There a thousands of websites offering guides for home buyers, but hardly any provides information on how to sell a house. This lack of information is suprising, given that in the UK, there are pretty much just as many houses sold as are bought every year. If you have already bought a house, you will have gained some insight into property dealings, but the picture looks a bit different from the seller's perspective.
This comprehensive guide will help you perform a successful property sale.
Table of Contents
Before You Start
The Stages
When to Sell
*The Chain*
A Bit About the Costs Involved
Who Will Sell Your Home?
Three Factors to Consider / Selling through Estate Agents / Selling Privately / Selling at Auction
Valuation
Preparing Your House for Sale
Repairs / Clean & Tidy / Refurbishment / Outside Edge
Viewings
Weigh up the Buyers / What to Avoid / *The Chain* / Other Types of Buyers
Negotiations
Who Negotiates? / The Offers / Gazumping / Buyer Plus Points / Your Own Position / Just to Remind You / Offer Accepted
Conveyancing
What Has to Be Done? / What Will It Cost? / How to Find a Good Solicitor / You the Conveyancer
Before You Start
Before you start advertising your house in every property paper in the country, you should be sure that you really want to sell. Sit down and make up your mind - this can save you a lot of time and money. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Why do I want to sell? If you are selling because you would rather live a bit closer to work, but this would probably mean not to have a garden, are you prepared for the trade-off? Weigh up the advantages against the disadvantages and assess whether it is worth it.
- Can I afford to move? The costs of buying, selling and moving can amount to quite a lot. Make sure you actually have the necessary funds and would not make a vast financial loss.
- Can I handle the chain? If you are also looking to buy another house, keep in mind that co-ordination and timing are paramount. Plan your schedule carefully and take all eventualities.
- Do I have to pay redemption costs to my mortgage lender? If you withdraw from a mortgage before the date specified in the agreement, some lenders charge you an early redemption penalty. If the charge amounts to several thousand pounds, you might want to consider waiting a bit.
All this is not supposed to mean that selling a house is an unpleasant or highly risky thing to do. Although it involves work, it is less stressful than buying a house. And the fact that you get money instead of handing it over is quite a pleasant experience. But you should be sure that you want to sell, if only to avoid changing your mind midway through and wasting your time and money just as well as the buyer’s.
The Stages
This is an overview of the whole house-selling process:
1. Preparation
Decide how you want to sell your house. Privately, via en Estate Agent, or at auction?
Plan your budget.
Prepare your house for viewings. This entails cleaning, repairing, maybe even refurbishing.
2. Valuation and Marketing
Get a valuation
and set your asking price.
Attract potential buyers by creating publicity through advertising and spreading the word.
Arrange the viewings.
3. Negotiation
Field the offers and start the haggling (or let your Estate Agent do it)
4. Conveyancing
Get a solicitor to handle the legal and adminitrative aspects. Or, if you are brave enough, do it yourself.
When To Sell
You obviously want to sell your house when the market is strong and demand high. The property market works just like any other market: the higher demand, the higher the prices. Therefore, it is advisable that you keep an eye on the market and time your sale well.
Generally, demands tend to be higher in early and late summer than the rest of the year.
Other things to look out for are low interest rates. Few people are willing to take out a £150,000 mortgage when the Bank of England has just voiced intentions of raising rates by two percentage points.
Also, you should coordinate your sale with others in the neighbourhood. If there are already three houses for sale on your street, supply might be higher than demand in your neighbourhood and it might be better to wait a bit.
In order to time you property sale well, get an overview of the property market by following what properties similar to yours are selling for. Search online property transaction databases for sales in your area. The Land Registry holds the best database but searches are quite cost-intensive. Alternatively, try www.mouseprice.com for the same data at a lower price. You can also ask around at Estate Agents' to find out how much they sold properties for recently - they might be a bit reluctant to provide the data, though.
