Selling a house in the UK is no longer the sole preserve of high street estate agents. Because these days you can sell a house online, you do not need to pay for an expensive estate agent or need to be tied into any long contract terms.
If you stop for a moment and take a look online you will find more than just a fist-full of credible alternatives to the standard estate agency model. There are countless property advertising websites that can help you to sell house privately, a few of these services can also get your property listed on Rightmove and as such market your property to millions of potential house buyers each month. Websites that are know to work are GetAnOffer and Tepilo, the latter is even free to advertise but will not get your property onto the major property portal (which in all honesty is where it needs to be).
On top of that the BBC recently ran a series titled Axe the Agent showing sellers how to present their home (see this site soon for a guide), promote it online, host effective viewings and even negotiate the final sale price. The estate agents industry was in uproar that the national TV channel could be allowed to show something which attempted to — they claimed — jeopardise license payers’ livelihoods.
The truth is, 90% of all house hunters start their search for a property online at one or more of the major property portals. As a private seller if you can get your property onto one of these major portals you are able to market your property to the same level as an estate agent.
Accurately working out “how much is my house worth” is also much easier in this Internet age. Estate agents do not give a legally bound valuation; they simply give an estimate of what your home is worth. Now that the Land Registry website is there for everyone to see what homes near them are selling for, they can get an idea for themselves of what their initial asking price should be.
Selling a house online is not for everyone though. It is hard work what with conducting viewings and chasing buyers etc… You need to have the confidence to take the photos, write the property advert and haggle with buyers. What’s more you have to accept that if it all goes wrong and you don’t find the right buyer at the right price then you only have yourself to blame.
While it is not guaranteed that selling privately will allow you to get a better price for your home than an agent would, it is a real possibility because of the increased exposure the web can bring to bear. However, what is guaranteed is that if you do sell, you will have saved yourself £1.000’s that otherwise would have gone into the estate agent’s pocket.