Best way to sell a house quickly?

[ExhaustedFlamingo]

Sorry, this is long!!

We are moving to a new house which will have an annexe for my DM. We already have the new property - it's been a very long and drawn-out process.

By mid-February the building work will be done and we can move in. Problem is, my house isn't on the market yet.

Several reasons for this but to cut a long story short, it needs a lot of tidying up and sorting out to be estate agent ready. We are desperately overcrowded here and have been for a long time. It also needs some DIY - some of which I can do myself, other bits I can't.

DP has been off work since (with no pay) since September (hospital treatment). Not sure when he will be fit to return even P/T. I am self-employed which is sort of helpful because it means I've been able to work all the hours god sends to earn enough to cover the bills. Plus Christmas and DC's birthdays etc.

I'm very time-poor. I'm managing the whole build (DM is also disabled - cerebral palsy), both my DC are autistic (DS has high needs), and due to a lack of special school places, they're both currently home educated. I'm obviously working every possible hour to try and earn enough. DP isn't well enough to help with anything.

I could really do with moving in February. I bought this house on a 100% mortgage just prior to the 2008 crash (stupid getting a 100% mortgage I know!). So the rate is terrible and spiralling.

I could do with selling this house quickly. Having been through one very long and protracted house sale for DM, my heart sinks at the thought of going through it all again. I'm exhausted. I have zero spare time even for essentials for self-care, let alone managing a house sale.

We need some money to complete work on the new property but could take a bit of a hit on the price here and still be OK.

I don't want to go to auction because it's a faff. With two autistic DC (I'm autistic too) plus all the other pressures I have, there's a real value in just getting this gone quickly.

Has anyone had any dealings with one of those companies who sell your house quickly? I know some are utter bastards and rip you off by dropping price at the 11th hour. I've heard some offer in the region of 90% of the property value - can anyone recommend anyone? Or any other solution?

Apologies if this post is insensitive. I'm just so exhausted I could cry and I'm at the end of my tether trying to figure out how to get this done while keeping all the other balls in the air.

Have you had an estate agent in yet? Get a few in and get them to value it for a quick sale as it is.

You can do modern auction but personally I don’t think it is worth it. You pay more costs and you generally don’t get the full true value of the property.
Could you not take out a loan to cover the costs of the work required at your new property and pay this off when you’ve sold up?

What DIY do you need doing to the house? Unless it’s major structural issues and just cosmetic, I really wouldn’t waste the time in getting the work done. Chances are the new owner will complete their own renovations on the property.
I would have a good clear out - get rid of the clutter - if you haven’t used it in a over a year, chances are you’ll never use it again… so get it gone!
Bearing in mind that it’s now January, you will find it almost impossible to sell and complete by February… unless they are a cash buyer and there is no chain or hold up…
The process takes on average 3-4 months so you’ll be looking at nearer April/May time at the earliest.

Chuck what you don’t need, get someone to give it all a good clean, leave the rest and price realistically. Honestly, your time and sanity is worth more that whatever extra money you may get after doing DIY, esp with the costs of materials/trades.

I have a close friend who is a hoarder. Honestly, her house was virtually uninhabitable. She had to sell to move closer to family. An estate agent marketed it - without photos - and it sold. Anything sells at the right price. I'd have thought you'd get a better deal than going through 'we buy any house' company but you could try one of those too to compare.

The first step is to get 3 different agents round for valuations and tell them you need the house to sell asap. They’ll give you good advice.

Then empty the house as much as you can (totally empty is good) and get cleaners in to make it sparkle. Get gardener to mow any lawn or magbe a handyman to tidy front if needed.

It will sell if the price is right and nothing is majorly wrong with it. Buyers don’t care about bits of DIY.

Thanks so much for the replies.

The problem is that I really don't have the spare time to declutter any more or clear out, put in storage etc. Like now, for example, I'm typing on here but I have work I should be doing (self-employed work so no bosses chasing haha).

