Selling a House Without an Estate Agent

[Kytti]

Hi, just wondered if anyone had anyone had any experiences of selling their house like this? Putting ours up for sale soon, it' probably won't go for much, but we're prepared for that, know what it's worth (as in, what they SELL for, not what we'd like it to sell for!!! :( ) and wondered in this day an age, really, how hard can it be? Surely it's just a matter of getting on the right websites?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! :)

I have, there are loads of websites, but I just put a home made for sale board up and my number. We got 3 EA valuations and agreed to sell for the average. Completely straight forward.

The purpose of an agent is to advertise your house and get viewings, if you are prepared to do that leg work then do it yourself, and save the fee!

interesting thread. we're thinkikng of doing this when we come to sell so will look forward to getting some useful tips from here!

good luck with your house sale too OP!

oreocrumbs did you use anywhere like rightmove?

No I didn't the house I sold was on a very busy main road so lots of passing trade so to speak and that was all I needed. This was a couple of years ago and my house was desirable, (good area sell like hot cakes).

When I sell this house I will try and sell it myself again, but I will have to use the websites as I'm hidden in a dead end so no passing trade.

I havn't any advice as to which I would use though as I havn't looked into it, but I would be considering looking into selling nationally as my house would be more attractive to people further afield (small village tucked away but excellent commuter links).

Would also do local and national adverts in the newspaper, not just in the property section but in the classifieds and take out a regular advert.

You have to decide who to aim your house at, if its a city flat, or a family home in commuter land send emails to big companies, they sometimes buy properties for employees, particuarly international firms).

Once you have sussed the advertising then the rest is easy, you discuss the offer and then refer it to your relevant solicitors and they do the rest. You will have to do the communicating and chasing up with each other but IMO that is better handled direct than through an agent.

It will still cost you money though, so if you are selling a cheap house and could get an EA with fees around 1.5% way up what that cost will be compared to how much it will cost you to run adverts etc.

I think you make more savings if you are selling an expensive house.

Try www.Housenetwork.co.uk - they get you on the websites you can't get on unless you're an estate agent.
They also do the viewing bookings and offer negotiation side of things.
You have to do the viewings.
Prices run out around the £500 mark.

I don't know whereabouts you are in the country, but I have just been quoted £1,300 to sell my mum's house at £145,000 to include legal fees. The agents round here are keen to get this price range on their books as there is currently relocation into the area which is quite an expensive market town. Point I am making is that a reasonably priced home (1st time buyer etc) is currently quite sought after in the NW and agents are prepared to offer pretty good terms. Have you asked about fees?

I sold mine privately in 2005.

We sold to a friend of a friend so to speak, so didn't get too involved with advertising it.

However, once we had a buyer and agreed a price it was easy.

The solicitor will tell you what you need to do after the agreed price stage.

Www.tepilo.com Sarah beeney's DIY selling website worth looking at.

I think it very much depends on your house. If it's a gorgeous Victorian cottage with wisteria round the doorway (or whatever's the most desirable type of property wherever you are), then I think selling privately makes perfect sense. If your house has less 'kerb appeal', then I think a good EA (if you can find one!) is worth every penny.

We're in the process of selling a house in a great area which is lovely inside, but much less attractive on the outside. Our EA has persuaded several people through the door who would never have come to view if they'd just seen it on Rightmove (one of whom has put in an offer and another who we're expecting to offer on Monday). But I do think our house is a bit of an unusual case, and that our EA has been unusually proactive. I don't believe the EA who sold our last house did anything other than respond to enquiries which came via Rightmove, and in that case we could have saved a few grand by selling privately.

Our house is a typical 3 bed terrace in Leeds. It's pretty average. We bought it as a repossession and have done it up, but not spent tons so can still afford to sell at under the market value, which helps!

We're moving overseas so a quick sale is preferred. It's going to be less than 100k, so I'd rather pay a percentage if I used an EA.

Thanks for the advice though, I'll think things over!

Don't forget that the EA doesn't just sell the house though.

If you are confident you can do all the after sale agreed through to completion stuff (the liaising with solicitors, other parties in the chain, making things actually happen) then do go ahead.

People always think that all agents do is take a few pictures and upload them to a website - there's usually a bit more to it than that.

Actually there were quite few issues and problems with the chain when we sold privately. It was great being able to speak to the people directly rather than rely on the EA to do it. Between us we managed to sort out all problems with a couple of phone calls at most. Plus the solicitor did a lot too.

So I am afraid bibitty that I disagree in our case - the EA seem to complicate matter ime.