If you want to cut down on the costs of selling your house by taking out the middle man, (the estate agent) use the following tips to ensure that it can be successful.
1. Be realistic-
It is very important that when you are thinking of selling your property yourself, you are realistic with the house prices. It may help if you get a couple of estate agents in just to give you an idea of the current market value, also then have a look around to see what similar houses in your area are on the market for and have been sold for. Once you have got some idea of what prices other houses are on the market for, you then need to take into consideration; if any work needs doing to your property and how quickly you want to move. By combining all this information you should be able to come to a realistic decision about what price you are going to put your house up for.
2. Be prepared for offers-
Once you have decided on the price that you are going to market your house for, you then need to decide what offer you want/need to accept on the property. It is very rare for a potential buyer to offer you asking price, so again be realistic in what return you would like. Know the lowest offer that you want to accept on the property and keep it in mind. If need be you can always raise the price that you are going to market the house for to give you more movement in accepting offers.
4. Prepare your house-
Ensure that your house is de-cluttered and looks clean and tidy. For more in-depth tips on how to make your house more sellable have a look at selling your house.
3. Look for yourself-
Viewing properties for yourself is also important as this gives you an opportunity to decide what kind of properties you like and what there is on the market. Although you do not have to rush out and find a house straight away, it may take you 2 weeks to sell your house but it could take a year- so just be prepared.
4. Advertise-
The next step is to get some exposure for your house, you need pictures of your property, the most important picture is the front, however it is down to your discretion if you wish to include internal photos. Once you have the photos, you need to speak to your local newspaper and discuss how much it will cost to advertise your property. You also may want to get your property on the internet as these two techniques give you the most exposure.
When advertising your property be sure to put a telephone number that you can be contacted on at any time or a message can be left, this will ensure that you will not miss any potential viewings. However it is not a good idea to put your full address on the advertisement, the name of your street, basic details of the property and a contact number will be sufficient.
You can get some good ideas by having a look at other house advertisements.
The last but not least thing is make sure that you have a for sale sign outside your property with a contact number- this is a cheaper yet very effective way of getting the most vital exposure.
By following these steps, this should enable you to sell your property without the high costs of an estate agent. Please also take into consideration the new HIP’s packs that some properties require before the house is put on the market….more information on the HIPs in my next post.
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