When we put our homes on the market, we’re met with a mountain of administration to tackle, estate agents to wrestle with and a never-ending cycle of anticipation, offers and fall-throughs. But what if you could speed up the process? And what if you could do so without losing money? It’s certainly possible…
The majority of us sell our homes using estate agents. However, estate agents can cost sellers a lot of money, charging anything from 0.75% to 3.0% of the agreed selling price, plus VAT. So, using the national average charge, selling a £250k home could result in you owing an average fee of £5,400 – all going directly into your estate agent’s pocket.
But, is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. A good estate agent with strong local knowledge, effective communication skills and an ability to negotiate could mean that their fee is money well spent. But, sadly, that’s not true for everyone. Many sellers report feeling dissatisfied with their estate agent’s services, finding that communication often breaks down and that their processes are frustrating. If you feel this way or want to avoid the cost of using a traditional estate agent, there are a number of other routes you could can go down to sell your house fast without losing money…
Using an online estate agent
Firstly, new homes, old homes, small homes, flats (or any other home for that matter), can be listed on sites such as House Simple, an online estate agent. Due to the fact that online providers like this have fewer overheads than traditional agents, they tend to charge much smaller fees. They’re also able to tap into a huge number of potential buyers, promoting your property across a large marketing network including sites such as Rightmove and Zoopla.
If you’re happy to show potential buyers around your home yourself, and are able to answer questions directly rather than relying on an agent as a middle man, you might be able to sell your house fast, and at a high price. House Simple currently helps sellers achieve 99% of their asking price and find that properties listed through their services take an average of 25 days to sell. Just be sure to research this option thoroughly by reading the small print and using a reputable online vendor – not all online agents are professional or able to secure you a good price.
Becoming a DIY agent
Alternatively, you could sell your house quickly and cheaply by acting as your own estate agent. Use your local knowledge and take advantage of advertising, social media and word of mouth, photographing your home professionally and listing it on websites like Tepilo or Gumtree before showing prospective buyers around your property. It’s a more labour-intensive option than hiring an estate agent and involves lots of administration and paperwork, and requires excellent negotiation skills… but if you’re good at it, you’ll have full control over the speed of a sale and will be able to save yourself lots of money.