Am putting my property (one bed apartment in Warwick) on the market soon and have a couple of valuations this morning, I've never sold before so unsure what questions I should be asking the valuation people. Starters for ten were going to be...
- What are your fees to sell?
- Do you have similar properties like mine on your portfolio?
- How is the market for my property type?
Any advice would be appreciated.
There are various online valuation sites that will show historical sales details of other houses in your street and when they sold, it will give you a rough idea if there have been relatively recent sales of a similar property.
Also just plug your postcode into rightmove and see what else is on the market and by who.
You need to know their fee, and where/how they plan to advertise it.
Not much else really, except the selling price and as the previous poster said you can do your own research in advance.
I'd ask if they expect you to show the property or will they do it.
As well as their own website, I would expect them to advertise on Rightmove and/or Zoopla as they are a first port of call for many.
If I were you I would look at PurpleBricks and save yourself a few quid, the main thing is you get on the main property listing websites and like I said you will definitely save money from the extortionate fees the Estate Agents charge.
Negotiate for a 1% fee (or less). Have a look on Rightmove for properties of a similar style/location to get an idea of value.
Choose an agent that can take a good set of interior photos, some are excellent, others are crap. Everyone is searching online for properties, good photography gets viewings.
Snag your property before selling, fix those niggly little bits they you never get around to doing, clean carpets, grout and silicone in bathrooms etc.
Recently we sold our house within a couple of weeks, had viewings booked from the first day of listing (our sale fell through eventually as the house we wanted sold days before ours). But my in-laws has been up for sale for over a year and FiL won't tidy it up because he thinks the new owner will. Yes they will but if you can't get people through the door in the first place it won't sell.
Good luck!
Purple bricks can save fees so long as the place sells through them. The issue with purple bricks is that their fee is payable whether the house sells or not. Their website says that the fee is not payable upfront, but that is lies, what they actually do is make you pay up front, or force you to get a loan with a firm called Close Brothers, so PB get their fee upfront, but you don't pay till later. They keep their fee whether the place sells, or not, or you withdraw the house from sale. The loan from Close Brother becomes payable when the house, sells, or you withdraw, or after 10 months, even if not soldOriginally Posted by langdalematt
Last edited by Brighty; 12th May 2017 at 09:30.
For me the main one would be getting it on Rightmove.
Also from past experience avoid the one who gives the an OTT valuation and a load of bull (we have buyers waiting for these properties, we have sold loads for this price over the last 12 month etc etc), fell for it in the past when selling property. Ended up having it on the market with on estate agent for four month until I could bin them off, then went to another company who reduced the price slightly and cased a lot interest before it actually went online etc.. within 12 days it had sold for very close to asking.
Only choose an agent who is on Rightmove AND Zoopla and make sure they do all viewings.
On right move and zoopla there is a valuation area where you tap in your postcode and it lists the sale price of everything in your area and also the current value. The current value is only based on the current general valuation and won't take into account any renovations or improvements, but it gives you a guide.
As for Agent you need to know what you are getting for your money. Right move is a must as that is the main portal, zoopla is second and there are loads of others, that it helps to be on, but no where near as much as right move in my opinion.
Fes - if you are purely looking at cost then you would go with an online portal (like purple bricks or house simple). There are some who think they are good, but in all honesty you pay for what you get. I've had dealings with these types of companies and personally I think the 'you get what you pay for' is so true. However if you have a very 'vanilla' type property on a popular estate that everyone wants then you could argue that anyone could sell it (not meaning to be rude about the vanilla comment). If I were you I would ask friends and family for local recommendations and negotiate the fee. As already said 1% is very and if it's a good agent then you will get your monies worth. Don't be afraid to ask for lowere fees, nowadays they all expect it.
As above, most of what you need has been listed but also:
- Check Rightmove to see what comparable properties are listed for.
- Check how quickly they are selling - Rightmove shows the date of listing.
Where in Warwick are you? I know the market pretty well. Feel free to PM me for a chat
Have you found another property you're interested in buying? We've just sold our first home and are in the process of buying another. We advertised with the same agent we are buying through, when it came to negotiations and offers for our new house having a sale and purchase in the same estate agent helped a great deal.
They also gave us things to do to help show our house in the best way, some of it seemed a bit trivial but in the end we received 4 offers within 3 days and at the point accepting another 10 viewings had been cancelled.
Rightmove is obviously very important but, in addition to this, I would also go with an agent that has a high street office. It's tempting to think that the modern world is all online but a lot of people still go into estate agents to see what they have and ask for advice, particularly if they're new to an area.
I would also only go with an agent that vets a buyers finances and their ability to buy. The last thing you want is to get half way through the process only to find that your buyer never had a hope of getting the mortgage to buy. This happened to us a couple of years ago and it wasn't nice. We ended up having to reduce the price to sell quickly and save the chain in order to keep the house we'd fallen in love with.
