Selling your house for dummies

[Chocolatecupcake12]

Hi

I've never sold a house before. I've got estate agents coming next week to give me their valuations.
I'm having a massive declutter and tidy of the house.
I haven't got an epc assessment, so I think I need to look into getting this sorted
Will need to pick a conveyancer/solicitor once I've picked my estate agent.
Hoping to get it on the market early September as I've heard July and August are pretty dead periods for selling. This gives me a few extra weeks to get the house completely presentable for viewing and pictures. Will get new white towels and bedding
Can anyone give me a list of stuff I need to think about that I haven't already mentioned, a selling checklist for dummies if you will?

Don't get the EPC yourself, many estate agents will get this done & include it in the price. Be very wary of agents that charge you extra for photos etc. The fee is always negotiable and never any harm in asking for a better deal. Bear in mind that agents will over value in order to get the instruction then want to knock down the price after 2 weeks, this is usually accompanied by a long tie in period. A confident agent will work on the basis of 4 weeks notice.

When you meet the agent that sold a few doors down ask if there was anyone who lost out on it who might still be looking.

Agents usually get commission from solicitors & mortgage brokers for referrals, so bear that in mind, personal recommendations from people you know are usually best.

Good luck with your move!

Will hold off on getting the epc for now then thank you
Will turn down any referral offers,cause id rather pick my own instead of whichever one the estate agent gets a kick back from
I will ask about whether there is anyone who missed out on the other property, but wary they'll probably say yes even if there isn't 😂

A confident agent will work on the basis of 4 weeks notice.

Yes this. I definitely wouldn't tie yourself in for anything over 8 weeks. Tie in periods can be negotiated but if they're asking for a long one, that's a red flag in itself.

Very helpful to know I assumed it'd be 6 months or something as standard, so could've been done over there quite easily

Do you really think a 'no sale no fee' estate agent will agree to an eight week sole agency contract? Perhaps it varies on your area?

If you’ve had any work done on the house make sure you have certificates - eg we had solar panels put in and had to get a certificate from the company and then also a building officer guy had to give another certificate. I should really know who it was, but can’t for the life of me remember. But basically, anything you’ve changed / added you just need like building control certification etc.
I’d focus on bathrooms and kitchen to make them look as clean as possible. Clear away any personal items like shower gels, sponges.
toothbrushes etc. I wouldn’t bother with new towels as you don’t really want any on display. Try to clear as much of the counter space in the kitchen as possible, so it looks like there’s plenty of space.
I always think that fresh flowers are a nice extra touch - maybe some on the dining table in and some on the living room windowsill etc. Just makes the house look cared for.

Yes, I've never had longer than 8 weeks. Long sole agency is a really bad idea.

OP, you might find this channel helpful https://www.youtube.com/c/movinghomewithcharlie- lots of tips on choosing agents etc

If they are confident in their valuation and manage the vendor's expectations as to the state of the market & likely interest in the property, this shouldn't be a problem. If they are over valuing to get the instruction then they know they'll be having to have a difficult conversation in the near future!

I sold two houses last year and neither had fensa certificates. It didn't make any difference to the sales.

Look for independent estate agents in your area. We sold and bought using independents in our area last year and found them cheaper on fees, more flexible on viewing times and more proactive in getting sales completed. Use mortgage advisors and solicitors independent from the estate agent so that they are acting in your intetest and not because the estate agent is getting a commission for using them.

Fensa only started in 2002 so if windows are older than that don’t worry. It’s a tick box for the lawyers and it’s not something that I consider really.
Do not go with an online agent if tempted - I will not view a property that’s marketed by one.
Definitely make yourself scarce during viewings! I want to have a good poke around and be able to ask quite frank questions and if the owners are there it’s awkward.
Also forgot about pets. Can’t recall if you have any but take dogs out, make sure any bowls left out are spotless and if you have a litter box clean it out before each viewing! Ask a friend to tell you honestly if your house smells of animals.

Ah okay that makes sense with fensa dates.
The cats are moving to my partners house when the house is on the market with their litter trays and I'll be deep cleaning the house. Not a lot of carpet so a good steam clean. I generally keep on top of the cleaning anyway, because I don't like smelling a litter tray anymore than the next person 😂

Get a couple of those giant blue IKEA bags or a couple of crates and, before viewings, walk around the house and chuck any day to day items in there.
There’s a balance people not wanting to see your stuff and knowing that there is plenty of space - so have a couple of coats hanging wherever you hang your coats to show what a good space it is for coats but don’t have 20 of them shoved higgedly piggedly on each other and falling on the floor.

