sonictigger

We are almost ready to put the house on the market, we said we wouldn't do it until visa came through, but with houses staying unsold for so long these days, I though we might start it off a bit earlier.

Thing is, we are looking at these online sites, which seem detailed enough, but can you simply rely on the solicitor to do the jobs that the agent usually deals with....who chases the buyers solicitors etc.

Has anyone gone down this road and how was it?

funkybuddah

Hi,

My partner is a software developer and he actually developed one of these sites, which a friend of his runs. Stop Paying Estate Agents. Unfortunately the site he developed only covers areas in south east essex as the plan is to start small and expand. I hate these site which cover the country and have about 2 houses per county.

My friend sold his house privately and we tried selling ours privately but also had it up with an estate agent as well and sold it through them quicker. I can assure you that's it's really not that difficult or as daunting as people think. In fact considering the amount of money you can save by selling it privately I don't understand why more people don't try selling through both. Don't worry about the chasing up just keep talking to your solictor after all your paying them to do that. Estate agents only do it so that they can keep up to date with how the house sale is going and when they are going to get there commission.

Take a look at the how to and FAQ sections of his website which has info on how to sell your house privately.

Good luck and def try it you've nothing to lose selling through both.

C.Owen

Advertise in your local paper ...
Get a for sale board and stick it up in your front garden....
we did this prior to selling and got a lot interest, but weren't lucky enough to find someone in a position to buy !!! we had one very interested who definately wanted it when theirs sold ... nearly all had to sell their own first ... that was back in April this year, not sure how the market is now in th UK.

A couple of watch outs tho !!!
1. You don't know who might turn up and look around your house !!
2. People just come round being nosey !!
3. Most will like it ....but having sold their own or even put it on the market yet !!
Agents vet people or so they say and won't let them view until they are certain they at least have their property on the market or have a buyer and really only use the power of advertising or a mailing list to find a buyer.
Other than that they don't do much for the 1.5 + % they charge.

Good luck with the sale

Chris Mitchell

We've had several viewers and all have got the details from the internet!

We went with the agent but in our experience they act when we have prompted them and have caused some hassle with the buyers. think for us the agents have been the root of potential probs fortunately I know our buyer and we communicate regularly.

Good luck with whatever you decide

Chris

sonictigger

Hi Chris,

I know when we last moved we checked places out on the internet first. The sites we have looked at all seem really comprehensive. Wayne's comment, was if we can organise emmigrtaing to Australia, surely selling a pile of bricks shouldn't be that hard...at least the solicitor would earn their money and we could save about £3k which would come in really handy.
I'm going to get some agents around to give me some comments with view to listing with them and see if they class it as joint agency if we put it on the web and use an agent.

Hope your sale goes through ok...can't be long for you now surely??
Judith

Neil & Shell

We are in the process of selling our flat without the help of expensive estate agents.

We did ask 3 estate agents to give us a valuation in writing (we told them we were thinking about selling in the future) which we used as a guide price to show potential buyers. We also got quotes from solicitors for dealing with the important paperwork (about £400).

So far everything is going to plan, we dropped the price slightly for the buyer to commit (but considering we are not being charged 1.5% fees this was not a problem). Our solicitor has been chasing the buyers solicitors and vice versa as luckily both want a quick and easy sale!

Fingers crossed all goes through as we are due to complete in 2 weeks. We would be happier if we had the visa but agent advised it is coming soon :scared:

Good luck to all selling houses

Shell

peppi

I tried selling myself...and did get a few people round....some just turned up on the doorstep mind so you have no time for cleaning etc...In a boyant market when houses are flying off the shelf I recon I could have sold it myself...but after a couple or 3 months I caved in due to pressure of time scale and called in the estate agent...who has been a pain in the butt but they have sold the house...you will need to do the local rags ect...I found I had more enquiry from that sort of advert than the net..believe it or not there are still alot of people who dont use pc's much...all be it the first place I personally go for anything. Advertize everywhere you can and if you have time on your side Id say it cant hurt,but it may cost you a couple of hundred quid in the process
http://www.elmleaf.co.uk/ try this site as they put it on fish for homes and you get a web mail you can add to any private ads and they dont cost very much. you get a good ad with loads of fotos

wish you all the very best of luck...

Chris Mitchell

Hope not Judith,
still waiting for the registration from Sydney. House going thro' should complete in September so all systems go then

Chris

HEL

Hi,

My parents have recently sold their house via housenetwork. Felt it was better service than estate agents and saved a few grand in the process. Worth a look.

sonictigger

Thanks Hel, will have a look at the website, apparently most estate agents don't class the web as secondary agents, so it would be sole fee if it went wit the estate agents.