*The Chain*
If you not only selling your home, but also looking to buy a new one, we recommend that you put your house up for sale before you start looking for new properties. This way, you will be able to time the process much better because you will have an idea how quickly you can sell, and you will know how much you can afford for your new home.
A Bit About the Costs Involved
You should have a rough estimate of how much the whole selling process will cost you in order to plan your budget. This helps you adjust your financial priorities and prevents your from unpleasant surprises when the bills start coming in. Please keep in mind that these are only guidelines for estimates – how much you end up spending always depends on your individual circumstances.
- Costs of preparing your house for sale
It is eventually up to you how much you want to spend on getting your house ready for sale. If you are a DIY crack with all the necessary tools and materials at hand, you can end up spending very little money and a lot of time on repairs and polishing. If you are not, however, you will have to pay someone to do it for you. Make a list of things that have to be done and get quotes!
- Selling fees
Estate Agent fees : Agents normally charge a percentage-based commission – usually 2 – 3 %. This means that the higher the sales price of your home, the more money the Agent will earn.
Auction fees : Usually amount to 2% of the selling price. Check whether you will be charged separately for advertising and cataloguing. Keep in mind that you will have to pay the latter even if your house is not sold.
Private sale : You will usually incur some costs for marketing and advertising. The advantage is that these are one-off costs unrelated to your property’s sales price, so clear budgeting is easier.
- Conveyancing
Unless you are a legal expert with strong nerves, you will have to hire a solicitor for the legal and administrative aspects of the sale. Although your expenses will be lower than when you buy a house, solicitor fees are still not cheap. Expect to pay anything between £250 and £750.
Who Will Sell Your Home?
Three Factors to Consider
If you have already bought a house and dealt with an Estate Agent you would trust with your life, the question of who is going to sell your house might not even arise. Conversely, you might have made some extremely bad experience with an Estate Agent and told yourself "Never again!".
The ones who have not made up their mind yet, however, should consider the following three points before they make a decision regarding the method of selling your property.
Money
If it is your overriding priority to make as much money as possible out of the sale, you should definitely sell your house privately. This way you are in absolute control of marketing expenditures and do not have to pay any commission.
Time
If you need to sell your house as quickly as possible, go for the auction option. The sale will be completed within 28 days after the day of the auction, thus giving you a time scale guarantee the other options do not have.
Convenience
If you simply do not have the time or the will to bother with adverts, viewings and negotiations, while at the same time looking for a new property, handle three children and perform your daytime job, the best method for you is doubtlessly to instruct an Estate Agent. Although the most expensive way to sell a house, many people prefer to lean back and leave it to the professionals.
Selling through Estate Agents
Agents have fallen a bit into disrepute lately, due to some unfavourable news coverage. Unfortunately, there is no independent body regulating Estate Agents, and an Agent does not need any qualifications to practice his profession. The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), however, has undertaken to improve the profession’s reputation and introduced a Code of Practice. You should make sure that the Agent you choose is a member of the NAEA. For further details on the code go to www.naea.co.uk.
Leaving aside your personal opinions about Estate Agents, there is not doubt that there are black sheep in any profession. This does not alter the fact that instructing an Estate Agent can ease a property sale substantially for you. However, it is good to know follow some rules when dealing with Agents.
We have compiled a list with services Estate Agents provide for your, plus a few tips how to chose an Agent. Read about Estate Agents.
Furthermore, “Which?” magazine has a website with tips on how to deal with Estate Agents, and an overview of your legal rights. Click here .
Estate Agents’ Services
Estate Agents can perform the whole selling process from the beginning to the end for you. If, however, you do not just want to sit back and let the Agent handle the rest, you should make this clear from the outset. In order to maintain a good working relationship with your Estate Agent, it is important that you decide on how much you want to interfere, and let the Agent know about it.
