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The Great Hunt: What are your house-selling tips?
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My tips for the house selling / buying system is when selling if you get a buyer who says they are cash buyers to you and can you take your house off the market DONT! Get the estate agent to check and double check there financial standing leave your house on the market whilst doing so , we were caught out like this and it turned out they were not only unable to come up with the cash , they couldnt even get a mortage!
Also when you find the house you want and you really want it do not beat the venor down you will only lose the house to someone else if you give the asking price they will see this as a good sign you will not pull out etc...
And finally when going through the process keep on to your solicitor ie phone , email etc and as soon as you recieve any correspondance deal with it and send it straight back , the longer the legal process the longer people have to back out or get extra surveys which could effect the chain
Good luck and by the way 'location location' is not a good example of the moving process , people when moving are ruthless and you have to be too!0 -
sparkyphil wrote: »My tips for the house selling / buying system is when selling if you get a buyer who says they are cash buyers to you and can you take your house off the market DONT! Get the estate agent to check and double check there financial standing leave your house on the market whilst doing so , we were caught out like this and it turned out they were not only unable to come up with the cash , they couldnt even get a mortage!0
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If you're using a traditional estate agent try to structure the fee to make it work for you. I researched the market to find out what i thought my house was worth and offered the EA 1% up to the value and 10% of anything over that. I don't mind paying 10% of money I hadn't expected to get, and it certainly incentivised.
Rent a room at a storage site and declutter to there. Many offer the first month for not much.
As others have said - tidy the front garden, declutter, get rid of dog/cat smells. SHampooing the carpet lifts the pile and makes it look better.
Short grass makes a garden look bigger.
Get decent photos - many are very poor. Include a floor plan, especially if your house has an unusual layout. label the photos on rightmove etc (rather than 'picture 1' etc)0 -
Lots of great advice, thank you all! Please can I pick your collective brains?!
We'll be selling my parents' house in Scotland in the next few weeks. It's in a fantastic area but a bit dated - wood chip on every surface, kitchen needs re-done, but plus points are 2 new bathrooms, new boiler & well maintained.
The big problem we have is that my mum is almost a chain smoker, and in her 70's - she won't smoke outside and won't stop (many many years of arguments, but it's not happening!). We've decided that the best plan is therefore to move my parents to rented accommodation, clear out all the clutter, scrub every surface, re paint, and replace all carpets with cheap plain beige ones, to try and get rid of the smell - it takes your breath when you enter the house. Any further advice on eliminating the smoke smell? The air freshener dilemma?!
Unfortunately because of this plan, there won't be anybody to do viewings. I was all for an online agent just to get on Rightmove, but we need accompanied viewings. I considered trying to find someone local who could do them but it gets complicated. Does anyone know of an online agency who offer a viewing service (obviously for a fee) as a local agent is going to take around £2k for their service.
Any advice appreciated!0 -
If you're using a traditional estate agent try to structure the fee to make it work for you. I researched the market to find out what i thought my house was worth and offered the EA 1% up to the value and 10% of anything over that. I don't mind paying 10% of money I hadn't expected to get, and it certainly incentivised.
I agree with this and it worked for me. I paid the EA a massive £7K but I ended up with £53K more than expected. The legalities were far from straight forward in my case but with the promise of such a large fee, the EA was chasing everyone and jumping through hoops on a daily basis in order to see the sale to completion.0 -
Lots of great advice, thank you all! Please can I pick your collective brains?!
We'll be selling my parents' house in Scotland in the next few weeks. It's in a fantastic area but a bit dated - wood chip on every surface, kitchen needs re-done, but plus points are 2 new bathrooms, new boiler & well maintained.
The big problem we have is that my mum is almost a chain smoker, and in her 70's - she won't smoke outside and won't stop (many many years of arguments, but it's not happening!). We've decided that the best plan is therefore to move my parents to rented accommodation, clear out all the clutter, scrub every surface, re paint, and replace all carpets with cheap plain beige ones, to try and get rid of the smell - it takes your breath when you enter the house. Any further advice on eliminating the smoke smell? The air freshener dilemma?!
Unfortunately because of this plan, there won't be anybody to do viewings. I was all for an online agent just to get on Rightmove, but we need accompanied viewings. I considered trying to find someone local who could do them but it gets complicated. Does anyone know of an online agency who offer a viewing service (obviously for a fee) as a local agent is going to take around £2k for their service.
