Selling privately, how did you handle it?

Bashie90

Hey all. Has anyone here sold a property privately (no estate agent)?

I’m trying to understand what it’s actually like. If you’ve done it or tried and gave up.

1. What was the biggest pain? (time-wasters, scams, viewings, negotiation, paperwork, etc.)
2. Did buyers seem to trust it, or were they wary because it wasn’t via an agent?
3. What would’ve made it easier/safer, even if it cost a small amount?

Appreciate any stories. I’m doing a bit of research and it seems the main driver is saving on fees, but the trade-off is the owner doing a lot more of the work.

ButterCheese

My parents are doing this just now.  Albeit 3 families are all swapping properties but with different monies involved.  You still need solicitors involved to write it all up so any payments would go through solicitors.  The main thing my parents have found is, the solicitors.  3 families each have their own solicitor, and whilst one is good, the others are terrible.  They have so far lost a whole set of agreements which then needed to be drwn up again and signed, this took months. 

Bashie90

Ouch you’re right though: solicitors will always be part of the process and you still need to do your due diligence to find one who’s responsive, easier said than done really.

Thanks for sharing. I’m particularly interested in hearing from someone who’s sold privately while actively seeking a buyer (rather than a straight swap)  if anyone has an example of how they found the buyer and managed the process, I’d love to hear it

user1977

Bashie90 said:

I’m doing a bit of research 

Can you tell us more about the nature of your research?

Bashie90

Sure, happy to. I’m basically looking into the private sale / private letting route (so selling or renting without using a traditional estate agent) and what people would actually need to feel comfortable doing that.

I don’t want to break any rules and not sure if this would, hence my vaugness on the research topic, but I’m involved in building a property portal that would allow private listings alongside agent listings, so I’m just trying to understand the real pain points.

Mainly I’m curious about stuff like: how do people actually find a buyer/tenant? how do you stop timewasters / scams? what would make it feel “safe enough” (ID checks, verified buyers, enquiry management etc)? and what sort of support would you expect along the way?

I can see there’s a gap, loads of people don’t trust EAs or don’t feel it’s good value, but at the same time Rightmove costs agents a fortune, which then gets baked into fees. What I’m struggling to gauge is whether there’s a real appetite for private listings… like has anyone here actually considered doing it fully solo, or done it before and what made you go for it or put you off?

SiliconChip

Your problem is going to be how to compete with Rightmove/Zoopla, most buyers are never going to look beyond those unless you can build up the volume of listings to make your site a viable alternative, and I'm not sure there are enough private sellers to achieve that. 

Bashie90

Yeah agree, Rightmove/Zoopla being the “default” behaviour is the big hurdle. That said from what I’ve seen there actually is a gap and more volume than you’d think for private listings, it’s just a bit scattered and not very visible in one place.I guess the real question is what would make buyers bother checking somewhere else too. Part of that is a marketing challenge yeah, but also just understanding what the need is (like what support people want to be able to sell privately and feel ok doing it).

In my eyes there are two key things for people who want to sell private, cost savings and the dislike of EA’s (bad experience or just not seeing the value). Do you think that’s fair, or what would make you actually take a private listing seriously?

eddddy

FWIW, the recent private sale that I watched from a distance fell apart because the seller and buyer didn't understand the process, and didn't know what they had to do.

It ended up with them shouting at each other over the phone, before the seller stormed off - and then hired an estate agent.

(Had an estate agent been involved, either/both parties could have shouted at the estate agent - who could have then diffused the situation, explained what was happening, and done some filtering before passing messages to the other party.)



Taking a step back, an estate agent should do things like:

• Do a financial appraisal of the buyer - check bank statements to make sure they really have the deposit, check mortgage AIP

• If the buyers have a property to sell - check the status with their selling agent, length of chain etc.

• Prompt the buyers to apply for their mortgage, instruct solicitors, instruct surveyors, etc

• Chase-up the buyers to check progress, and ensure they are responding promptly when required 

• If surveys etc, show up problems and/or buyers get cold feet etc - offer reassurance, propose solutions and/or renegotiate price, etc

I guess you have to decide whether you want to do that kind of stuff - or leave the buyer alone and hope that they know what to do, and have the sense to get on with it without being chased.



I've heard a number of estate agents saying that finding a buyer and getting an offer accepted is sometimes the easy part.

Getting from offer acceptance to exchange of contracts is sometimes the much harder part.

Albermarle

Someone with a similar idea .

Thinking of making a website like Rightmove etc — MoneySavingExpert Forum

kipsterno1

We did it without issue but we're in a very good position. The chain was very small as we already had a place to move into, our buyer was selling to first time buyers. If the chain had been longer and more complicated I think we might have choose to use an agent.

We posted on FB with a few photos saying the place would be going to market soon and viewings were welcome. Got a reasonable response and a sturn message from our buyer, who we knew, reminding us that he had mentioned years ago if we ever move he wanted first refusal on our place. Knowing the buyer made setting on a price a bit more difficult but helped with the overall process.

ExEstateAgent

I remember a client who put their house on the market with my agency, we took a full asking price offer the same day and the vendors were delighted. 

The next day they came into the office all stony faced, saying that we sold the house too quickly and didn't earn our fees (even though we hadn't had a penny at this stage!). They had decided to take the house off the market with us and would sell it themselves. 

This was a while ago and we didn't have the kind of T&C's you get now but we did stress that if they sold to 'our' buyers we would be after our fees. 

The buyers were very upset with the vendors and said they wouldn't buy from them, and wouldn't trust not going via an agent. We found them another home a short while after (similar house in the same road came on). 

Fast forward a few months and the couple came back. They had a re-think and after being messed around by various people and having a sale fall through, wondered if 'our' buyers were still interested. No, they had proceeded with another house. We agreed to remarket for them but it took a few months to find another buyer for them and they had to accept a lower offer. 

The market is different today and visibility on Rightmove is essential. That said, the work of a good EA really starts once an offer is agreed - it's getting to exchange/completion and helping iron out the inevitable issues that will crop up during the process that is the agent's expertise. 

Most sellers won't be dealing with property every day, it's a once in a while process, so they don't understand what is entailed. They think it's just getting someone to say 'I'll take it' and then the solicitors sort out the rest. 

Selling without an agent might work OK if selling to people you know, but making up some home-made for sale sign and waiting for the offers to flood in is for fools only!