- Suggest asking price
The first thing an Estate Agent will do is to suggest an asking price. Estate Agents' valuations are usually very intuitive and are not an independent valuation. There might be different motivations compromising an Agent's objectivity when suggesting an asking price. You should not take his suggestion at face value but get your own idea of how much your property is worth. Factors that play a role when setting the asking price are the time frame you want to sell your house in and the strength of the property market. Read the Chapter on Valuation below for further details.
Take your Agent’s suggestion into account, but do not rely solely on it!
- Presentation and Advertising
This is one of the key functions of an Estate Agent. Your Agent will take pictures of your house and compile a list of property details to put into a standard format for presentation.
Make sure to tell your Agent about all the plus points of the property that he might not notice in one visit. If your fireplace is made of the leftovers of a medieval castle, let him know! Furthermore, confirm that you can check the presentation materials and property description before they are being posted on listings and web sites.
The form the advertisements take vary from Agent to Agent, but most will list your property in their windows and brochures. Some also place ads in property magazines or local papers, while others have a website with property listings. Your Agent generally will make sure that the advert reaches the target audience.
- Arrange Viewings
If you want your Agent to arrange and perform the viewings, make this is clear from the outset, otherwise you can end up paying additional charges for this service. On the other hand, you might prefer to show potential buyers around your house yourself to point out all its advantages. Most Estate Agents are fairly flexible when it comes to who does the viewings.
- Negotiation
Estate Agents are negotiation professionals. Yet the same problem arises as with property valuations: an Agent’s motivations might compromise his performance. He might be more concerned about securing a quick sale and advise you to accept the first offer that comes along. Or he might be so keen on pushing up the price as high as possible as to scare away potential buyers with his negotiation techniques.
We generally recommend that you have a fairly good idea of how much you want to - and reasonably can - get for your house before setting the asking price, and not to diverge substantially from this estimate. For more information on how to valuate your house, see below.
If you are a hard-nosed haggler who has already beaten Tunisian cloth vendors and used-car dealers, you might want to prefer to take care of the negotiations yourself. There is nothing keeping you form it – only let your Estate Agent know!
The Cost
Typically, an Estate Agent will charge you between 2 and 3.5 percent of the sales price as a commission. However, Estate Agents’ fees are negotiable (if you can handle someone who negotiates for a living). One thing to keep in mind is that your Agent might make a lot of profit if you are selling a mansion, but a one-bedroom flat in a shabby building in outer Sheffield won’t pay for his children’s education. Consider this before you try to push him below 1.5 percent.
It is not recommendable to simply go for the Estate Agent with the lowest fee. Read the small print of the contract and make sure the amount and quality of advertising is sufficient!
An Agent’s commission is usually based on whether there is one or more Estate Agencies instructed with the sale. If the Estate Agent is the sole agency the commission will be lower than if you have a joint sole agency or a multiple agency agreement.
Do not forget that you will be charged a VAT of 17.5 percent of the Estate Agent’s commission. If you property is sold for £300,000 and your Agent charges 2.5 percent commission (£7,500), you will end up paying £1,312.50 of VAT!
The Contract
Some common sense advice: before you sign the contract, read the small print and negotiate any contentious terms.
You should make sure the time frame for the agreement is set properly; it does not usually exceed 3 months, after which you are free to switch Agent if you are dissatisfied. However, if you have a sole agency agreement, we recommend you push the term down a bit, to approximately 6 weeks.
Selling Privately
Before you become all enthusiastic at the thought of what you will buy with the 3 percent Estate Agent commission you are saving, consider the amount of work that a private sale involves. If you are also buying a new property, consider it again! This might well be one of the most stressful things you have done in your life!
If you are still up for it by now, read on. Here is a list of things you will have to do when you sell a house yourself.
- Set the asking price
This should not be the hardest part if you use our guide to property valuation.
- Let people know about your sale
There are various ways to generate publicity. The most obvious is the word-of-mouth approach, but you can also put adverts in newspapers and property magazines, place your house on internet property listings, and put up a fancy “For Sale” board. As anyone who knows anything about Marketing and PR can tell you: there are no limits to your creativity.
