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 got any idea what is involved in renting out? The legal and practical requirements, the standards that need to be in place. OP hasnt got the head space or time to manage a move let alone doing all that

These we buy any house type places don’t offer 90%, they will offer you 60/70%. Even if that is an easy option for you, you will still need to clear the house before they take the keys.

and don’t rent it out as someone above said. If you’ve not got the funds to get help clearing the house, you ardently likely to have the upfront costs to have the house ready for tenants.

OP you are utterly fantasic and don't ever forget it.

I had to clear very quickly the house belonging to my deceased elderly mother. I found professional cleaning companies enormously sympathetic and very, very helpful. And not at all expennsive, considering what they achieved per hour. Have you perhaps thought of contacting them? (I don't mean house clearance companies - they are something very different, and often not good.)

If the house is basically sound and is in a good position, it will sell regardless of condition. We bought a house 3 years ago because we liked the location, and have spent a lot of time and money siunce then getting rid of the cheap and nasty fixes that our sellers put in place to try and sell it. We would SO MUCH have preferred it if they had left it alone, cluttered or otherwise.

Best of luck.

We sold to Quick Move Now a few years ago and we had no issues with them at all.
I would have thought selling via auction would be a quick and easy process???

I'm really sorry to hear about all the challenges you have; it sounds very stressful.

If you want to sell the house quickly, can you afford pay some professional de-clutterers so that it looks less messy and full?
You then need to communicate to potential EAs that you are looking for a rapid sale and will not choose an agent for suggesting the highest price but for the one who markets well and is energetic and efficient at seeing the sale through to completion. You need to choose a buyer who seems super motivated. Then you need to move rapidly with everything yourself. Good luck!

Why don't you move into the new house asap, fully empty current house and then sell it empty? There's probably only a few weeks of delays if you can afford to bridge that gap

As PP have said, price it to sell, and don't worry about tidying, DIY etc. The houses in our area usually sell for about £1.1m, but a friend of mine needed a sell quickly so marketed at £950k and people were biting her hand off for it.

Get an agent in, explain it won't be tidied. Only do viewing once a week and all go out whilst it's happening. Price a little lower.

@bellac11 I do actually (now that you happen to ask) and yes, it would still require some upgrading of the property but in my opinion is less effort than selling using the conventional route. Particularly if fully-managed by an agent.

Though I have never sold via auction or via a third party 'quick sale' type company so that may be a better option.

I sold at auction earlier this year, it was online with a fixed date for ending (like eBay but for houses). I set a minimum price which is kept secret from buyers and had to pay for the legal pack upfront approx £400. After that it was simple, if someone bids over the minimum they are legally required to buy the house. It was all sorted within a week of the auction closing.
I do think this would be a great way for you OP

If your DP is out of action work wise can they at least call the estate agents, get the quotes and deal with the admin side of things? Would save you some of the stress at least.

If you don't mind me asking, how did the price compare to the open market and how long did it take start to finish?

We sold at 87% of the market value. It was worth it to us because the house needed work doing, new boiler, some damp issues and we had noisy neighbours that I knew would cause issues!. Plus we had no solicitor or estate agent fees to pay.
They worked to our timescales, (we purchased a new build that kept getting delayed). Their solicitors were really efficient, all paperwork contracts etc were sent by courier. On completion day the money was in our account by 9.30am.
I know there are all sorts of horror stories out there but my experience was a good one.

@Ilikewinter that sounds like it worked out really well for you. 87% is much higher than I thought these companies bought at. Good option definitely, given your circumstances. Thanks for replying.

Ive just had a quick look on their website and they say they are paying out 82-85% average at the minute, we sold pre covid and the massive house price boom though. What ever you decide good luck 🤞🤞

What about one of these 'we buy any house' companies? They don't pay full price but not ridiculously low (from my experience 4yrs ago).

Less effort, you must be joking

It will require all the electrics and the boiler to be assessed and got to (which wont be easy if theres lots of stuff in the way), as with most houses which are family homes which havent had a lot of attention them (and I include my own there), the flooring wont be good standard, decor not good standard, windows might be rattly, kerb appeal poor, heating not up to scratch. (for rental)

A massive headach if you were thinking of renting something like that out

OP, hire a skip and call three estate agents. Get them to price it for a quick sale. Let them then do the work. Or skip the skip! It doesn't matter if it looks lived in. I don't see the added value of an auction right now.

What a hell of a lot on your plate right now.

@bellac11 - less effort in my opinion, yes. Some of those things you mention are required for sale regardless (boiler service for example) and you really don't need new floors / decoration throughout for the rental market if they are currently liveable. I took it that the OP's main issue was clutter rather than the habitable state of the property.

I speak as a landlord so maybe that is clouding my judgement on the difficulty.

