Better to sell at auction or through estate agent

[zippyswife]

I have inherited a derelict property on a good sized plot of land that would potentially be good for a developer as believe 3 houses could be built on this. I don’t live in the area and don’t have the funds or knowledge to develop myself.

it has already been broken into and would like to sell before there are further problems. I also need the funds to pay off care home fees.

unsure whether a traditional sale through estate agent or an auction through a national auction agent would be best. Any advise or experience would be welcomed.

I’m.no expert in this field but I guess it would depend on whether your priority is to get shot of it quickly and easily or to get the maximum price for it?
I think you could set a minimum price that you will sell it for at auction to make sure it doesn’t go too cheaply

You can use both in theory. A friend is currently selling her parents house and it’s listed with a local estate agent but is for sale
via auction. I guess she will be paying more fees but it’s a faster sale

Do you have inheritance tax implications to consider?

If the land is part of the estate, there will need to be a valuation that IHT will be aware of. You can’t then sell it at an auction significantly below the expected value for a quick sale.

We’ve had a red book valuation. For IHT. Due to the area we won’t be in scope for IHT.

i think our main priority is paying off the care fees and selling it to avoid squatters so we’re considering auction.

properties in the area take a long time to sell (sometimes years) and as this is more of an awkward one I think we could be waiting a long time.

This was friends situation. Parent in a care home wanted a fast sale but minimum price set, so marketed by big named estate agent for sale at modern auction so it’s a 2-3 months till pay day situation.

Investigate if estate agents have developer links. There are some who has a developer arm or links to developers and act as agents for these kind of properties.

Otherwise I would go for auction if you can afford it.

I'd recommend auction. They'll advertise it so you'll get a good reach out into the market and, when the hammer goes down there's a deposit paid and it's a done deal. Quick, easy and you know where you stand.