- Hold Viewings
Show people around your house and try to make it look as good as possible. The first impression is crucial in his case! But try not to sound like a salesperson – potential buyers might get suspicious if you are too enthusiastic. Read about viewings.
- Negotiate
A lot of money might be at stake, so you should be prepared for negotiations. If you want some insight into how buyers might approach negotiations, have a look at the Negotiation Tips in our “Guide to House Buying”.
Selling at Auction
Selling at auction is best for people who want to sell their house as quickly as possible. But remember to pack your bags in time – you will have to hand over the keys 28 days after the auction date.
Make sure you choose the right auction house. This involves picking an auctioneer who offers property similar to yours, in the same price range. Choosing an unsuitable auction house greatly diminishes your chances of getting a favourable deal on your house.
In order find out how to estimate the value and likely sales price of your property, have a look at our Property Valuation Guide. For professional valuations, consult the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (www.rics.org.uk).
The Costs
The auctioneer will charge you for the advertisement in brochures and catalogues, a cost that you will have to cover regardless of whether your property is sold or not. You will also have to pay a commission of around 2.5 percent of the sales price.
Before signing any agreement, find out about all the expenses you will have to cover, even if your house is not sold.
Proceedings
- Set the reserve price
The reserve price is the minimum you will get for your property. It should be based on your valuation; however, consult with the auctioneer before you set the price.
- Prepare a contract
Instruct our solicitor to prepare a contract which contains the terms and conditions of the sale; this will be included in the auctioneer’s brochure.
- Open your property for viewings
Potential buyers will want to have a look at your house, and some will even want their surveyors to inspect it. Be prepared for a lot of visitors in the near future!
- Completion
When the hammer falls, the sale is official and legally binding. The buyer will have to pay 10 percent of the agreed sales price straight away, the outstanding balance within 28 days after the auction. If he fails to do so, sue him!
Which properties to sell at auction
There are certain types of properties more suitable to be sold at auction than by normal means. These include
- Houses that would be hard to sell by traditional means, because they are in a very bad state of repair and need substantial investment. You might not get very far advertising the miserable leftovers of a former factory with your local Estate Agent.
- Repossessed houses; they usually need to be sold as quickly as possible to cover the former owner’s debts.
- Unconventional properties; they are difficult to valuate and often bought by aficionados for their distinctiveness. You can get a much higher price for a lighthouse in Cornwall selling it at auction than by putting an advert in your local paper.
- Properties that are in high demand; in the heat of an auction, the price paid for such properties can exceed their estimated market value substantially. If you have ever seen the bidding wars ensuing at art auctions, imagine what your East London penthouse might sell for!
The Disadvantages
You can never know how much your property will sell for. An auction is a highly volatile marketplace – if there is no demand on the day of your sale, you might end up selling it below its market value.
You will have to pay your solicitor to be present at the auction in order to sort out any last-minute irregularities and answer questions. Depending on how enthusiastic your solicitor is about travelling, this can be quite a costly affair.
Some people feel their privacy violated at auctions, since the properties for sale have to be open to all potential buyers and their surveyors in the weeks leading up to an auction.
Selling your house at auction can be more expensive than selling it via an Estate Agent. Also, you will have to cover certain expenses even if your property does not sell.
Valuation
No matter what method you choose for selling you home – always perform an independent property valuation first. This helps you estimate how much your house is worth and where to set the asking price. Only chartered surveyors carry out independent valuations. To get an overview of the services and prices of chartered surveyors, please visit our Guide to Chartered Surveyors. To find a chartered surveyor, please visit the website of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors at www.rics.org.uk.
It is a common misconception that Estate Agents value your property for you; they simply give you a very intuitive estimate of what they think your house is worth. Moreover, their estimates might be influenced by their motivations – they might set the asking price too high to secure your instruction or too low to secure a quick sale. Therefore we advise you to do your own valuation, or hire a chartered survetor, even if you sell your house through an Estate Agent.
