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Selling House without an Estate Agent
Avoneer - 18/3/06 at 11:54 PM

Anyone any tips?

Just put up a sign myself saying "for sale soon" to gather interest.

Got a bathroom to finish first though and a valuation to get.

Had two neighbours knocking on all ready asking how much.

Once valued, do I play them off against each other?

Cheers,

Pat...

ed_crouch - 19/3/06 at 12:11 AM

I guess you dont actually need an agent...

get a good solicitor though!

Ed.

stevebubs - 19/3/06 at 01:22 AM

quote:
Originally posted by ed_crouch
I guess you dont actually need an agent...

get a good solicitor though!

Ed.


that's semi-sound advice with or without an agent.

Personally, if you can get close to what you want without an estate agent, then do it....especially if you've already got people knocking on the door.

IWantOne - 19/3/06 at 09:38 AM

my partner is a property solicitior and i just asked her..al that went into my ears was bla bla bla bla!! sent you a U2U with phone number if you want some FREE advise from a solicitor....yep free!!!

Jon Ison - 19/3/06 at 10:30 AM

Hi, been there, done that, had no problems, put my own board up, ran an add for 2 weeks in local property pages, hey presto, sold.

Had a few estate agents round 1st though too get an idea of value.....

BKLOCO - 21/3/06 at 07:33 AM

Don't waste money on a bloodsucking leech (sorry solicitor) use an online conveyancing company CLICK ME. Used them twice now and both times they were excellent value for money.

[Edited on 21-3-06 by BKLOCO]

James - 21/3/06 at 09:08 AM

quote:
Originally posted by BKLOCO
Don't waste money on a bloodsucking leech (sorry solicitor)


Agreed, they're bloody useless and expensive too judging by the recent experiences of various family members and friends all of whom have bought or sold places recently and all of whom have had their lives made hard by them.

There's all sorts of books out there about it. My Dad just did both the conveyancing and the solicitors work for a 2nd house he bought and sold and my sisters place she's just bought. His bible for it is an old book called "The Conveyancing Fraud".

Interesting stuff about how to do it yourself.

Cheers,
James

DarrenW - 21/3/06 at 09:46 AM

Estate agent or not??? 2 trains of thought here.

1. We hate estate agents, think they dont deserve the 1% - 2% fees etc etc so lets sell without one. Nowt wrong with this in a boyant market or in a desirable location.

2. Pay the 1% - 2% fees (for arguments sake lets say it is £2000) but get maximised market price of approx 5K over a private sale price. Everyone happy.


A guy i know is selling is house and a lot of land in a very prime location. Been offered 900K by a developer. Estate agent on the other hand is confident of 1M plus. In this instance the 10K fees is worth a lot of money as the agent knows a lot of developers and is very specialised in this kind of thing.


Horses for courses id say. If you are confident to negotiate with the buyer direct and get a happy deal then why not. i bet you can prepare some decent details to post out and arrange some good big adverts in the local house buying paper yourself.

I sold some land a while ago and did the conveyancing myself. Bought a how to book. Wouldnt do it again. Its a lot of hassle if you dont know where to get the forms from etc etc. too much to go wrong with a house. Internet service would in theory be same as local solicitor. I do like having someone to phone up and talk to though.

iank - 21/3/06 at 11:53 AM

On the beeb website today:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4826444.stm

Shocking

andyps - 21/3/06 at 01:33 PM

Pat - I bought books on doing all the legal stuff yourself about 3 years ago. You are welcome to borrow them if you want to be even more locost!

James - 21/3/06 at 04:57 PM

quote:
Originally posted by iank
On the beeb website today:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4826444.stm

Shocking


Hah! Was just about to post that up myself... just read it.

The documentary is on this evening at 9pm. BBC1.

Cheers,
James

Avoneer - 8/4/06 at 10:14 AM

UPDATE:

Had thse house valued on Thursday by a little company and the Halifax.

Little company said £120k.

Halifax said £140k.

Told one of my neighbours who was interetsed and have now been offered £135k and he is good to go as such.

Do I take it?

I was hoping for £135k but £140k would be nice.

Pat...

Peteff - 8/4/06 at 10:46 AM

Wife's friend lives in Foxton's area and is buying a house. All the agents down there are tarred with the same brush according to her experiences. She offered the asking price for one property and the agent rang back next day to say someone had offered £10,000 more and would she like to up her offer. She said no and they said if it falls through we'll contact you then so she told them she would offer £50,000 less if they did. This is on a property valued at £800,000 . She is now buying a different property but when she put in a price she said that the property should be marked provisionally sold and no more offers accepted on it.

JoelP - 8/4/06 at 12:08 PM

a few links you can use to check recent sale prices on the land reg database. Use all three for a comprehensive picture. It takes 3 months to update the quickest, so bear in mind the latest will be new year figures. The links:

http://www.houseprices.co.uk/
http://www.nethouseprices.com/
http://www.ourproperty.co.uk/

and finally, right move, who allegedly have 70% of all uk property for sale, listed on their site. Also has a postcode search facility.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/

Avoneer - 8/4/06 at 01:15 PM

Last house on our street to sell went for £115k through the Halifax, but that was last June.

Don't think I can go wrong really so will probably accept the offer.

How much non-refundable deposit should I ask for - £100 or £1k ?

Pat...