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Money matters

Selling a house without an estate agent -would you do it?

13 replies

bluebear · 06/09/2006 12:18

We will be putting our house on the market sometime in the next few months, as we need to relocate many miles away.
A friend has said that she knows of someone looking for a house in this area and would I think about showing house etc to this family before I put the house on the estate agent books.

i am very tempted - the estate agent fees will be well over £10k which I guess means we could drop some off the asking price, and save some ourselves - but dh is not so happy about it..he thinks that the more people see the house the more likely we are to end up with a 'good' price for it.

I am also a bit unsure about what else an estate agent does (dealing with solicitors?) - the last time we moved out we got the barely-in-his-20's trainee who messed up our sale by encouraging the first time buyers who were buying our flat to terminate their rental agreement before we had even found a place to move to - thus causing panic and misery all round.

Any advice?

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Twiglett · 06/09/2006 12:20

bloody hell yes like a shot

estate agents do bugger all

I paid one 4K when I sold my flat .. he didn't even do details .. it sold the day I commissioned it .. and then I dealt with my solicitor and spoke to her a few times

do it do it do it do it

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yorkshirelass79 · 06/09/2006 12:22

Message withdrawn

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Twiglett · 06/09/2006 12:23

Estate Agents don't do anything

get 3 in and get valuations from them but don't appoint

let woman see house and make an offer if interested

instruct a solicitor and bobs your uncle

if not .. then do one of those internet ones that let you sell yourself .. they give you a for sale board .

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bluebear · 06/09/2006 12:57

So no strong feeling either way then {grin}

Yes, our last EA didn't even do details - in the end we had to scan in the ones which we had from when we bought the flat, and take off the old asking price, then hand them over to new buyers.
I think we'd just have to be honest about how much we want for the house, we've had it valued so we know a ballpark figure.

Anyone used one of those internet based agencies? - I do all my house hunting by internet, just go to EA to book a viewing, so I think it's the way forward.

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shimmy21 · 06/09/2006 13:06

we sold ours without estate agents with no trouble at all. The only thong estate agents do well is advertise to poential buyers. If you already have a potential buyer why on earth would you pay that much money to the agent???

You can also check prices for equivalent houses in your area on that website (that I can't remember) to make sure you agree a fair price.

Avoid EAs like the plague if you possibly can.

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shimmy21 · 06/09/2006 13:07

oops -not thong, THING

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estobi1 · 06/09/2006 13:19

Estate agents can be useful if things go wrong and can help speed up solicitors if they are not very good.

However, if you are happy that you know the value of the property and that the potential buyers are genuine with sufficient funding I would let them view the property and see if they make you an offer. If they do make an offer, you don't have to accept it unless you are happy to proceed and nothing is binding until contracts are exchanged. You can handle and negotiations and the solicitors will do the legal stuff.

Good luck I hope it all goes well.

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mazzystar · 06/09/2006 13:20

We did wot twig said.

3 agents, priced it at highest valuation, did a PDF flyer which emailed to a few likely types. Sold within a week, completed within 6.

The only drawback is that you don't really test the market.

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Twiglett · 06/09/2006 13:24

oh use this site to check how much houses actually sold for .. but remember its at leat 6 months out of date so have to adjust

its all very well setting a valuation its what you achieve that's important

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DaddyCool · 06/09/2006 13:27

this is getting very popular in north america as the estates agents charge about 7%(!!)

estate agents are in the bowels of the professional career body. i hate them.

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bubbaloo · 07/09/2006 10:32

We sold our very first place without an agent and had no problems at all.We advertised the property in our local paper which cost about £25 and it went in their whole "group" of newspapers(approx 8),and we found a buyer within 2 weeks.We had no problems at all and would definately do the same again.

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bluebear · 07/09/2006 13:12

Bubbaloo - that sounds like a great idea.

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wanderingstar · 07/09/2006 13:17

We sold to people we knew, without commissioning an agent. We had previously, however, had the house valued by 3 agents with a view to possibly selling (we had considered not moving, but renovating instead). Our buyers basically expressed an interest once word got out that we were thinking of moving. We agreed a price based on the recent valuations, and voila, 2 happy couples and NO estate agent fees.
Importantly, we hadn't signed a contract with the agents. We weren't out to abuse their free valuation service either; when they came round to value they knew we may or may not be seeling. Just be careful about signing up too soon, then deciding to sell privately; you could still be liable for fees.