Selling without an estate agent

kipper321

New username to preserve privacy, but long time lurker!

My mum died recently and Dad has had to go into a home.

We need to sell his house as he is self funding, but has enough in savings for a couple of years, so no huge rush!

We've already been approached by two parties who live in the village who are interested in buying his house; it has some unique features that make it (hopefully) quite desirable.

We'll get the house valued by three estate agents, but are there any pitfalls to not engaging an agent and selling privately? In true MSE spirit it seems pointless in spending money on fees when we don't need to!

uralmaid

I suppose the main things would be that an estate agent can verify that the correct funds are in place for the buyers - eg if they say they are cash buyers, or if they have a survey, then the agent can  gain info as to what it says.The other thing is that when a sale is being progressed - an estate agent can speak to other agents in the chain for updates and also both sets of solicitors.  If you don't use an agent then the buyers solicitors wouldn't engage with you except through your own solicitor.  If you have a really good solicitor then that does help.

eddddy

To put it bluntly, are the two parties in the village serious potential buyers - or are they dreamers?

• Do they have properties to sell? If so, are they under offer?

• Do they have mortgage agreements in principle?

• Do they have the necessary deposit?

Are they actively looking for properties to purchase - or is this a spur-of-the-moment whim? (A whim which might disappear when they think through the reality of buying a property.)

Albermarle

I would think it partly depends on your personality, and how you deal with people and money matters.
For example if you agreed a price, then you would have to 'demand' from the buyer full proof of funds, which might cause some embarrassment, especially if they were not that solid. 
Then if there was a survey that unearthed something negative, the buyer could ask for a discount that you would have to negotiate/refuse. 
As a middleman the EA can perhaps more easily deal with awkward conversations, although some are better than others.

kipper321

eddddy said:

To put it bluntly, are the two parties in the village serious potential buyers - or are they dreamers?

• Do they have properties to sell? If so, are they under offer?

• Do they have mortgage agreements in principle?

• Do they have the necessary deposit?

Are they actively looking for properties to purchase - or is this a spur-of-the-moment whim? (A whim which might disappear when they think through the reality of buying a property.)

Both would have to sell property; one is in a house that sells every 5 years or so and the other is a similar property but they want to move to the village for family reasons.
Both parties have seen the "public" spaces as visitors but doubt they have seen the bedrooms (which may be a deal-breaker for one party)
I think one party may be dreaming more than the other but has a reason/need to move

kipper321

Albermarle said:

I would think it partly depends on your personality, and how you deal with people and money matters.
For example if you agreed a price, then you would have to 'demand' from the buyer full proof of funds, which might cause some embarrassment, especially if they were not that solid. 
Then if there was a survey that unearthed something negative, the buyer could ask for a discount that you would have to negotiate/refuse. 
As a middleman the EA can perhaps more easily deal with awkward conversations, although some are better than others.

Good point about negotiation; there undoubtedly will be things come up on a survey!

SiliconChip

The question is whether selling privately and saving on EA fees will net you more than selling on the open market with fees to pay. If properties like yours are difficult to sell then the former may be an attractive option, but if the market is bouyant the latter seems likely to be the better choice.

eddddy

kipper321 said:

Both would have to sell property; 

So are you saying their properties aren't even on the market yet?

FWIW, no estate agent would take an offer seriously from somebody who hasn't even got their property on the market yet. (Or even if their property is on the market, but not under offer.)

An estate agent would probably advise the seller to tell the buyer to come back when their property is under offer.

But you're free to handle things differently, if you want.



If you want, you can...

• Put the property on the market with an estate agent

• But tell the estate agent in advance that you have 2 interested parties who might make offers once they've sold their properties (so you won't pay the estate agent fees in respect of either of those parties.)

• Then wait to see who makes a proceedable offer first - one of your contacts, or a buyer through the estate agent

• (When considering offers, you can bear in mind that any offer via the estate agent will mean you have to pay their fee. But not for offers from your contacts.)

Fearoforion

I had to sell my Mum's house a few years ago in similar circumstances. I used a local estate agent, not a chain, who were absolutely brilliant and made a sad experience so much easier. On the day of completion there was a query about the loft insulation in the house. (It probably came via meddling solicitors.) But the estate agents got it all sorted and the sale went through. I'm also wondering if a buyer not going via estate agent will be looking for a discount? Hope that helps, and you get satisfactory sale!

propertyrental

Presumably you have POA to sell? As such, you have a duty to get the best price possible for your father.

If you can demonstrate that the price you agree with a private buyer is as good as the price your 3 EAs have quoted, that should suffice.

But as advised, make sure these are genuine, proceedable, buyers.

GDB2222

kipper321 said:

New username to preserve privacy, but long time lurker!

My mum died recently and Dad has had to go into a home.

We need to sell his house as he is self funding, but has enough in savings for a couple of years, so no huge rush!

We've already been approached by two parties who live in the village who are interested in buying his house; it has some unique features that make it (hopefully) quite desirable.

We'll get the house valued by three estate agents, but are there any pitfalls to not engaging an agent and selling privately? In true MSE spirit it seems pointless in spending money on fees when we don't need to!

There’s no huge rush, but you currently have all the outgoings on an empty house, so you don’t want to be too relaxed. 

I suggest that you show these two potential buyers around the house, and document that you have done so in your diary. Then, ask them what they want to offer. If you are happy with the offer and their ability to proceed then I guess that’s job done.

 If you do engage an agent, don’t give them sole selling rights, and you will need to think how to keep the agent onside if these two buyers become interested later. You can’t expect the agents to be happy about it.