Private Sales Explained
Why do I need an estate agent to sell my home?
With private house sales, you don't need an estate agent to sell your home. It's perfectly possible to sell your home privately. A lot of people think that you are obliged to use an estate agent, or even legally required to use an estate agent. This isn't the case. You're absolutely free to sell your house privately, on your own, without an estate agent.
What does an estate agent do?
When it comes to selling your house, an estate agent does many things during the selling process. The estate agent begins by valuing your property; they then prepare the property details, including dimensions of the rooms, photographs, and possibly a floor plan. Estate agents then go on to work out a marketing strategy with you, which will include local advertising in newspapers, advertising in their shop windows and any other local branches the estate agents have. Estate agents will also then organize the viewings, sometimes they will get you to do the viewings but other times they will come round themselves and do the viewings if you are out. Finally, estate agents will negotiate with buyers and hopefully get you the best possible price for your house.
What are the benefits of selling my home privately?
The main benefit of selling your home privately is that you will save the estate agent's fee, and this can be a considerable saving, because the estate agent's fee is the largest single component in your bill for selling your house. Most estate agents charge between one and a half and two and a quarter percent. So if you're selling a house of around £200,000, which is just about the average house price these days, the minimum commission plus VAT will be about two and a half thousand. The maximum will be about £3,250. If you have a much more expensive house, and after all, family houses in a nice sort of suburb of London like Onesworth start at around £650,000, the amount of commission you're paying will vary between about £12,000 and £17,000. So there are really significant savings to be made by trying to sell your house privately.
What are the disadvantages of selling my home privately?
With private sales, the disadvantages of selling your home privately are that you miss out on the expertise of the estate agent and their marketing muscle. However, I sometimes think these advantages of an estate agent can be overrated.
What can go wrong when selling my home privately?
The main thing that can go wrong when you're selling your house privately is that you might sell it for less than it's worth. But I think if you're very careful about how you market your house and do your research properly to begin with, this really shouldn't be a problem.
How much work is selling my home privately?
When it comes to private house sales, I don't think you should underestimate how much work it takes to sell your house privately. You do need a sort of little bit of flair, but there is plenty of help out there, plenty of sources of advice, so I wouldn't let that put you off selling your home privately.
Can I still use an estate agent if I am selling my home privately?
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.
