Looking for a guide to selling your house, then take a look at this post where you can find out more tips.
When it comes to selling your home, it might seem like all you need to do is contact an
estate agent, and try to pick local ones that focus on their own areas like Estate Agents Southsea and wait for the offers to come flooding in (you hope!). However, the process of
selling can be protracted and at times less straightforward than you would like, particularly if
you find yourself in a chain.
*Collaborative Post
To make the sale process as painless as possible, follow our 10-step guide below and try to
give yourself extra time at each stage for those unforeseen delays which can often creep in,
especially in today’s volatile housing market which is still experiencing a pandemic backlog.
1) Decide if selling is the right option for you
Making the deciding to sell your home is a big decision and not something you should rush
into, particularly since average moving costs have now hit a pricey £12,000.
Are you moving to gain more space for instance? Perhaps extending your current home
makes more financial sense and will give you the extra room you need. Contact the local
planning authority to see if what you have in mind would be feasible.
If you are selling because you need to relocate for work or personal reasons, it may be that
renting out your property is the more prudent option just in case your circumstances change
again.
As an alternative to downsizing, perhaps you could remortgage or release equity to free up
some capital.
2) Work out your finances
In addition to moving costs, you will also need to consider your overall finances before you
sell your home.
For instance, you will need to know what your house is currently worth. Once you know this,
you can work out whether this will cover the cost of repaying your mortgage, or if you will
have the necessary capital to purchase your next property, particularly if you are up-sizing to
a costlier property.
You will also need to review your current mortgage agreement to see if you are liable for any
early repayment fees and discuss remortgaging options with your lender since you may be
able to move to a better rate if you can take the current mortgage with you when you move
(known as porting). If you cannot do this, you may also need to find a new mortgage lender
and source a new mortgage.
3) Choose an estate agent
An estate agent will not only have their own pool of prospective buyers, but they will also be
able to list you on property portals Rightmove and Zoopla who do not take property listings
from individual vendors. You need to be looking for the best real estate company, like eXP Realty, that has today’s best overall home search option to get your home seen by as many people as possible.
When it comes to choosing an estate agent, you can go by word-of-mouth recommendations
or research online stats for agents you are interested in. You also have the option to choose
a local high street agent or an online agent. Using an online agent such as Purple Bricks,
Yopa, Doorsteps or Switch can save you a considerable amount of money, however, you
may need to undertake some of the work yourself – such as compiling photographs, text and
floorplans for the advert and hosting viewings – to get the best fee.
Before committing to an agent, it’s also worth reading expert insights from Goldwyn Knight to better understand current property trends, buyer behaviour, and ways to maximise your home’s value before listing.
4) Decide on the asking price
Whilst there are many free instant valuation tools available online, to get the most accurate
valuation and set your asking price accordingly, you will need an in-person valuation from
someone who is knowledgeable about the local property market and what buyers are looking
for.
Always ask at least three agents to view your property, provide a valuation and run through
the services they offer with you. Make sure you do your homework and don’t just go for the
agent who gives you the highest valuation price. If the agent in question has a higher
commission rate you may actually end up taking home less of the profits from your house
sale than you expect. It is also not unheard of for agents to inflate an asking price to get your
custom and this could mean your property hanging around on the market unnecessarily if it
is not competitively priced.
5) Prepare your home for sale
You are likely to be aware of any little jobs and maintenance issues that need attention in
your home but take the opportunity to ask the valuers for their opinion on the top priorities to
help you reach the best asking price.
Kerb appeal is always important, so make sure your front garden and drive are neat and tidy
and the front door and windows are sparkling clean. If there are big, costly jobs which need
doing such as installing a new kitchen or bathroom, it probably makes sense to leave this to
the new owner as you are unlikely to recoup the cost of the work and they will have their own
personal taste anyway. Just make sure everything is scrupulously clean and perhaps invest
in brand new bathmats, towels and other room dressings to show the rooms to their best
advantage. You also need to make sure any clutter is dispensed with. If necessary, you can
always put surplus items into storage, or just be a bit ruthless with your decluttering!