It's a tiny house and with two adults working from home, a dog, two autistic teens - it's so overcrowded. Over the last six months I've managed to chuck out 60 black bin bags of stuff that's not needed. Literally 60 bags. I counted.

What stuff we have left is pretty much needed especially as the house we're moving to is substantially larger - and DC will have a bedroom each. This is a starter home type thing, was originally a one bed that was converted to a 2-bed before me - but the second bedroom is very small - our double bed is against the wall and there's only space for a small chest of drawers.

I could probably find a bit more to clear out and throw away but it's mainly just that this house is too small to hold all the necessary things!

Just to give you an example of how pressed for time I am - I regularly have to sit up until 4-5am to get my work finished. And then up again with the DC in the morning. DP is ill currently and can't help with much at all really. I am chronically, chronically sleep deprived and fucking up everything as I just am constantly fire-fighting as I have no time. I work 7 days a week to try and cover the bills right now. I worked a tiny bit on Christmas Day and I worked on Boxing Day. I worked every other day. I worked until 4am on NYE.

DS has high care needs. He's currently lying behind me rubbing his feet up and down my head and back while I'm trying to type. So I need to get off here haha!

To answer q re DIY - bastard squirrels broke into our loft. I've managed to get that sorted and the roof repaired but they've destroyed the lagging. The roof needs to be re-insulated. I can't afford to pay someone to do it. I can do almost anything myself - but that's the one thing I can't do (asthmatic and very dusty up there - and absolutely terrified of spiders, yes, I know I'm pathetic!) Two windows won't open - think the mechanisms have broken? I also need to re-plaster the living room ceiling. We had a leak from bathroom and they had to cut a hole. Leak sorted and ceiling boarded but needs to be skimmed over.

Other jobs aren't essential and I can drop - painting living room, hall etc. Toilet seat has just randomly broken. That's not DS as he's still in nappies (age 13) so god knows how that has happened. My hall light has broken and I need an electrician. Lots of odd jobs.

I cared for my dad until he died, along with everything else going on. Twins born very poorly and premature. Single mum. DC's bio dad disappeared. My dad terminally ill. DC with high needs. Blah blah. Woe is me, honestly - listen to me moaning!! What a whinge bag! It's been a bloody hard 10 years and I'm just so, so bloody exhausted now. I have nothing left and I just need to get this sodding house sold with the minimum effort.

Sorry also just to add, I'm really time-poor at the moment but also cash-poor because DP isn't working due to illness.

When we sell this, the daily living costs will drop dramatically so I won't have to work so bastard hard all of the time. Plus we'll have the equity.

So not only am I time-poor at the moment, I also don't have the money to get someone to come in and do stuff. It was touch and go whether I could pay the mortgage this month but just managed to scrape it with some juggling!!

I'm trying to keep a sense of perspective on how horrible everything feels at the moment because I know it won't be like this forever.

You havent mentioned or I might have missed it, do you need to sell it in order to buy? Are you mortgaged, or are you using cash/money from your mothers house sale?

Secondly, do you have any financial capacity to get someone in to pack non essentials to go into storage until you move. Gets it out of the way and semi moved so that you have less to do when you actually do move.

Oh, sorry. Also to add - outside is pretty neat and tidy. Garden is all slabs and re-fenced and front porch etc repainted late summer before DP got ill and I started with the crazy working hours.

Call three agents in the morning. They don't need the whole story just that you don't have time to do any work on the house and need a quick sale. They'll advise you.

Oh you've just answered my questions!!

Any friends who would come and help for a payment of a bottle of wine and a homebaked cake or something?

I agree with getting 3 estate agents booked to come round and advise. You don’t need to get the house “estate agent ready” - they will be working for you so you don’t have to impress them. You will get less money for your property if it is cluttered but that seems outside of your control at the moment. I’m sorry you are so stressed.

I second the idea of moving as much as you don't immediately need into storage. Is the work on the new house done to the extent that it's watertight? If so could you use that as free storage? Kills two birds with one stone there - clears some clutter from where you're living, which makes it easier to sell, and moves stuff that you would have to move anyway. I hear that money is an issue, but could you manage hiring one of those 'two men and a van' outfits for a day, or a few hours, to move stuff for you?