Never set an asking price without having performed an independent property valuation!
It is perfectly possible for you to perform your own estimate of your house’s market value by comparing the prices similar properties in similar locations have sold for recently. We have compiled a guide to property valuations.
Preparing Your House for Sale
Before you start welcoming potential buyers for viewings, spend a bit of thought, time, and maybe even some money on polishing up your home. Although a clean bathroom or freshly painted kitchen ceiling do not increase the value of your house substantially, they improve the overall impression of your house and thus help to convince hesitant buyers.
Remember, the better your house looks, the more people will consider buying it, the more quickly you will get it sold and the higher the price you will eventually get for it. Sounds good, doesn’t it?
Repairs
Address any major and minor faults in the house, things that you actually wanted to do ages ago but just never got round to … Here are some examples of the repairs you should do before the viewings:
- Get rid of damp and dry rot
- Check that all the doors and windows open smoothly
- Fix the roof
- Replace dead light bulbs
- Fix dripping taps
- Mend loose or broken handles
- Check that all cupboards and drawers open and shut well
- Make sure your doorbell works
- Stick peeling bits of wallpaper back to the wall
- Fill small cracks with a thin layer of filler and sand them down
- Paint any dirty patches on the wall
Clean & Tidy
Tidy up your house and get rid of the accumulated junk of the past decades. This will make your place look much more spacious and facilitates the cleaning, too.
Doing a bit of cleaning before you show your place to others does not involve any costs, but is extremely effective. Potential buyers will feel much more comfortable in a tidy and well-groomed house. Make sure it smells and feels nice, too, The overall impression is crucial!
Especially the bathroom and kitchen should be clean and hygienic. Remove any lime scale and greasy remnants of past meals. Washing your carpets and curtains will do miracles to a house, and cleaning the windows is not a bad idea, either.
Refurbishments
The old wisdom that people will always want to redecorate after they have bought a house does not apply anymore. Nowadays, many people are too busy or too lazy to undertake any major revamping. You will be able to attract much more interests with a nicely done up property. Use natural, cream colours and refrain from eccentric design ideas.
A cost-effective way of getting the most out of your renovation is to play to the property’s strengths. Refurbish open fireplaces or ceiling ornaments. Emphasise large windows, high ceilings and wooden floors. Your house does not have to look like the model home in the last edition of a Conde Nast magazine, but some style will definitely help.
Outside Edge
The first thing a potential buyer will see of your house is its outside. Follow the same approach as inside and make sure everything is clean, tidy and in a good state of repair. This includes doing up your garden, stairs, front door, elevator and whatever else there is between the street and your front door. Make sure no rubbish is lying around and the neighbour’s dog has not used you front yard as a loo again.
Viewings
Now that your home is looking all fabulous, you can start showing it off, too.
Generally, the key to successful viewings is to present your house in the best light possible and act professionally. Here are some tips on what (and what not) to do:
- Look appropriate. Don’t greet potential buyers in your pyjamas or with a deep-cleansing facial mask – you might scare them away.
- Be polite. People prefer to buy from someone they get on well with, so be nice, offer them something to drink and smile!
- Don’t lose your temper. Even if someone makes an (in your opinion) inappropriate comment on the lovely pink curtains your aunt gave you for your wedding, try to remain cool and detached. If the buyers are well-informed, they will keep critical records of every house they visit; this is not a personal offence!
- Don’t cling to the viewers. Show them around, but leave them some space and time to themselves. They are probably choosing their future home, so don’t try to rush them.
