Note: This page was uloaded in 2004, mypropertyforsale.co.uk now operate as a virtual agent with a one-off fee of £299+vat, this also lists your home on Rightmove.co.uk. We can no longer accept private listings.
Mypropertyforsale has researched what it is really like selling a house online, this is the process that we went through when one of our team sold their property through the website.
Step 1
I did not have a clue what my property was really worth, i done some research on nearby flats that were similar in size that were sold in the weeks before my property was due to go online, this gave me a rough idea, to make sure i was not going to undercut myself i contacted a local surveyor who charged me £25 for a visit, he looked at my property for about 20 minutes and gave me a price, he did say however that it was possible to maybe get more money but i could risk not selling if my property was too high in price in comparison with others in the neighbourhood.
I also had a complete building survey done as well to show the condition of the flat to buyers, let them know that i was not hiding anything.To undersand more about a building survey click here www.mpfs.co.uk/guides_buildingsurveys.php there is also available a home buyers survey and valuation, click here www.mpfs.co.uk/guides_homebuyerssurveys.php
Step 2
First things first was to prepare an advert to sell the property online, i detailed everything that i could think of, walking around my flat with a pen and paper taking notes and measurements, obviously i had some inside knowledge on what makes and advert more attractive than another so i was able to produce the best advert that i could, when this was completed i then made the advert live on the website. As i am a member of staff i also submitted my property details to Fish4homes, Assertahome and Propertyfinder, as my flat was a groundfloor flat i also erected a “For Sale” board to the wall to attract passers by.
Everyday I looked at my details to see how much interest my advert was receiving, it was having alot of page views but i had not received any emails yet direct, on day 2 of my board being fitted outside i had a letter through my door with a phone number inside asking how much is the price of the flat, after about 5 days i received my first email asking for a viewing of the property. This was arranged but unfortunately the offer that was made was too low, 2 days later i received an email from Propertyfinder from a interested buyer who was looking for an investment oppurtunity, this i am glad to say was the buyer who finally purchased my flat.
Step 3
I know had to make sure that everything was perfect and tidy www.mpfs.co.uk/guides_preparingforsale.php i also had made a list of everything that was available with the sale, items such as chrome plug sockets, domestic appliances, wall units, curtain rails etc. I did not think that this was neccessary to list on the website, i handed this over to the interested buyer when he came round to view, by doing this i had really eliminated lots of uneccessary questions that would have needed to be answered.
Step 4
I was now in a position where we were trying to negociate a price, lots of points can suddenly change the asking price at this point:
- Is the buyer in a chain so i may have to wait along time to sell.
- How soon does the buyer wish to move in
- How soon did i want to move out.
- Was the buyer a cash buyer or did he need to arrange a mortgage.
- Are they a first time buyer
- The above list can change the price that you will accept for your property, a cash buyer is far more appealing and can make you accept a little less, you must hold out as much as you can, let them know that you have other people also waiting to view the property.
Step 5
The buyer arranged for an independant survey to be carried out on the property, although i had one already drawn up he chose to go ahead with his own.
I have at this point accepted an offer on my flat, i put my property for sale with the asking price of £99950, i have accepted an offer for £98000 so i now need to arrange a Solicitor or Coveyincing firm to carry out the legal aspects for me. Although i have accepted an offer i am still leaving my property advert live just in case, if i now had another offer for my property, i must tell my original buyer that i have also been offered another offer on the property, everything needs to be laid on the table.
I had arranged a selling date of 6 weeks so i needed to make some final notes.
- The address of the property to be sold.
- My full name
- The sellers full name
- Any items that are not included in the sale that the buyer also wishes to purchase and prices.
- Completion date
- My solicitors name and address and phone number
- The sellers solicitors name and address and phone number
Step 6
All the details are now with the solicitor so i kind of feel that i have done my work as a house seller, i am making sure that i keep in contact with the buyer and my solicitor, at this point you should contact any other interested parties you have been dealing with and let them know the situation, keep their details though, you never know what may be round the corner. I logged in to my account at www.mypropertyforsale.co.uk and marked my property as “under offer”, this still kept it live but let people know the current status.
It is also a very good idea to stipulate to your solicitor that you wish the exchange of contracts to be carried out by a certain date, this will help move things along for you but should there be any problems with the sale you can still quickly contact the other interested parties that you have kept details on.
Step 7
My solicitor called me and gave me a fixed date for the sale of my property, all went through okay and at approximately midday the funds had been transferred into my account, i telephoned the buyer to let him know and made my way to meet him to hand over all of the keys that i owned, although i handed the keys over myself you can arrange for your solicitor to do this for you.
Step 8
Go out and celebrate!!
To sum up the total price for selling my house myself
- Advert £98.95
- Valuation £25
- Building survey £210
- Solicitor £390
Total Price £723.95
Commission that my local estate agent would have charged
£2450 + VAT =£2878.75
Selling my house myself saved me £2154.80