My heart goes out to you OP. Don't ever call your description of the load you carry 'whinging'.

I was tired just reading what your head is coping with. Just wanted to say you sound amazing, super mum and wife! Please make sure you have some time for self care once the move is sorted in feb!

As other PP have said, just tidying up and pop on the market at a decent price. Who know someone might be l looking for a deal and willing to do the diy etc.

If it hasn’t sold in x months then drop the price and look at one of those companies.

The other thing you could do before viewings is hire a skip - much easier to throw loads of stuff out with a skip and no trips to the dump needed. Just book a skip for a week before viewings start.

you sound a bit overwhelmed OP. You will need to pack up to move however you chose to sell, this is a good opportunity to de clutter and rid yourself of items you no longer need or use. Auction is the quickest sale route. But may not bring the best price, however the sale is guaranteed and short completion time. Good luck OP, you can do it. Wishing you all the best for your move.

If you’re happy to be pragmatic about the price just get
the agents in - make sure there is nothing identifying in the photos and it is basically clean. Tell them it’s priced to sell and crack on.

Can you rent it out instead, OP? Give yourself a bit of breathing room for a year or 2 to sort everything out and then put it on the market when you're a bit more settled and DP is better?

I would sell at auction personally. It's how we sold our old house that needed work doing and it really saves people messing you about.

Ahead of the auction there's about 3 or 4 open house days. The agent will do these for you.

On the day of the auction you exchange and they have a month to complete. By this time you should have moved into your new house.

I am not getting why auction is a faff, seems to me to be much simpler it is a guaranteed sale money in 21-28 days after auction so then all you need to do is move, also most auction properties do not go way under value. generally they have 1 open day for viewings and that's it, obviously the auctioneers need to prepapre a legal pack but no survey etc as it is binding when hammer falls
you can have a reserve price but generally reserve can't be higher than lowest guide figure ie if reserve is 200K guide would be 200-250K

It's price basically. That's how you achieve a quick sale.

If you listed it for £10k you'd sell it to a cash buyer within the first hour. If you list it for £10m you won't sell at all. Somewhere in between is a realistic price where it'll sell quickly without you (hopefully) having to give it away. Obviously the more you can do to make it appealing, the more interest you'll probably garner and therefore the quicker you'll sell/the more you'll sell for. If you don't have time to do anything and there are areas of disrepair etc then you'll need to adjust your financial expectations accordingly to achieve a quick sale.

It can be done, OP. First job is to get some estate agents round and impress upon them that you want to price for a quick sale.

I was idly perusing Rightmove the other night and the majority of houses I was looking at were messy. Lots were I think tenanted but yeah, no one there seemed to worry about putting listings up with airers covered in pants, sheets tacked across windows, piles of washing up in the sink etc. I was interested in floor plans and location, as will be most people when it comes down to it.

in your position I’d take the likely minimal impact on price and just get it listed with minimal photos and a good door plan. Cut yourself some slack and ignore the roof lagging / non opening windows etc.

Anything will sell at the right price. What you need is to understand what that is. I wouldn't worry too much about the tidying but work out what is the lowest you can afford to go. Get your agents in to value it as it is. And as them what they think. They will be able to advise and understand your local market better than us. And see whether or not it is worth paying someone to come in and clear it out for you. If not, put it on the market. If so, get someone in and then put on the market.

Developers, landlords and first time buyers will often take on things that other people wouldn't look at. And if you are lucky they may all be in a position to move quickly and complete the sale within 6 weeks.

@ExhaustedFlamingo bloody heck I was exhausted just reading all you have going on in a normal day! Adding in a house sale is even more pressure

what area are you in? There’s always people who are willing and able to buy property at a price that works for them and for the seller.

I don’t know that much but do have some property knowledge so may be able to suggest options. happy to try and help if you want to message me.

i agree with auction being your fastest and usually most secure route to a quick and sure sale.

Good luck!