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Your Complete Guide to Selling Your Home

Posted 12 February 2018

Selling your home doesn’t need to be hard. Here’s your complete step-by-step guide to the house selling process...

Regardless of market conditions, selling your home can be a stressful and time-consuming process.

One way to ensure that your sale goes as smoothly as possible is to make sure you are fully prepared each step of the way.

To help you, we’ve put together an essential guide to selling your house. Keep reading for everything you need to know about the selling process.

Prepare your house for sale

Before you even get a local estate agent to value your home, it can pay to prepare your home for sale. There are lots of things that you can do to maximise both your chances of a sale and the sale price. You should:

  • Tidy, clean and de-clutter your home to make it appear spacious and welcoming to potential buyers.
  • Consider a lick of paint where necessary to make the rooms more appealing.
  • Tidy up your garden.
  • Clean thoroughly. Make sure the windows are clean and that you banish any smoke or pet smells.

Adding some finishing touches such as a hanging basket in the front garden or some cut flowers on the kitchen table can help to make a great first impression.

If you’re more ambitious, then there may be ways of significantly improving the value of your home through more through renovations. Would a loft conversion, double glazing or a new garden shed add significant value to your property?

Get a valuation

Once your home is ready for sale, it’s time to get a valuation. Always ask more than one estate agent to value your property and quiz them about why they think your home is worth the amount they are suggesting.

Some estate agents will put a higher price on your home to encourage you to use them. Be sure that you’re being given an honest and realistic valuation.

Decide how you’re going to sell your home

You can either sell your home using an estate agent, or you can sell privately.

Selling privately means you won’t pay an estate agency fee, but there may be other costs attached such as advertising and photography. Selling privately may suit some sellers but it can be a complicated and time-consuming process. You’ll be responsible for the marketing of your property as well as viewings and negotiations.

Most people choose to use an estate agent to sell their property. A local estate agent is likely to have a wide knowledge of your local area and experience in the buying and selling process.

The agent will deal with the marketing of your home, handle all the viewings and negotiations on your behalf, and aim to achieve the best possible price for your property. In return, you will typically pay a fee of between 0.75% to 2% of the property sale price.

Always ask yourself the following questions before appointing an agent.

  • Is your agent knowledgeable, punctual and polite?
  • Is your agent registered with a regulator such as the NAEA or GPEA?
  • Does the agent have an easy-to-use website, and are they featured on major property portals such as Rightmove or Zoopla?
  • Does your agent provide high-quality photography, floor plans or virtual tours?

Choose the right buyer

If you’re lucky, you may receive more than one offer for your house. Remember that you can sell the house to whichever buyer you like, and you are not obliged to sell it to the person who offers you the most money.

Factors you should consider when deciding on a buyer include:

  • Do they have a property to sell? If so, what’s the status of that property – is it sold already, and is there a chain?
  • Does the buyer want to move at the same speed as you? If you need to move quickly, can they do the same?
  • Is the buyer paying cash or do they need to arrange a mortgage?

The safest buyers are those who have already sold and completed, and are buying for cash. First-time buyers can also be a solid choice as they don’t have a property to sell (although your estate agent may want to make sure their mortgage is in place).

Negotiate the sale

If you have used an estate agent, then they will help you to negotiate the terms of the sale. If you’re selling privately, you will have to do this yourself.

You and the buyer will have to decide:

  • How quickly you want to exchange contracts and complete the sale.
  • What fixtures and fittings are included in the sale price.
  • Whether there are additional fixtures and fittings the buyer wants to include, and how much they will pay for them.
  • Whether the sale price changes as a result of the survey.

Manage the exchange and completion process

Once you have agreed a sale price with a buyer, your solicitor or conveyancer will become involved. This is a time-consuming process and so choosing a good conveyancer is crucial. When selecting a conveyancer:

  • Get several quotes from reputable companies.
  • Make sure your conveyancer can give you regular updates as to the progress of the sale.
  • Try and negotiate a no sale/no fee deal so if the purchase falls through you don’t pay anything.

Once you have chosen a conveyancer you will have to provide them with your ID and details of any mortgage you have on the property.

You will also have to complete a detailed questionnaire about the property. This questionnaire covers issues about the boundaries of the property, what services are provided and whether there have been any disputes with neighbours.

You will also have to complete a questionnaire about the fixtures and fittings in the property. This details what is included in the sale price.

You will help to speed up the process by ensuring that you provide any information that your solicitor/conveyancer requires straight away. Make sure you send documents back promptly or deliver them by hand.

Once contracts have been drawn up and agreed with the conveyancer operating on behalf of the buyer, a transfer deed will be prepared for the exchange.

When you exchange contracts with the buyer they become legally obliged to buy the property from you. If either of you pull out after this point you can be sued. Once contracts have been exchanged, you can set a completion date.


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