Selling house without an agent

DigDag

Hi.
I need to sell my house, my neighbour has wanted to buy it for years. Can a house be sold without an estate agent? If so what is the process and pitfuls please.
Thanks in advance.

HampshireH

You don't need an estate agent. You do need a solicitor.

We bought ours direct from the landlord no agency fees (meant it was cheaper for us) we both employed solicitors and the whole process was wrapped up in just over 6-8 weeks.

eddddy

DigDag said:

I need to sell my house, my neighbour has wanted to buy it for years. 

Do they want to buy it in addition to their current house? Or will they need to sell their house first?

To be blunt, an estate agent would start by checking whether the prospective buyers were credible and proceedable (as opposed to 'dreamers' or 'time wasters').

For example...

• If they have a property to sell, is it under offer?
• Do they have a mortgage agreed in principle?
• Do they have a source for the deposit (money in the bank, and/or equity from the sale of their house)?

But obviously, you know your neighbour and presumably you trust them - so maybe you're happy to assume they know what they're doing.

cymruchris

Yes you can - I did - I bought my current house directly from the vendor with no estate agency involvement. I had my solicitor - she appointed hers - and off we went. It was relatively smooth - with no major hiccups along the way  

Yorkie1

I bought without an estate agent like cymruchris. I knew the seller well. We sat down around the table, each said what we thought was an appropriate price. We were less than £5K apart, so we split the difference (she didn't have EA fees to pay and I got a slightly reduced price).

We each instructed solicitors, she found a new house to buy, and it all followed through eventually!

FlorayG

Yes you can if you know what you are doing. Years ago one of my friends even did her own conveyancing, which I would never consider but she was confident and informed so the sale had almost no costs

DigDag

eddddy said:

DigDag said:

I need to sell my house, my neighbour has wanted to buy it for years. 

Do they want to buy it in addition to their current house? Or will they need to sell their house first?

To be blunt, an estate agent would start by checking whether the prospective buyers were credible and proceedable (as opposed to 'dreamers' or 'time wasters').

For example...

• If they have a property to sell, is it under offer?
• Do they have a mortgage agreed in principle?
• Do they have a source for the deposit (money in the bank, and/or equity from the sale of their house)?

But obviously, you know your neighbour and presumably you trust them - so maybe you're happy to assume they know what they're doing.

Thanks for your reply.
They are renting at the moment. I wouldn't say I know them that well, just speak to him when I see him. But he is a builder and seems to work hard.
He said he has a mortgage agreed with his bank. He would love to buy my house.

eddddy

DigDag said:

Thanks for your reply.

They are renting at the moment. I wouldn't say I know them that well, just speak to him when I see him. But he is a builder and seems to work hard.
He said he has a mortgage agreed with his bank. He would love to buy my house.

So it's potentially an awkward situation.

Will you just believe everything he says? Or do you do what an estate agent would do, and ask to see:

- evidence from his proposed mortgage lender,
- copies of his bank statements showing he has the deposit
- a copy of his tenancy agreement, to make sure he isn't in the middle of a fixed term
- details of the solicitor he is instructing

When somebody 'loves' a house, they can sometimes get carried away and 'hope' they can get the mortgage they need, and 'hope' that they can borrow from friends & family etc - to make their dream come true.

So he ends up messing you around for months, making excuses, etc - while he repeatedly fails to get the mortgage he needs, and fails to persuade friends & family to lend him money.


Maybe one approach is to agree a price with him, and then monitor progress carefully. For example, does his solicitor reply to your solicitor? Is a mortgage valuation visit booked? etc.

But then you have the awkward situation of saying that you're giving-up on him, and instructing an estate agent. (While living next door to him)

Albermarle

He said he has a mortgage agreed with his bank.

An estate agent would ask them to prove this and to have proof of the deposit amount. Many potential house buyers lie about these things, or at least embellish the truth.
Asking personally for these could be a bit more delicate, but it would be wise.

Yorkie1

Perhaps you could consider provisionally accepting the offer, conditional on his solicitor (to be appointed) confirming that he has a DIP (decision in principle) from a bank - that would avoid you having to see personal documents but also enables you to say that you've had advice to try to keep things going along the usual path of a house purchase.

Hoenir

DigDag said:

eddddy said:

DigDag said:

I need to sell my house, my neighbour has wanted to buy it for years. 

Do they want to buy it in addition to their current house? Or will they need to sell their house first?

To be blunt, an estate agent would start by checking whether the prospective buyers were credible and proceedable (as opposed to 'dreamers' or 'time wasters').

For example...

• If they have a property to sell, is it under offer?
• Do they have a mortgage agreed in principle?
• Do they have a source for the deposit (money in the bank, and/or equity from the sale of their house)?

But obviously, you know your neighbour and presumably you trust them - so maybe you're happy to assume they know what they're doing.

Thanks for your reply.
They are renting at the moment. I wouldn't say I know them that well, just speak to him when I see him. But he is a builder and seems to work hard.
He said he has a mortgage agreed with his bank. He would love to buy my house.

Unless you've allowed access to the surveyor to value the property. This is highly improbable.