Anyone sold a house in the UK when they were living overseas?

[UnderRated]

I may need to sell mine but I'm in the US. I have no idea how to go about it. Has anyone else doen this? Is it impossible to do?

We sold our house while living overseas. Contacted a local estate agent, got a set of keys to them by courier and they showed prospective buyers round on our behalf.

The only thing you need to be there for is signing contracts. We gave full power of attorney to our parents so they could do it on our behalf, but I'm sure the contracts could have been couriered for signing in front of a solicitor in the US. The estate agent will recommend a local solicitor.

We used the estate agent and solicitor we had bought the house through.

Thanks There. That is helpful. I suppose I should think about power of attorney.

You can sign contracts long distance, surely?

I did this, but I went back to supervise it and make sure the house was properly presented etc.
Consider that you might have to reduce the price by 10k, puts the airfare into perspective.

My parents sold their house in Scotland while they were in Singapore.

If you don't want a power of attorney you can give your solicitor authority to exchange contracts on your behalf, and then they sign in the name of the firm. Alternatively the documents should be ready in good time, they can be sent to you by pdf for you to print out and sign and return by DHL. There shouldn't be anything which needs to be witnessed by lawyers on a sale - generally conveyancing forms need an independent adult witness, and even Americans will do.

I think finding an estate agent and arranging viewings would be trickier, unless you have an agent you are happy with already. We have Home Information Packs here on sales now, so the procedure will have changed. The agents or your lawyers will tell you about them.

Thanks for all your help. I have family in the UK who can help so this might not be as tricky as I anticipated.

thanks jules

What I did find was that once the offer had been accepted they started to haggle the price. It was hard to tell whether the agent was working in our best interest and whether they were 'pulling a fast one' because we were not in the country. We ended up dropping more than I wanted as it was hard to oversee proceedures and in the end just wanted it sold. Maybe they would have been the same if we were in the country??? I guess if your family are on hand and are able to find a good agent it would be easier.

I did wonder about that. I am sure I will have to drop the price more than I would if I were there. But I need it done as quickly and easily as possible, so I guess I'll just have to accept that.

My family are a long way from my house so won't be all that much help but are more useful than I am.

Sold mine from a distance too - not quite as far as we are now. I had a good Estate Agent and haggled over the phone. UR - I suggest you get a Skype Local Number so that people can ring you on that one - cheaper in the long run. Give your family Power of Attorney - I did. Made it much easier. Hugs

Thank you all.

Desperate times...