Any advice appreciated!
Most non-online agents put properties on Rightmove. There may be other sites which are more Scottish based so Google 'house for sale' with your parents local town and see which sites come up, and check which local agents listings show on all of the sites.
Regarding the smoke smell - this really lingers in soft furnishings and realistically I don't think you'll get it out of them.
You'll need to wash / steam clean any curtains etc. Start now if you can, as being able to open all the windows to get a good flow of air through the house, and also to dry all curtains etfc outside will help.
water and bleach can help get rid of some of the smell from walls, floorboards, doors and other surfaces - if you can, scrub everything down with water & bleach before you repaint.
White vinegar can help get rid of smoky smells - the vinegar is smelly while you are using it (although you can add lemon or orange oil) but the vinegar smell dissipates relatively quickly. I've seen recommendation both to scrub surfaces with vinegar and to leave bowls of it standing in rooms to try to absorb some of the smell.
Baking soda can help absorb smells so may be worth while using on any soft furnishings you can't replace - try steam cleaning, followed by baking soda for 24 hours and then a really good vacuum.All posts are my personal opinion, not formal advice Always get proper, professional advice (particularly about anything legal!)0 -
I recently sold my house with an online estate agent. The fees are so much cheaper than traditional agents. So that would be my #1 tip.
It goes without saying to have your house in tip top condition before anyone views it, as others have mentioned in this thread.
Our kitchen was pretty new too which I've read elsewhere puts up the value of a house.0 -
Most non-online agents put properties on Rightmove. There may be other sites which are more Scottish based so Google 'house for sale' with your parents local town and see which sites come up, and check which local agents listings show on all of the sites.
Regarding the smoke smell - this really lingers in soft furnishings and realistically I don't think you'll get it out of them.
You'll need to wash / steam clean any curtains etc. Start now if you can, as being able to open all the windows to get a good flow of air through the house, and also to dry all curtains etfc outside will help.
water and bleach can help get rid of some of the smell from walls, floorboards, doors and other surfaces - if you can, scrub everything down with water & bleach before you repaint.
White vinegar can help get rid of smoky smells - the vinegar is smelly while you are using it (although you can add lemon or orange oil) but the vinegar smell dissipates relatively quickly. I've seen recommendation both to scrub surfaces with vinegar and to leave bowls of it standing in rooms to try to absorb some of the smell.
Baking soda can help absorb smells so may be worth while using on any soft furnishings you can't replace - try steam cleaning, followed by baking soda for 24 hours and then a really good vacuum.
Thank you! Hadn't thought of using vinegar, that's certainly worth a try. We're going to completely strip the house of everything so there won't be any furnishings at all, and I'm going to scrub the doors, floors, re-paint the walls, and replace all the carpets so I'm hoping that'll freshen it a bit but the stench will be in the fabric of the house and I'm not sure what way to best minimise it. A friend who works in a hotel has volunteered loan of the machine they use to freshen rooms when a guest has smoked in them but again I don't know how much good that'll do! We'll have about a fortnight from my parents moving out to us getting it on the market. Mildly terrified!!
As for the agents, the only difference I can see between the traditional and the online only is the accompanied viewings (and fees!). If I could find one offering a viewing service (for a fee) it would save a fortune.0 -
I sold my home in November to first people to view befor it went on Righmove at asking price.
Now....
My house needed work was wood chipped paper, had a white bathroom and ok kitchen but needed work....
How I sold,....
PRICED IT REALISTICALLY!!!!!
So many people come on this forum and wonder why it dosnt sell you have to price at arealistic price.
A friend has had a chalet bungalow on for 3 YEARS (in St Albnas and its not sold) now, they say its a 4 bed but its 3!!! with just one bathroom and by an electric sub station yet they wont reduce the price.
In the 3 yrs the have had it up I have lived a year! put mine up moved and renovated my home to an amazing standard kitchen etc and the are still stuck in thers. so think of price. Im getting on with my new life and they are still stuck and frustrated!!0 -
There is an online agent called housesimple who you can pay to host your viewings (I'm assuming it depends on your location).
Alternatively, you could try a small local lettings agent and see if they'd be willing to carry them out for you for a price per viewing?0
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