Renting out is not an easy option, especially in the UK where there are complicated legalities involved. If you're going into it as a business, sure, but in the OP's situation where she is more than overloaded already it could be a massive and expensive headache.

If you are going to move anyway, why not just keep the bare minimum at home and get the movers in to shift the rest to the new house. By minimum, I mean a suitcase full each.

Then you have a better home to show for auction. Or viewers. However you plan to sell

I remember when I first bought, every house had a caravan on the front drive, jam packed with house contents. 😁

But nothing's going to move until you speak to estate agents.

Hello all, finally managed to get my arse back here - sorry about the delay in replying.

Thank you so much to those who have been so kind. Sorry, can't remember the names to tag but it's so very much appreciated. Really and truly.

I know I bang on a bit so I'll try and answer things succinctly:

• I'm absolutely skint right now - so no money for cleaners, tradesmen etc. It sucks, but it is what it is.
• When the sale of this goes through, I'll have the equity so I can take a week off work to pack. Plus new expenses are significantly lower - the mortgage on this place is a killer!
• There is a little bit of clutter that can be chucked out but it's mainly stuff that we want to keep for the new house. There's just too much for it to look tidy here but it's not junk! I was ruthless in clearing out last summer.
• No bastard in this house manages to keep things tidy. Partly because there's not a "place" for all of the things so that can be tricky. When there is a defined place, DC are much better at being tidy. DP is just a messy bastard.
• Can't move into new house until probably mid-Feb - that's when the extension/annexe shell will be built and liveable.
• Need most of the equity from this house to do some major work on the new house - flooring, two kitchens, and two bathrooms plus sort the heating out.
• See point above - could therefore do with not waiting too long before the money from this house is available.
• Most of the DIY stuff is "tidying" type work - painting, replastering part of the ceiling, fitting a new panel to the bath etc
• BUT! There are a few concerns ie/ the ripped-up loft lagging from aforementioned bastard squirrels and any damp up there, some mould in the bathroom (which I will scrub off again but presumably means the room is damp) and a knackered conservatory (put up before I moved in and was knackered then!), plus two windows which have inexplicably just jammed and won't open. Structurally sound.

That wasn't very succinct, was it?! 🤦🏻‍♀️

I know people sell houses every day and I'm very, very aware that I'm sounding all dramatic and ridiculous, but the idea of going through another 3-4 months of selling, re-negotiation when the survey is done, biting fingernails dreading them pulling out etc makes my heart sink. Buying the new house and selling DM's house last year was a nightmare and now with everything else on top re money worries and DP not being well, I would do anything to not go through it again.

With the auction route, I'll have to find £500 for the legal pack (which I categorically can't do right now) and then it still might not sell? When I said auctions were a faff, I thought that everyone had lots of viewings pre-auction but that might not actually be the case.

The complicating factor is autistic DC - they hate anyone in the house. I mean, there's no getting around it but if I can minimise people traipsing round here, it really would help me no end. Both want to move desperately but both are very, very anxious about it and all that's involved. It's causing lots of extra issues. I'm anxious about the change too but trying not to show it. The joys of neurodivergence!

God, this is such a long post. I'm really sorry. Medal to anyone who reads it.

Anyway. I think you all have given me the answers that I need. There's no way round it really - I just need to grit my teeth and- somehow! - get my arse in gear. I'll just tidy up the bits that I can in the very limited time that I have in the next two weeks and then ask the EA to market it. Will ask them if it's possible to find someone who can move fast, even if we have to discount the price. I'm not worried about accepting a lower offer if needed.

Just to give some context about how little time I have - it's 3am and I haven't had the chance to do myself any dinner yet. DP has been in bed sleeping all day and night. DD has been up and down constantly with anxiety, I've not been able to settle her. DS was running around at 1am hooting at something and then I couldn't get him back in bed for ages. I've got work deadlines that I'm running late with. Honestly, I have no idea how I do this. Or even keep going tbh. Never mind. It will work out one way or another I guess!

Thank you again all. Your time and thoughts are appreciated.

I’m your shoes I’d get the house valued by 3 estate agents, go for a lower quote and stick it on the market as it is. No decluttering or tidying.

Take the kids to the park when the estate agent does viewings. If the house is priced low it will be snapped up. You can state that you’re only interested in fast sales.

I’d forget the DIY and repairs. Sell it as it is - tell several estate agents exactly what you’ve told us here. They will pro e it accordingly. The quickest way to sell a house is to get the price right. They will do that- I don’t think you’re in a position to maximise its value here and sounds like you just need out!!

can you move out and then sell it? This would at least mean it’s clear so not cluttered.. it might mean you get some more money for it maybe. An estate agent will be able to tell you.

another thought; could you rent it out?? Would that help you financially long term.

You sound like superwoman. Take my hat off to you @ExhaustedFlamingo . Best of luck xxxx