- Answer their questions. Viewers will want to know about many things, so it is best to have a list with answers at hand.Buyers will want to know some of the following things:
- how many potential buyers have seen the place and / or made an offer;
- why you are selling;
- whether you have experienced any problems (e.g. theft) in the neighbourhood;
- what is being included in the sale (have a list ready!);
- how much utility bills amount to;
- how much you have paid for the property (if you have bought before April 2000 and they cannot find out this out via the internet)
When answering buyers' questions, be honest! You should not tell them that your house has been on the market for months now and that you have shown hundreds of people around – buyers will obviously get suspicious. But regarding all other questions, you have to tell the truth. First, because it is quite likely you will be found out and lose the sale; second, because if sellers start lying the blue out of the sky, the whole house-buying process will become a bit of a farce.
We live in a dangerous world, and although it is possible that all the people who come to look at your house are just lovely and nice, there are some rules to follow to guarantee your personal safety:
- Make sure you are not alone when you let people into your house;
- Don’t leave any valuables lying around openly ;
- Don’t leave viewers alone in a room for a long time;
- Don’t let people into your house on an ad hoc basis. If anyone rings your doorbell and wants to have a look around, take their details and arrange a date for a viewing.
Weigh Up the Buyers
This is your opportunity to get to know potential buyers and find out whether they are trustworthy, serious in their interest, and have the necessary cash at hand.
Things you should find out include:
- whether they have a mortgage agreement in principle yet and how much they can afford
- how many other properties they have seen and how many offers they have made (this helps you assess how serious they are in their interest)
- how quickly they want to move
Just as the buyers are keeping a record on your and your house, you should keep a record on them. This includes contact details, the answers to the questions above, and your personal impression. Keeping a record helps you make a decision once the offers start coming in.
What to Avoid
One general rule is never to make any promises if you are not 100 percent sure you can and want to keep them. No matter how sorry you feel for them, being only 25 years of age, with two children and working for minimum wage – this is a business, not a charity, and you did not get your house for free, so you probably do not want to give it away under value either.
Another rule, as mentioned above, is not to lie to them. Let’s introduce some Kantian ethics into this whole things – being dishonest when selling a house is simply not on.
*The Chain*
Buyers will want to know whether you have already found a new place to buy, and when you are expecting to move. It is important that you are completely accurate in you answers since have to rely on this – otherwise the whole chain can break down.
Just the same, you should find out at what stage they are in their property sale.
- The best types of buyers are the ones between homes, meaning they have sold their house already and are living in temporary accommodation. They are experienced and flexible in their timing.
- Buyers who have already put their house one the market have at least made the first step already, but neither you nor they can be sure when they will actually sell the place. If they are dependent on the sales money to buy a new place, you should be flexible in your timing.
- If the buyers have not put their house on the market yet but are dependent on the proceedings of the sale to purchase, you should not give them any serious consideration.
Other Types of Buyers
- First time buyers can be relatively easy to deal with. They usually have sorted out their mortgage and are not part of a chain. While they are usually honest in their interest, their budgets might quite tight, restraining negotiations.
- Buy-to-let investors are usually professional and efficient in their dealings and you should not have to worry about the money. However, they can be merciless and cold-blooded when it comes to the haggling part.
- Browsers are unpredictable since they have not made up their mind yet. Approach them carefully!
Negotiations
Two things to keep in mind:
A house sale is a process, not an act. And house prices are not fixed, but negotiable.
Who Negotiates?
As we already mentioned in the Estate Agent section above, you have instructed a professional to sell your house you can decide whether you want him to do the negotiations or do it yourself.
If the Estate Agent conducts the negotiations you are leaving it to a professional haggler. Most Agents will try to get as high a price as possible for you, but his efforts may be compromised by the fact that he wants to sell the property as quickly as possible – a high turnover is more profitable for him than a marginally higher sales price. Make sure you keep all lines of communication open and discuss every move with him – at the end of the day, it is your house we are talking about.
If you conduct the negotiations you should know that the initial offer is usually 5 to 10 percent below your asking price. These are the rules of the game, and buyers expect you to know this and to have set the asking price artificially high.