By law, you are also required to provide an up to date Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
which is dated within the last 10 years to prospective buyers – or tenants if you are renting
out your home.
If you bought your home within the last 10 years, there may still be a valid EPC in place for
the property. You can check the status of your EPC at the Ministry of Housing, Communities
and Local Government website.
Most estate agents will be able to direct you to an EPC assessor and the inspection and
certificate will cost around £75-£120. Alternatively, you can find your own accredited
assessor here: https://www.gov.uk/find-an-energy-assessor
6) Hire a solicitor or conveyancer
You will also need to find a solicitor or conveyancer to undertake the legal aspect of your
house sale, which can cost anywhere from £800 – £1,5000. Whilst a conveyancer may be
marginally cheaper than a solicitor, they will not have the same expertise about other areas
of the law which may factor into your property sale such as tax and family law.
Ideally, you would have already started looking for a legal professional once you decided to
put your home on the market, although you would not usually formally instruct them to
proceed until you have received an acceptable offer on your property.
Word of mouth recommendations are always useful, and your estate agent may also have a
list of solicitors and conveyancers that they work with regularly, although you make be
subject to a referral fee.
Visit the Law Society and Council for Licensed Conveyancers websites to find a regulated
professional in your area.
7) Accept an offer on your property
Your estate agent will let you know about any offers which your property receives, even if
they are below the asking price and you are likely to reject them straight away.
Remember that most buyers will start at the lowest price they think they can get away with,
so don’t be shy to ask your agent to go back with a counteroffer.
When it comes to accepting an offer, it may be more prudent to accept an offer from
someone who is chain free such as a first-time or cash buyer even if you receive higher
offers elsewhere. If a buyer is in a chain or they haven’t put their own home on the market
yet and the purchase is dependent on their sale, then this will mean the sale will take a lot
longer and is more likely to fall through.
Once you have received an offer that is acceptable to you, you will need to formally confirm
that you accept it, however, the offer is not legally binding until you exchange contracts. You
can also keep the property on the market listed as sold subject to contract (SSTC) if you
wish to and the buyer hasn’t requested that it is removed, although accepting a higher offer
at a much later stage when the buyer may have invested in a survey and other expenses will
not make you very popular!
8) Negotiate and exchange contracts
Once you have accepted an offer you will need to agree with the buyer what fixtures and
fittings you will include in the sale, any deductions as a result of the buyer’s survey and a
the mutually convenient timeframe between exchanging contracts and the completion date.
At this stage, you will also need to complete the relevant paperwork to provide the buyer with
all of the information they need about your property and answer any questions they or their
solicitor has.
Once you exchange contracts the sale is legally binding, and the buyer will pay their deposit.
If you were to pull out of the sale at this stage the buyer is within their rights to sue you for
breach of contract and if they pull out, you would be able to keep their deposit.
9) Arrange your move and move out of the property
As the vendor, you have the option to move out at any point in the run-up to the completion
date or on the date itself, although moving out in advance can make things less stressful.
Always ensure you have your removals company booked in advance and if you need to do a
lot of work to your new property or it is not going to be ready prior to completion then moving
into rented accommodation and putting some of your belongings into storage may be the
best option.
If you move out before completion day, do remember that you are responsible for the
property until you complete the sale and must retain the relevant buildings and contents
cover and maintain it to the standard and condition agreed in the contract.
10) Completion of the sale
Your completion date is when the property legally changes ownership, you (or more likely
your solicitor) accept the payment from the buyer, and you hand over the keys. Traditionally
this takes place at midday on the day in question, but you should specify this in your contract
to avoid any confusion on either side.
Once they receive the payment from your buyer, your solicitor will transfer the deeds to the
buyer’s solicitor and arrange the transfer of ownership with the Land Registry. If you have an
outstanding mortgage in which you are not moving to a new property, your solicitor will also
pay off the mortgage. Your mortgage lender will have provided the outstanding amount due
prior to completion, which is known as the redemption figure.
You will also need to settle your bill with your solicitor and estate agent at this stage if you
haven’t already. Make sure you are aware of their payment terms as this may differ from
solicitor to solicitor to solicitor and agent to agent.