Sell house without agents - Hips? Website advertising?

travel_freak

Hello,

A family member would like to sell her house. It's in a really good and sought after area in a cul de sac where as soon as for sale boards go up, properties are generally already sold. So it seems like madness to me to pay an estate agent heaps of money for selling and I'm wondering whether she could have a go at selling it herself?

Please could anyone offer any advice on things such as obtaining a HIPS report and which websites are best to advertise on? (When I was looking to let out one of my properties someone on here recommended a great website but I think that was just for advertising properties to let - it was great though because your property got put onto Rightmove and Findaproperty so there was brilliant coverage - please does anyone know of anything similar for selling as opposed to letting?

Any tips and advice on what's involved would be most welcome.

Many thanks in advance.

Regards,

chriserenity

Hi TF,

I have PMed you about HIPs.

Jorgan_2

Speak to a number of local solicitors to see if they can provide you with a HIP.

cheeky_lil_monkey

magnolia properties - got ours from them.

soolin

I completed on a private sale yesterday, I reckon I saved approx £4000 on estate agents fees.

The house was in a poor state of repair and I had three EA round for a valuation why I decided what to do. Two of those EA phoned me later and suggested they might know someone whowould take it off my hands for a quick sale so I knew it would be a good house to sell. I decided then not to engage an EA.

I spoke to all the neighbours and explained that I was going to market the property and several came in for a nosey just to have a look. One of those made an offer at the EA valuation level, but i refused it as I had decided to go for more. They increased their offer and as I said it was finally completed yesterday after 5 months.

My solicitor told me I did not need a HIP,so I saved on that as well, and all parties seem very happy.

Interestingly the buyers made one minor attempt to discount the price due to the supposedly falling market, but I told them I did not believe house prices were falling and the price held.

It can be done but it can take a bit of work. Things that the EA would normally do like holding keys etc obviously need to be managed. I also spent quite a bit of time going back and forth to the house (It is some distance from my own property)to let in people to meausre up or to have the mortgage survey done.

chriserenity

Jorgan wrote: »

Speak to a number of local solicitors to see if they can provide you with a HIP.

Alternatively contact your local Energy Assessor as they will most likely be able to supply you with the HIP quickly and efficiently.

chriserenity

soolin wrote: »

I completed on a private sale yesterday, I reckon I saved approx £4000 on estate agents fees.

The house was in a poor state of repair and I had three EA round for a valuation why I decided what to do. Two of those EA phoned me later and suggested they might know someone whowould take it off my hands for a quick sale so I knew it would be a good house to sell. I decided then not to engage an EA.

I spoke to all the neighbours and explained that I was going to market the property and several came in for a nosey just to have a look. One of those made an offer at the EA valuation level, but i refused it as I had decided to go for more. They increased their offer and as I said it was finally completed yesterday after 5 months.

My solicitor told me I did not need a HIP,so I saved on that as well, and all parties seem very happy.

You still need to get an EPC by the way. See the following excerpt from the Communities and Local Government website FAQ on EPCs:

9. Is an Energy Performance Certificate required for the private sale of a home between two individuals?
Yes. The EU Directive requires that Energy Performance Certificates will need to be provided for all buildings when they are constructed, sold or rented out. A new Energy Performance Certificate will be required for the Home Information Pack. Where the Energy Performance Certificate is provided separately from a Home Information Pack an existing Energy Performance Certificate may be used as long as it is still valid.

jimc_2

soolin wrote: »

I spoke to all the neighbours and explained that I was going to market the property and several came in for a nosey just to have a look.

My solicitor told me I did not need a HIP,so I saved on that as well, and all parties seem very happy.

Oh Dear! Probably best not to mention that you spoke to neighbours before the sale! Assuming the property had sufficient bedrooms to qualify for the HIPs at the time, the Solicitors were wrong. 'Telling the neighbours' is exactly what is quoted as an example of 'marketing' by the OFT and therefore meant that you did need the HIP. £200 fine!

In reply to the OP - you will find a wealth of impartial, non-commercial advice on private sales at https://www.fsbo.org.uk (It means For Sale By Owner.)

When choosing a private sales site be careful in your choice and also in whether you involve an agent at all. At the request of estate agents the OFT is looking at some sites and accusing them of acting as agents. If you only sell via a private sale site you're OK but if an agent does get involved it causes complications with the 'sole agent' clause. (Agents want a fee even if they did nothing for the sale!)

You can find a list of private sales sites on the private sale portal https://www.propertiesdirect.co.uk