Selling without Estate Agent

[car0line123]

Hi ladies, I am thinking to sell my property without an estate agent. Being at home with toddler, I can arrange all viewings and everything, which I wouldn't have been able to do when I was at work.
Has anyone tried to do the same? Do you have any tips/ advice? Good/ bad stories?
Many thanks in advance!

[bungalowroofonit]

We've used Housenetwork online estate agents twice to sell. better than any high st agent at a fraction of the cost.

@500smiles - online agents do absolutely everything a high st agent is claims to do, except the physical viewing - everything including all the buyer checks, all the funds checks, and liaising with solicitors and other estate agents in the chain.

less smarm and more work and saves you money.

[car0line123]

500smiles: thank you so much for all your comments, a lot to think about.

To explain my thoughts:
when sold a previous property, the AE did not verify the buyer position at all: when organising viewings and relaying offers, at best they ask if you have a mortgage. (our buyer did not at the time, but set up one the day before was supposed to complete! Quite a lot of delay then to say the least...)

AE are overworked Sat, do not work evenings and Sundays, so most the viewings are done without them.
After recording viewings in the past, I do realise that viewers open cupboards and poke their nose everywhere! Some are so rude!

Not sure how to handle several viewings at once, so still in 2 minds about organising open house. I should have said I have a flat, so I am not too isolated, which should help.

But again, many thanks, I have a lot of thinking to do!

[500smiles]

Forgot to add

Just some basic safety precautions that we use,

Lock your valuables away before a viewing.

Will you be happy giving out your phone number and e-mail address to people you don't know? Maybe get a cheap PAYG phone.

Have a get-out clause in case some weirdo turns up.

Can you verify the viewers identity beforehand?

Have an escape plan if you feel uncomfortable part way through the viewing.

Let someone know that you have a viewing, who it is and when you will be finished, get them to call you if you haven't called them by a certain time, and to call the police / get straight round if you haven't called them by a certain time.

Unlock all the outside doors so you can get out of the house in a hurry if you need to - think about how you will get you and your child out if they are in a different room and things turn a bit nasty.

Close all internal doors and open them one by one, that way the viewer isn't to know that there isn't someone else in the house.

Let them go into a room first and follow, never let them get in between you and the door.

If there is more than one viewer, how are you going to stop them wandering off separately?

[500smiles]

Disclosure: I work p/t for an EA.

If you're planning on using a Solicitor to relay questions and answers / help, this will really bump up your legal costs if they are charging for their time...

Rather than using an online EA, find a newly set up local EA - they may well match online prices simply to get houses on their books / boards up locally.

Viewings accompanied by and EA are more likely to get an offer as they will ask pretty direct questions and follow up after the viewing.

How will you verify your buyer's position? You will probably find that their mortgage broker / solicitor may not discuss things with you for confidentiality reasons that they would otherwise discuss with an EA.

Also, when you go to buy a house, the EA that you are buying from will want to confirm the chain details with the other EAs in the chain, so you may find that they don't take your offer as seriously as they cannot verify it.

A good EA will come into their own again when it comes to stopping the chain falling apart and pushing the post negotiation aspect through.

[car0line123]

thank you for all advice, I will definitively use an online AE, for advertising/ floor plan etc.. and good point about safety, thank you.

I am not too worried about the process: I found in the past that the AE were only contacting us to relay any questions/ queries etc... and the real help was the solicitors, so on this occasion I really don't see what an AE would do that I can't.
Being present with kid is far from ideal, but with or without AE the problem would be the same.

If anyone has more advice about using online AE...

[agnesf]

We did ours with an online EA but got local normal estate agents to value it first. It all went smoothly but was an easy to sell house at a time when prices were picking up and we got a buyer who was desperate to buy in our area.

Also we weren't in any chain. Most of the negotiating was done between me and the buyer direct.

Bought our new house through normal EA and it was awful. I felt they generated mistrust and suspicion on both sides and did nothing to make life easy for either party

[bilbodog]

Be aware that putting your property on the market, doing viewings, and agreeing an offer is only the beginning of the process. After that there may be lots of enquiries and further negotiations to be done depending on surveys and searches. It can take a lot of time - particularly as you get closer to exchange of contracts - and if you are doing it without an estate agent you will have to handle all of this. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[Notyetthere]

At the very least use an online EA and they will get your property on the usual portals (Rightmove/zoopla, etc). Most people now often start their search online.

I would also encourage you to have a floor plan on your online listing. I know people who won't even bother looking beyond the 1st page if no floor plan for them to picture the space.

[currieaddict]

How will you advertise it though?

[500smiles]

Disengage so you don't take offence at the viewers comments.

Can you get your toddler looked after for viewings? It's going to be difficult to do a hard sell with a toddler shouting "I need a poo!"

Also not to worry you but check out the Suzy Lamplugh Trust for tips on personal safety, after all you are letting a complete stranger into your house which can make you very vulnerable.