Selling Non-standard construction home

Simeon99

Hello!
I am wanting to sell my non-standard construction (concrete with brick skim) home. I have had a market appraisal from a high street agent, who says there should be no problem selling speedily. They mentioned that not all mortgage lenders will lend for non standard construction homes, but that this estate agent would be able to direct prospect buyers to lenders that would.. As estate agent fees are so high I was hoping to use an online agent. I just wondered whether anybody else has sold this type of property with an online agent and your experience. As a first time property seller, any guidance would be welcomed!

Thank you:)

AdrianC

Lower fees can be a false economy once you get away from tick-the-box properties.

upoiupou

Lower fees can be a false economy in any situation. When I sold a little while ago, my estate agent (who I picked very carefully) didn't have the lowest fee but was the best sales person by a mile. She got me a serious buyer at significantly above the asking price. The difference did much more than cover their fee, and I don't think any other agent would have managed it.

Going for an agent who's impressive and you believe will get you a sale at a good price is as important as how much their fee is.

Cheeky_Monkey

On the other hand, in today's 'sellers market', houses are pretty much selling themselves if priced correctly so there's no harm in saving a lot of money by using an online agent.

Although, admittedly, that probably doesn't apply to NSC properties.

eddddy

Cheeky_Monkey wrote: »

On the other hand, in today's 'sellers market', houses are pretty much selling themselves if priced correctly so there's no harm in saving a lot of money by using an online agent.

Although, admittedly, that probably doesn't apply to NSC properties.

... but getting an offer is sometimes only half the work.

I'm currently using a 'high street' EA who is guiding a clueless FTB through a problematic transaction. The EA is using local contacts to gather info to reassure the buyer etc.

I'm pretty certain that the buyer would have walked away by now, if I'd been using an online EA (or even a mediocre high street EA).

Owain_Moneysaver

Simeon99 wrote: »

this estate agent would be able to direct prospect buyers to lenders that would..

And they would be delighted to take an introductory commission from the lender or broker. In fact they would rather sell your house for a lower price to a buyer who they can get the mortgage for, than a higher price to a cash buyer, because mortgage commissions are less work and easy money for estate agents.

Why not see if there's an online agent that won't charge you much to put the property on for a short time if there's no sale, then you can gauge the response.

Simeon99

Thank you everybody for taking the time to post. Everything that you have shared has been very helpful !
Thank you for your kindness

upoiupou

Cheeky_Monkey wrote: »

On the other hand, in today's 'sellers market', houses are pretty much selling themselves if priced correctly so there's no harm in saving a lot of money by using an online agent.

Although, admittedly, that probably doesn't apply to NSC properties.

I was selling in a sellers' market. It isn't just about finding a buyer, it's about getting the best price as well. In my case, the extra obtained on the price greatly outweighed the fees I paid.

One thing about using a local agent in a sellers' market is that they want to get you the highest price possible because they want more sellers on their books. The next potential seller they go to see, around the corner, they can impress them with how much they've just sold your property for.

I don't know whether the OP would be best using an online agent or a traditional one, I'm just saying that the lowest fee doesn't always work out the most cost effective.

I would talk to different agents about how they'd sell an NSC property and see what I thought about their responses. My rule of thumb when choosing was that if they did a good job of persuading me how great they were, they would do a good job of persuading a buyer how great my property was.

Davesnave

Simeon99 wrote: »

. They mentioned that not all mortgage lenders will lend for non standard construction homes, but that this estate agent would be able to direct prospect buyers to lenders that would..

If the agent has already sold other similar houses in the same road then they they may have knowledge of whether the construction system used is acceptable to lenders, or not.

It is more about the type of NSC house, and there are many variations, than having inside knowledge about lenders.

For some houses, there just won't be a lender.

Therefore, the first job is to determine the exact type of build, maybe using something like this:

http://www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/accreditation/rdsap9_91/BRE_RdSAP_Manual_5_-_Identifying_basic_constructions_v8_0.pdf


For all we know, the agent may be spouting BS. It depends on the number of these houses in the local market and whether they have had dealings with them before. Most agents are not experts in any kind of construction, let alone NSC, but I agree with the others that local, rather than an on-line, will likely be your best bet. Vet at least 3 of them.