A negotiation involves two parties: do not make too many concessions without getting something in return. If the buyer and the seller eventually meet in the middle, it should be because both have budged a bit.
One thing to remember: you are the seller. You can decide who to sell to or not. You are naturally in the stronger position.
The Offers
As mentioned above, initial offers are usually 5 to 10 percent below your asking price in expectation of negotiations. There is nor need to accept or reject an offer straight away; find out the buyer's position first by engaging him in some bargaining.
You do not have to inform the buyer about any decisions you have made straight away. It is perfectly normal for a seller to take a day or two to think things over and then let the buyer know.
It is not a good idea to simply go for the highest offer you receive – there are other important factors to keep in mind when deciding who to sell you house to (see below).
Gazumping
Even when you accept an offer, it is not legally binding until contracts are exchanged. However, if you intend to change your mind as soon as a higher offer comes along, you should tell the buyer so before accepting his offer. Although (unfortunately) not illegal, it is not good practice to simply drop the buyer after he paid for legal and administrative expenses - especially for first-time buyers this can pose substantial financial problems.
Buyer Plus Points
When deciding who to sell your house to, there are several factors you should take into consideration:
- High offers. I don' think I need to expand.
- Agreement in principle . This is a mortgage guarantee issued by the lender; it assures you that the buyer actually has the necessary funds to buy your house.
- The chain . If buyers rely on the proceedings from a sale this poses a disadvantage to you, since one fault in the chain can cause a breakdown and upset you entire time scale. Buyers to look out for are first-time buyers, buy-to-let investors, cash buyers and buyers between homes.
Your Own Position
Your own negotiating position is influenced mainly by the number of offers you have received. It all boils down to the simple interplay between supply and demand. The more potential buyers, the more likely that you can play them off against each other or even trigger a bidding war. Your negotiating position depends on:
- Level of interest. To repeat: the higher the demand, the higher the price you get for your property. The level of interest is the single most important factor influencing your position. This is why we recommend to sell in early or late summer, when demand is usually highest. But if you have a good property, there will be many potential buyers irrespective of the season.
- Strength of the market. When interest rates are low and the neighbourhood you live in is becoming more expensive due to recent developments, you will be able to negotiate a much higher price. To get an overview of the condition of the property market in your area, check out the prices of properties sold recently. This can be done easily via internet property transaction databases.
- Time pressure. If you need to sell your property quickly, because you need the proceeds to buy a new house or for whatever other reason, your position is obviously weakened. In the case, considerations such as the type of seller (i.e. him not being part of a chain) are more important than the amount of money they offer.
- State of your property. If your property is in a bad condition, interest will obviously be lower. It is not advisable to wait for too long, since the longer the property is on the market, the lower the price you will get for it. Therefore you will have to be a bit more flexible when considering offers.
Just to remind you …
Do not, never, ever, take risks like exchanging contracts on a new home without having sold your old one! If the buyer pulls out last minute, you are left in the highly awkward position of having to scrap together a couple of 100,000 pounds within about a week. This is a situation good for screenplays, but not that entertaining when it is actually you who has to worry about losing a finger for each day you cannot pay …
Another thing to keep in mind is not to let any personal issues get in the way of a successful, profitable sale. No matter how much you dislike the people who are about to buy you beloved home, if they are cash buyers and offer you a high price, it would be stupid to let this transaction fail.
Offer Accepted
For good impression, send a letter of confirmation to both the buyer and the Estate Agent once the sale has been agreed. Spell out all the details, dates agreed for exchange of contracts and completion, and attach a list of the items to be included in the sale.
Although this is not a binding document, it gives the whole process an official and professional touch and helps to eliminate any doubts.
Conveyancing
The whole legal and administrative process is probably the main reason why property purchases take such a long time. But until the Government launches its e-conveyancing pilot scheme in 2005/6, you will have to deal with the traditional, time-consuming conveyancing process. For details on the new e-conveyancing scheme, please visit the Land Registry website.
