Are you selling your house? Should you employ a professional or do it yourself?
You wonder how to sell your home, who to choose to do it for you and the best way to market it? Selling your home can be a minefield. However, once you have made the massive decision of selling your house and moving, you will need to decide who will take charge of the house selling process.
The use of a proactive and skilled estate agent will give you an instant network of contacts, local knowledge, excellent negotiation skills and the time required to secure the sale of your property. However, this will involve a significant cost – often a percentage of the final sale price, which could be as high as 5%.
Going it alone and selling your property yourself might save you a lot of money, but without the time and knowledge, you run the risk of achieving a low final sale price. In some cases, selling a property via an estate agent delivers a higher return, as the cost is outweighed by the extra value achieved.
Selling your house – what’s involved.
The sale of property – from preparing for viewings to exchanging contracts – is a complex one. Only if you are confident that you have the time and know-how to address the following necessary tasks to sell your property should you consider a private sale, as mistakes can affect property prices?
- The valuation and setting a realistic asking price.
- A comprehensive marketing strategy.
- Arranging and hosting viewings.
- Price negotiations.
- The legal process for progressing a sale.
Whereas you will need to develop contacts, register with private listing services and find the time to manage the entire process, a reliable and reputable estate agent will already have all these in place. In addition, the people buying a house in your area will most likely register their interest with local estate agents, giving you an instant market for your property.
The Advantages of Choosing an Estate Agent to Sell Your Home
Although it may be sorely tempting to save the money and sell your home privately (many websites will help sell your property online), you should remember that there are probably hundreds of houses for sale in your area. Furthermore, achieving a fair price in an acceptable amount of time is tricky for the most experienced online estate agents, so it could prove exceptionally challenging and time-consuming to do it yourself. Although registered by The Property Ombudsman, many estate agents charge for their expert services, they deliver some advantages:
- Access to a network of potential buyers.
- Marketing contacts.
- Local property market knowledge.
- Negotiation skills.
- The ability to manage the viewing process.
- Expert market experience.
- Help to find a property to rent if you sell before you see the perfect home.
Choosing the Right Agent for You
House buying and selling is a specialist role, so hiring an agent for the task could prove cost-effective in the long run. However, there could be hundreds of estate agents working in your area, and choosing the best one for the job can be a daunting prospect.
Please start the process by asking your family and friends for recommendations based on their personal experiences. You can also use a specialist property advisory service with an online comparison tool to give you information about agents in your area.
The vast majority of estate agents are skilled, experienced and trustworthy; however, there might be a few who ask you to take photos of your property and compile a description for marketing purposes. Any agent worth their salt will take charge of the marketing process, so proceed with caution if you are asked to do this.
