Advice on selling please

misterben2013

Hi`

Newbie here, so hello MSE people

OK, so we are hoping to sell our home soon to buy another. We have been in here for 12 years now and its time to move on. However we are a bit daunted by the selling process and don't really know what we are doing... eek.

We were hoping to use house simple (now named Strike) as estate agents... However since it is free im a touch nervous. Spent a good amount of time reading the negative comments posted to trust pilot..... Many say that once the house is under offer, then the EA doesn't seem to be much help with progressing, as such the seller is has to perform the leg work...... Now the question is (bear in mind we never sold a house before)...... What does the leg work entail?

I was assuming the solicitors would communicate once under offer, and we would not have too much work to do?

Any help would be really appreciated.

Thanks

hazyjo

If you're inexperienced, please use a traditional estate agent. Search the forum for Purple Bricks as there have been many posts and that will give you an indication of what buyers think of properties up with online agencies (in general).

Please don't sign up for more than 6-8 weeks, negotiate the fee (1% max seems common), check their terms carefully and understand the difference between the various types of contract on offer.

Get at least 3 valuations. Don't automatically pick the highest!

misterben2013

Thanks for the reply. What would the reason be for not signing up for more than 6-8 weeks please?

Regarding valuations, we had 3 before lockdown. 2 of those were local EA`s and the other was Yopa. They were within a similar margin, and what we expected/want for the property.

hazyjo

Cos if the agents are rubbish, or you have a disagreement, you want to be able to get out and not be tied into something ridiculous for months.

As said, check agreements too. You want to be able to pull out without owing fees.

Don't pay for things like photos etc either which obviously should be as standard.

Many are offering way below what they would've done before lockdown, and many valuers are down valuing. Speak with a couple of local EAs to see if prices have generally dropped in your area since the start of the year.

misterben2013

Ahh OK got ya.

So the two local EA`s had a fixed fee. They were both around 2k mark.... Thinking our house might fetch around 135-140k based on averages and previous sales in the area, so the 2k fixed would work out around 1.5% if based on completion price.

Regarding photos, without wanting to sound big headed, my own photos are better than the 2 local EA`s. Could maybe negotiate a cost reduction there?

So even though the local EA gave fixed figures, what would be the likelihood of asking for 1% fee on completion. Asking before i make a fool of myself.

Have just requested a further two local EA`s to come to value and quote fees.

getmore4less

Go through the "my house is not selling" , "my house is not getting viewing" threads and fix all the common problems before you go on rightmove.

A few to get you started.
make the beds
clean windows
declutter anything that make it look like no storage
cut the grass, clean any driveways
accurate floor plans
sensible price(do your own research*) is often the big problem
good pics


* check the for sale the SSTC and the sold through prices of everything that is similar enough to be competition.
I would also do a full forsale/SSTC number check for your beds and your beds+1+ there is often an overlap
if you want to put a rough idea where you are and No. of beds or anything special can do a more like this to give you an idea of what you need to look at

RelievedSheff

Although a local estate agent may cost you more they will almost certainly give you better service. Get three around again to assess the property again. The market has changed since Covid 19.

Then spend some time making the house look it's best BEFORE the estate agent comes to take the pictures. Declutter the property, clean everything to within an inch of it's life, make sure the furniture arrangements make the best use of the room space, dress rooms as you expect them (i.e make sure bedrooms have beds in them, etc.), tidy up the gardens, if rooms need a freshen up give them a quick lick of paint.

You need to make your house as appealing as possible to as many potential buyers as possible. Dress the house to suit your target market.

I think most importantly you need to establish a fair market price for the property. Do not just go with the agent who values the property the highest. Spend some time researching the local market and finding out what other properties have sold for, not just what the asking prices were.

gwynlas

Go through the listings of your local agents and decide which ones appeal to you. Some are very formulaic and describe every other house as the best in the location, good schools etc. You might be better off writing your own description together with your own phptographs displayed in a logical order. It might then look as though you could just use on an on line agent but what you are paying for is the fact that many people prefer to view property with established agents and agents act as go between purchaser and solicitors chivvying along sales in order to earn  their commission.

Chilli6

Pricing is so important. I sold mine for full asking price last year, similar value as yours. My neighbours put theirs on while mine was still going through. They knew what I'd got for mine but said 'we don't see the harm in putting on for £10,000 more even though we expect closer to what yours sold for. Fast forward 8 months and they've now dropped by £10,000 and still no interest. People will now wander why its been on so long and may put people off 

misterben2013

Thanks for the replies.

So, finally I managed to get a local EA to negotiate slightly (after having to listen to identical sales crap from 6 others that would not budge on price.....). They took the vat off and then a further £100 based on a 140k sale value. So local EA is coming in at £1300. So whilst will probably use the local EA, it will likely be in the back of my mind as to what would`ve happened if we went house simple route. Was in the mind of the house will sell itself, and Rightmove listing would be good enough (who looks in shop windoes, esp in these times?). Can only hope that the £1300 is well earned.

Crashy_Time

misterben2013 said:

Thanks for the replies.

So, finally I managed to get a local EA to negotiate slightly (after having to listen to identical sales crap from 6 others that would not budge on price.....). They took the vat off and then a further £100 based on a 140k sale value. So local EA is coming in at £1300. So whilst will probably use the local EA, it will likely be in the back of my mind as to what would`ve happened if we went house simple route. Was in the mind of the house will sell itself, and Rightmove listing would be good enough (who looks in shop windoes, esp in these times?). Can only hope that the £1300 is well earned.

 Good point, doubtful that many people are window shopping for houses anyway.