Although as a house seller there are less administrative issues you have to bother about, it is still recommended that you hire a professional solicitor or conveyancer. The legal aspect is highly important, and you should not run the risk of inaccuracies that might cost you dear later on.
Since conveyancing takes on average 2 to 3 months, it is safe to get a solicitor as soon as you decide to sell your house. It will not cost you any more to instruct him early, so you can avoid serious delays by getting him to set up legal documents like the contract when you start advertising.
What has to be done?
The solicitor will come into action as soon as the sale has been agreed. Make sure to keep in close touch with him in during the process; this way you can put some pressure on him to hurry up!
Sale agreement. The solicitors will exchange contact details and letters specifying the particulars of the sale.
Title deeds. Your solicitor will have to obtain the property title deeds for the lender. They will be sent back to your solicitor at a later stage.
Property information form. List of all the details to be included in the draft contract. Have to be checked and approved both by you and the buyer’s solicitor.
Answer buyer inquiries. The buyer’s solicitor will send a list with questions concerning property details, tenure, utilities, items to be included in the sale etc. to your solicitor. This should erase any ambiguities as early as possible.
Draft contract. Your solicitor might have done this as soon as you instructed him. This is not a standard contract and will probably be changed quite a lot before you sign it. The draft consists of two parts: The Particulars of Sale spell out property details and items to be included in the sale. The Conditions of Sale concern the proposed completion date and deposit required on exchange of contracts.
As soon as the title deeds are returned, your solicitor will send the draft contract to the buyer’s solicitor.
When the completion date and the terms of the draft contract have been agreed by the solicitors, it will be sent to you for approval. As soon as approved, the standard contracts will be set up and sent to you for signature.
Sign contract. After signing it, send the contract back to your solicitor. Remember that until contracts have been exchanged, the whole thing is not legally binding!
Exchange of contracts. Now there is no way back. Each party signs all the contracts and sends them back. It is done.
Receive deposit. You will now receive the buyer’s deposit, if there is one.
Transfer of money. The buyer’s mortgage lender will send the money to your solicitor by electronic transfer.
Transfer of deeds. Now you are no longer the owner of the house.
What will it cost?
Solicitors either charge a fixed fee (usually between £250 and £750), or a percentage of your house’s sales price (usually 1%). Make sure you get some quotes before choosing a solicitor and to agree on his fee, in written form, before instruction.
The good thing about selling a property is that there are virtually no expenses that you have to cover for local authority searches, stamp duties and the like. All you will have to pay is a £8 Land Registry fee.
How to find a good solicitor
It is generally advisable to hire a solicitor on recommendation. Talk to friends, family, or even your Estate Agent, someone will have dealt with a solicitor before ad know who to trust. The family solicitor is usually the best choice.
Another factor to take into account when choosing a solicitor is the cost. This does not mean that you should go for the cheapest quote you get, but that you stay within your means. There may be different reasons why one solicitor is cheaper than another, so find out about the service they provide. Also, it is important that you get on well with your solicitor, so have a chat and see what they are like.
Make sure your solicitor is a member of one of the following organisations. They can also help you to find a good solicitor for your purposes:
The Law Society
113 Chancery Lane , London WC2A 1PL
Tel: 0870 606 6575
www.lawsoc.org.uk
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers
16 Globe Road , Chelmsford CM1 1QG
Tel: 01245 349599
www.conveyancer.org.uk
The Law Society’s Office for the Supervision of Solicitor’s also deals with complaints about solicitors and conveyancers.
You the Conveyancer
If you decide that you prefer to save a couple hundred pounds and do the conveyancing yourself, read the steps above to get an idea of what has to be done. Nevertheless, we recommend that you get hold of some preparatory literature and get acquainted with the legal jargon – this can speed things up a lot and help you avoid any mistakes.
Make a plan, be prepared, check and double-check, have someone else to check again … and with a bit of luck you should be OK.
We hope you get a good deal!