Can I still use an estate agent if I am selling my home privately?

Can I still use an estate agent if I am selling my home privately?

Anthea Masey (Private Sales Expert) gives expert video advice on: Why do I need an estate agent to sell my home?; How much work is selling my home privately? and more...

When it comes to private sales, you can still use an estate agent if you're selling your house privately. It is extremely important if you decided to go down this route that you check the contract you sign with your estate agent. Some estate agents will insist that you pay that fee even if you sell your house privately. What you need to look out for in the contract is the words "soul selling rights", if you find that you should either strike it out, or talk to your estate agent and explain to them what you are doing and saying you will not be paying their fees. I would advise people that if they are selling privately by not mudding the waters by also appointing an estate agent. Quite often what sellers find is that if they put up a ‘for sale' board up, you will find lots of estate agents coming knocking on your door saying they have eager buyers waiting on your house. In which case this is there is no point in turning them away, tell them to bring the buyer around and at the same time negotiate so that if the buyer buys the house, you don't pay the full commission. This is because the estate agent did no work, you put the for sale board up yourself. So, really, my advice is if you want to sell, sell privately and don't appoint an estate agent. After all, you have absolutely nothing to loose. If you don't sell the house privately you can turn around and appoint an estate agent later on.