replacing your roof tiles. I am not sure about the floors.
This "sticky" thread or some of its posters might help if you need further information
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/449677

We will learn in due course what "The Green Deal" (started last month) will mean in reality - I see it as a way of meeting the government's obligation to get every dwelling in the country given an energy performance certificate and put onto the EU database.
Thus getting the country's building stock upgraded without the expenditure going through the OECD national taxation figures - currently approaching 50% of GDP.

You know it make sense.

John_Pierpoint

googler wrote: »

Not if you persist in using obscure terms. In over 50 years on this planet, I've never heard ANYONE, anywhere refer to the outside of a house as its 'envelope'.

If the substance of your statement is that changes to the outside walls by extension and modification, such as conservatories, lean-to rooms, etc will require building regulation and planning approval, then I think you're drifting into stating-the-flipping-obvious territory....

Wake up at the back:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building_envelope

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/47499995#Comment_47499995

The term envelope has probably come into use as modern homes have been built to a completely draught-proof standard by use of a "membrane".
[Or they should have been !! - complete with fake chimney pots because a flue would pierce the envelope].

"Build tight ventilate right".