I take your points, but I'm going to disagree. I'm no great fan of Estate Agents, But I still think it's better to deal with an established local agent when selling. The aim is to get a sale at an acceptable price in a timely fashion, trying to save a few £££ on selling fees makes no sense to me.
Many years ago I sold a house myself because I refused to pay an Estate Agent. It worked out OK in the end but I came within a hairs-breadth of losing the house I was buying because I managed the sale of my own house badly.........I was in my late 20s and too bloody arrogant for my own good (in hindsight) .
I'm a great believer in dealing with local contacts (Estate Agents, Solicitors etc) ......no substitute for face to face communication even if it costs a few ££££ more, probably worth it in the long run.
Paul
Don't you mean many, many years ago Paul? Lol.I take your points, but I'm going to disagree. I'm no great fan of Estate Agents, But I still think it's better to deal with an established local agent when selling. The aim is to get a sale at an acceptable price in a timely fashion, trying to save a few £££ on selling fees makes no sense to me.
Many years ago I sold a house myself because I refused to pay an Estate Agent. It worked out OK in the end but I came within a hairs-breadth of losing the house I was buying because I managed the sale of my own house badly.........I was in my late 20s and too bloody arrogant for my own good (in hindsight
I'm a great believer in dealing with local contacts (Estate Agents, Solicitors etc) ......no substitute for face to face communication even if it costs a few ££££ more, probably worth it in the long run.
Paul
Deals can be had from local estate agents - where I live the market is mad and stuff goes in a breath so it makes it a bit more difficult.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
A traditional estate agent will always get you a better offer than Purplebricks. If you absolutely have to use online YOPA are meant to be very good but personally I would go with a good, reputable, fair fee local estate agent who does their own viewings and advertises on both Rightmove and Zoopla.
Choosing to use a agent or sell yourself must surely depend on the state of the local market and desirability of the property, if it's going to be snapped up in a few days because they all do then I think it's worth trying yourself, if it's not then get someone else to do the work
Cheers..
Jase
I would always use an agent if you don't have detailed personal knowledge of the process.
At the end of the day their fee aligns you to what you want to achieve - selling. If they don't sell, then they don't get a fee, so they are incentivised to go about things the correct way. At this point some members will chip in with that meaning the agent will always try to talk you down in price. That may well happen, but your are in control, if you don't like a price then don't accept it, and they will have to try harder!
Get initial advice from 3 agents and then compare / contrast not only their feedback on pricing / market / process but how you would feel about this person representing you.
The market will ultimately determine worth, but a good agent will make it a far less painful process and be worth their weight in gold if things get tricky during the process when they can draw on knowledge and experience to guide you on how to react.
Do negotiate on fees - they will also ask you to sign up for a minimum period and that is key too, as you don't want to be tied in for too long if you don't feel things are going the way you want.
Great updates guys thanks for the advice.
Had two companies over yesterday and the property is worth more than I though. I've also looked at PurpleBricks and spoke to them last night and was pretty impressed with the service they gave so we will see. In fact it was probably the bet of the lot.
I live in an new'ish (4yrs old) apartment and am pretty confident that it will sell quickly as the rental market locally is good in my area due to JLR being down the road.
You live in Warwick
It's as you say easy rental and will sell quickly - property is in short supply across your way
Use the lowest way of getting on right move
It'll sell v v quickly
The Leamington crowd and JLR commuters want them
That's what I'm hoping, one estate agent said is should sell quickly to someone who will rent it out.
The next one said "rental markets dried up since the increase in stamp duty". This guy also valuated the (previous guys figure) by £20k under.
I think I will go with PB as I hope it should sell fast.
Last edited by gavsw20; 15th May 2017 at 23:33.
That probably depends on the type of property and how difficult it is to market. I live in a small block of 14 flats in an 'up and coming' zone3 area of SE london and a flat downstairs sold for silly money on emoove right in the middle of Brexit week. An agent would not have achieved a higher price and if they did it would not cover their fee's. People looking in the area will see what's available on zoopla/rightmoove etc and view everything that might suit them. Anyone can play hard ball and refuse an offer or hold out for more, it's not rocket science.
If/when I sell mine I'll do it without a traditional estate agent as 'affordable' 1 bed flats will always be in demand in my area and not a difficult sell.
Look if there has been sales in your block first off, that will give you an idea of what they sell for, Purplebricks are good but any estate are not miracle workers, I always see flats hang around a lot longer than houses (outside city centres) so as said purple bricks charge a fixed fee, if you do get a local estate agent on a no sell no fee you can try to negotiate there fee down.
Good luck in your sale
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If there are many other flats like yours in the block or estate you should get a good idea on valuation from sold prices online (rightmove/zoopla etc).
I see that one/two bedroom flats are being picked up quickly by investors because they can generate a good yield, need little maintenance and due to the surcharge on stamp duty work out cheaper to purchase.
Keep an eye out on rightmove for how quickly similar flats sell, the ones on our estate usually sell pretty much the same day, purple bricks would be perfect for that.
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