Selling your home can be a daunting and overwhelming process. Having the help of a professional estate agent can make the process much simpler and more efficient. If you are considering enlisting the help of an estate agent to sell your home, then this article is for you! We have put together 10 tips to help you get the most out of the process of selling your home with an estate agent. Read on to find out how you can get the best possible outcome for your sale.
1) Do your research
When you decide to put your home on the market, it’s important to do your research and make sure you’re getting the most from the sale. Hiring an estate agent can be a great way to help you get the best price for your property, but there are still some things that you need to do in order to make sure the process runs smoothly.
Doing your research and making sure you understand the process of selling your home can be crucial in ensuring a successful sale. With a bit of planning and preparation, you can help make sure everything runs smoothly and get the best price for your property.
2) Find the right agent
Before you hire an estate agent, make sure you do your due diligence and find out who is the best fit for you.
Follow these five simple steps:
- Consider which agent has the most experience in your area
- Ask the agent how they rank against other agents on the number of sales and instructions over the past 3-6 months. The majority of Estate Agents have access to sales data of their competitors from Rightmove.
- Compare the agent selling Fees and Services ie. attended viewings, financially qualified viewers, financially qualified offers, where and what platforms property will be marketed
- Ask them questions about the process, such as whether they offer conveyancing services or can provide a solicitor to handle the legal aspects of the sale.
- Understand their terms and conditions before you sign anything. This includes how long the contract is for, and whether there is any penalty for ending it early.
In addition to the above, you have to work with an agent you can trust especially when they are entering your home and qualifying your potential buyers – it’s not all about the race to the bottom for the lowest estate agent fee, you could miss your chance of securing the highest price for your home.
3) Get your home valued
If you’ve decided to sell your home with an estate agent, it’s time to get your property valued. Your estate agent should be able to provide an accurate assessment of the value of your home based on its size, location, condition, and other factors. It’s important to note that the value of your home can change depending on the market, so be sure to have a new valuation done each time you put it up for sale.
Once you have a valuation, you can begin the process of marketing your home. It’s also important to consider any legal requirements when selling your home, such as getting an energy performance certificate.
The spring is traditionally considered one of the best times to sell your home, as buyers tend to be more active during this period. To make sure you’re taking advantage of this seasonal boost, be sure to list your property early in the year and promote it aggressively.
If you’re chain-free, you may even be able to benefit from the higher demand that comes with spring by charging a premium price.
4) Prepare your property
try and make your home as appealing as possible before putting it on the market. If the weather is nice, give the outside of your house a good clean up and consider doing some landscaping or repainting if necessary. Inside, make sure all clutter is tidied away and de-personalise the space by taking down family photos and any other objects that could be distracting to potential buyers. You may also want to think about staging your home with stylish furniture and decor, as this will help buyers imagine themselves living in the space.
You should also take steps to improve your energy efficiency, as this can be a great selling point for potential buyers. Get an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for your home, and consider making some energy saving changes like installing LED light bulbs or double glazed windows. If you’re looking to sell in the spring, consider replacing any old appliances with more efficient models, as this could help you increase your asking price.
Check out our Tips to Home Improvements Guide
5) Market your property
Once you have chosen an agent they’ll be able to support the marketing of your property on relevant sites such as Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket.
Estate Agents will also have their own marketing database for potential buyers for your property as well as marketing the property in local advertisements. You should have checked this out at step two of finding the right agent to ensure you are content with the level of marketing for the fee you’ve agreed.
A couple of other tips so you are ready once an offer is made on your property:
- Have your conveyancing sorted before you list your property. Conveyancing is the legal transfer of ownership from seller to buyer and includes arranging the necessary paperwork, such as contracts, searches and mortgages.
- Consider offering a chain-free sale. Chain-free sales are when there are no other buyers involved, so the process is much quicker and smoother.
- Get an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for your property. An EPC can help to highlight any potential energy savings that may be made by prospective buyers, as well as show off the green credentials of your home.
See next steps for what to think about when a potential buyer makes an offer on your home.
6) Negotiate the sale
Negotiating the sale of your home with an estate agent can be a daunting process, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are some tips to make the process easier:
- Know how much you want for your home but be realistic, you should consider every offer seriously even if it is slightly below your minimum price. The small details of is the buyer financially qualified? Is it a chain-free buyer? What are the buyer’s circumstances? These factors can have an impact when accepting an offer.
- Ensure you are taking into account solicitor and estate agent fees that may need to be paid, so you can ensure that any offer you accept takes these into account.
- Work out a timeline of when you would like the sale to be completed, this way you can negotiate a realistic completion date with the buyer.
By following these steps, you can ensure that the process of selling your home with an estate agent runs as smoothly as possible.
7) Accept an offer
Accepting the offer is not just the price, although for most this is the most important point. See below some other considerations when ‘Accepting an Offer’
- At this stage all parties should be agreeing a timeline to exchange of contracts
- Whether the process is chain-free
- Are there any completion considerations ie. timelines, day of the week etc.
- Is there anything inside or outside the home that is being sold with the property
Some of these can be agreed post agreeing a price, however if you have a clear idea of some of the above aspects these should be factored in as soon as possible to avoid the sale falling through after agreeing an offer.
8) Instruct a solicitor
When it comes to selling your home, instructing a solicitor or conveyancer is one of the most important steps. A conveyancer is a legal expert who specialises in property law and provides advice on the sale and purchase of land and property. They will ensure that all of the legal paperwork associated with the sale is in order and all of the deadlines are met.
During the sale of your home, a conveyancer will help you to:
- Check that the buyer has the funds to complete the purchase
- Organise and draft legal documents such as contracts and transfer deeds
- Register changes of ownership with the Land Registry
- Calculate stamp duty and pay it to HMRC
- Handle the payment of your mortgage
- Carry out searches of the local area
- Collect and transfer money between you and the buyer
By working with an experienced conveyancer, you can be confident that your sale will go through as smoothly as possible. Your conveyancer can also provide additional support and advice throughout the process, making sure that everything goes according to plan.
9) Exchange contracts
Exchanging contracts is the final step in selling your home with an estate agent and is the point at which the buyer is legally obliged to buy and you are legally obliged to sell.
Before exchanging contracts, both you and the buyer will have signed a contract and will have agreed on a date for exchange. Once all documents have been received, contracts can be exchanged and completion of the sale can take place.
10) Complete the sale
Completion is the legal agreement of transferring deeds from the current owner to the new buyer.
At this stage the funds to buy the property either from own funds or mortgage funds are transferred to the current owner as legal completion for the property. Also, any fees payable to the parties in the value chain ie. solicitors and estate agents are also paid their fees.
As the new buyer, you can pick up the keys to your new home!
Following completion, the solicitor will register their title with HM Land Registry to ensure that all ownership rights are protected.