How to sell your house

Former_MSE_Sarah_G

Hi!

This is the discussion thread for the

How to sell your house guide.

Click reply below to discuss. If you haven't already, join the forum to reply.

Thanks folks,

Surrey_EA

Might want to check that link.

vicky_lewis

Hi. My parents really really want to sell their Villa in Menorca but are worried that Brexit will slow the market down to a standstill. Can you offer any advice to help improve footfall and also whether they should drop the price?

Thanks in advance

middleclassbutpoor

A lot of info there.

My tips would be.

Ensure the property is presented as best as it can with the means you have to do this.

This means clean, tidy, not cluttered and allows your perspective buyer to use as little of their imagination possible.

Get 3 EA's out who know the local area well and have a good reputation for selling. Use rightmove etc and search SSTC properties and see if there are any that stand out for selling houses or 'not' having any houses sold recently.

Don't be afraid to negotiate price with EA's.

Once you know what your house is valued at (not necessarily what it's worth to someone else) and their costs it is at that point I would then do a check of the financials in terms of what I can afford to do .

I would consider where the agents advertise - which portals, what their websites look like and the social media presence.

In terms of when researching the websites/portals/SM presence- pay attention to opening hours, quality of pictures, descriptions and inclusion of things like floor plans etc.

You could also go as far as testing how they come across to a potential buyer. So maybe the step before you even ask them to value your house is call up to look at one of their houses. See what questions they ask to qualify you, understand your position etc. You may not be able to view with some until your house is on the market but I think this will give you a good idea at how successful they will be with ensuring your perspective buyers will come to you..

Ask the agents what they would suggest you do to improve the speed of sale. Be honest with them and ask them for a 6-8 week selling price. Too many people go with the highest price only to reduce and be on the market for longer than they need.

I would also do some research of my own to establish what a fair price is - use sold prices, look at comparisons of similar properties on the internet etc.

My final tip would be - recognise value not cost. Just because somethings cheap, its not bad, likewise because something is expensive it's not always good. Look at what the agent is offering for the cost they are asking. What makes them more/less expensive.

Another consideration around EA's... I would avoid the online EA's personally because I wouldn't buy from one unless I was absolutely required to because it was dream property with no compromises. If you do your research properly above, I think you will probably naturally avoid these companies (in my area anyway).

getmore4less

Plenty of threads on here on how not to sell your house.

Failures to stage the property and rubbish EA particulars.

Featherard

In your guide, under conveyancing, you list the price for conveyancing then list a load of extra costs but, when you do the tally at the end of the article you don't include those other costs which could be as high as £650. 
Are the costs actually included in the conveyancing, or should they be included in the table?