If you’re one of the growing number of house sellers shunning traditional methods of sale, and of marketing it online, then clever you. You could save thousands on thousands of pounds in the process if you play your cards right. That’s money better spent on a rug for your new home or that coffee machine you’ve always been dreaming of, and more. So, with this in mind, these 5 IDEAL tips will help you sell your house fast without an estate agent.
FIND OUT HOW MUCH YOUR HOME IS WORTH
So you’ve decided you’re going to do the job yourself? Great. First things first; find out how much your home is worth. You can ask estate agents to value your property, without actually committing to selling your home through that particular agency. Don’t feel guilty about doing this, theirs is an industry of smoke’n’mirrors, after all.
Take a look at the property section in your local papers or online to get a sense of a ballpark asking price – is a similar home going for a price you’d be happy with? You can even get an online estimate, though these are based on algorithms and data about the surrounding area, so are not house specific.
START YOUR SELLING STRATEGY
Once you’ve got an idea of how much your home is worth, it’s time to come up with a selling strategy. There are loads of online sites where you can market your house without paying a single penny in fees. Tepilo, a site owned by property extraordinaire Sarah Beeny, is one of the best places to list your home for free.
While saving money is great, and every little helps, being too stingy can hinder the sale of your house. You’ll need to get your property on the prime property portals like Rightmove, Zoopla and Prime Location for the furthest reach. Don’t forget to exploit traditional methods like advertising in your local paper, too.
If, on the other hand, you live across the pond, you’d do well use a multiple listing service FSBO (For Sale By Owner). It’s the most cost-effective way to get your home listed on real estate websites without the services of an agent.
TAKE GREAT PHOTOS
According to a study by the National Association of Realtors, homebuyers revealed photos as the feature they used most when searching for a home. It’s certainly true that those with bad (or no) photos don’t make it past the cursory glance stage. Make sure you do your house justice by taking great photos of all that it has to offer; blurry photos from your iphone just won’t do – pointless and counterproductive.
Think about the image you want to capture before shooting. Do it in the day so you capture natural light. Open the curtains and turn on the lights to make the rooms look as bright and open as possible.
Stage your home by popping some fresh flowers on the kitchen table, adding cushions to your sofas or stack some magazines. All of this adds up to an overall image of your house which will merit further investigation. However, don’t be misleading and make your home look like something it’s not. If your own photography skills are in doubt, hire a professional – all good agents have one.
Read: 6 top tips for hosting virtual viewings
KNOW YOUR HOUSE
When selling online, you’ll be doing all of the legwork and showing those prospective buyers around yourself, so do your homework. Remember to take measurements of the rooms and know the square footage incase someone asks (if you haven’t measured, they’re sure to ask).
Make a mental note of all the best things about your house that you’ll want to show off. Does the bedroom get a lot of natural light in the morning? Are the windows double glazed? Is the garden south facing? Then for heaven’s sake, make the most of these features.
While keeping your house looking topnotch and showing people around may get tiresome, remember that being able to do this yourself puts you in a really strong position. You know your house better than anyone, so use that to your advantage and really sell it.
MAKE THE HOUSE LOOK GREAT
While there’s not much point in doing any major renovations just before selling, there are always minor repairs and tweaks that will raise the overall feel of the property. Will sprucing up your walls with a lick of paint make your house look more attractive? Then do it.
When people come over to view your place, they certainly don’t want to see disorder. They want to see a place they can imagine living in. Clutter, rubbish, a weird doll collection – anything that will negatively detract from them being able to see themselves living there – is a bad thing.Think about moving the furniture so the house looks bigger.
Finally, baking bread or putting a pot of coffee on just before they come round is a classic estate agent trick which really does work.