In the past I've found sold prices to not appear for some months. Where have you found to be the most up to date? Will estate agents usually just tell you?

Smart moves.

Had 3 estate agents come value the house

Agent 1 - independent estate agent charging 1% inc vat and about £150 for epc and id checks. On the smaller side but been around for many years. Pictures of other properties aren't to bad, not amazing. Feel slightly more old fashioned. Probably the most pleasant estate agent out of the 3

Agent 2- largest estate agent in the area, 1.2% fee then £210 for epc and photos. They have recently sold very similar property. Do not do virtual 360° tours. Annoyed me a bit when he made out like he was doing me a deal at the 1.2% fee, when I knew that was their maximum because I called ahead to check how much they could charge, the person on the phone said the maximum was 1.2% but sometimes they'll do it for less depending on type of house, price etc. when I pointed out it wasn't a deal just their standard max, he seemed on the defensive side

Agent 3 - didn't seem fussed about looking round the house properly. Spent a lot of time talking about things that weren't relevant, telling me how good their software is, telling me how good ai is, talking about onwards purchasing etc. on the plus side for them, they do 360° camera virtual tours which look good. They didn't actually give me a valuation and said they'd need to work it out and email me later. The person that came to do the valuation doesn't seem to be the person who knows this specific area that well and it would be another person dealing with it who I haven't met. They're charging slightly more than agent 2 but this seems negotiable

I think I now know how much I want to list for based off the first 2 agents valuations. Now I need to decide which agent to go with our of the 3 or maybe look for another one

All 3 have 12 week lock in period

Are any of them open on Sundays?

Agent 1 Monday - fri 9.30-5.30 Saturday 9-4
Agent 2 - mon- fri 8-8 sat 9-2. Sun 10-2
Agent 3 - mom-fri 9-5.30 sat-9-1.30 although suggested they might be able to do some outside these hours if needed

Make sure you're there when the photographer takes all the internal and external photos.

Remove all clutter in advance of their visit. kitchen and bathrooms in particular eg

• remove all toilet and cleaning products and most of your toiletries. Maybe a diffuser or a candle, that's it!
• remove TTowels, dish clothes, bowls and washing up products. all surfaces need to be a clear as possible, with a single item only eg a small plant or pottery bowl, if attractive. It needs to be uber tidy but not sterile.
• towels (some estate agents "don't do towels", which I think is a great policy, there is nothing worse for the look than towels and bath mats, just get rid!)
• Kids bath toys.

as the photographer walks round, get them to tell you if you need to remove or place certain items in a certain way. They have the expert eye on what looks aesthetic. Our photos came out beautifully because they paid attention to every detail in each room.

re "marketing costs" upfront - this tends to be the high end EAs. We declined an agent who wanted a "contribution" upfront, which effectively ties you in because you've paid them money. No thanks! We went with a different agent and they are doing a fabulous job for us.

I think it's very cheeky to charge for EPC, ID checks & photos! Why isn't that included in their fee? I would certainly query that & negotiate it. Incidentally here (London) an EPC is around £80 and ID checks cost the business no more than a tenner, & nothing at all if you take your ID to the office.

Check the notice period & when you can give it, is it 14 wks tie-in & then you have to give 4 wks notice so effectively 16 wks?

Do you have a local FB group? Might be worth looking to see who gets recommended, also check the google reviews.

Decided to just get the epc sorted myself as one of the estate agents charging an extra £30 than I could get it for. Then its done and out of the way.
Decided against going with agent 3. Now just deciding whether to go with the slightly cheaper independent estate agent or the biggest estate agent in the area

Price, Price, Price.

Sorry, do you mean just go with the cheapest estate agent?

Fair enough, have you checked the agents' reviews?

If you go for the 2nd agent tell them the business is theirs if they pay for the photos & do it for 1%. I'd be really surprised if they walked away from a solid instruction for .2% and the cost of a photographer!

Yes, both sets are reviews are fine.
Now I'm getting the epc done myself that brings the agents costs to-
Agent 1 - 1% + £30 Id check
Agent 2- 1.2% + £54 for professional photos

So if it sells for the expected value there's just over £500 difference to me between agent 1 and 2.