Selling a House - The easiest ways to sell your home.

©Article written and supplied by: www.buyassociation.co..co.uk

 

There are many reasons you may be looking to sell you house. Be prepared to answer that one.  99% of all  potential buyers will ask that question. 

The first thing you you need to do is make a list of how you want to sell your house.

RealtorPlus

Realtor / Estate Agent

Posting a 'For Sale' Board outside your house

Local Newspapers

Classified Web Sites

Local Newspapers

 

Let’s examine the cost, because whatever the reason you aru are selling, you want to get as much of the cash in your pocket.

RealtorPlus :  Completely FREE. No No upgrade options, no commissions, no catches!

Realtor / Estate Agent :  Most do not charge a listing fee but expect to pay between 1% to 10% in sales com commission. This will depend on where you are located. You will only pay this if a successful sal sale is achieved.

Local Newspapers : This can be a very cost effective way to sell your home.  Advert insertion fees will val vary from each publication and according to the amount of space you need, so check out each one

Posting a ‘For Sale’ Board : You’re on only expense would be the cost of the Board

Our Advice… seriously look at as many options as you can. Try a combination or for the best results try all of these. Take a look at our Sell Your House section. Here you’ll find information on our fees and Advert Duration.

 

Self Selling ... Recommending a Realtor / Estate Agent

Yes, we advertise properties, so why would we recommend you you have a Realtor or Agent on board?

We recommend that you explore all the avenues to sell your property.  Consider this scenario. You have your house listed with a Realtor.  You decide you also want to advertise your house with RealtorPlus. Why not have the link and all contact it information go directly to your Realtor?

Sounds crazy?  But isn’t the whole point of advertising on RealtorPlus tos to cut out the agents commission?

Here’s the bottom line... how confident are you that you will be able to close the sale.  Realtors and Agents thrive on it. it.  The other serious consideration is do you want to be showing strange people around your house?  It is a safer situation to have a Realtor or Agent sho show your house and they know how to sell.

Look at RealtorPlus in a different way … think of us as the ‘Driving Force&rsquosquo; of Sales Leads.  Potential Buyers visit our site and make enquiries for properties that they have an interest in.

If you are 100% confident in your ability to handle peo people visiting  your house and you are 100% confident of giving the sales pitch and closing that sale then RealtorPlus will save you thousands in Ain Agents Fees and Agents Commissions.

 

Setting the Price

You need to obtain a ‘Qualified Market Price’. If you intend to Self Sell it is important that you know the local market.  A buyer will do research and will expect your asking price to be realistic.

We’re right back to the Realtors and Agents ats again.  If you don’t want to engage their services formally, you could make a call and ask.  If you want a written and formal valuation without engaging their ‘SaleSales Services’ then expect to pay a fee.

In addition, you can find out about the cost of houses locally by looking at local papers, estate agentsents’ windows and similar houses in the area.

House Prices UK

 

Do a little researcearch

When comparing values take a long hard look at your house.  Does it need repairs?  Does it need redecorating? 

It is a good idea to arrange for a survey.  This will show up any major issues that will need addressing. Remember it is not good trying to hide these things, a buyer will find out through their own due diligence.

Decide in advance if you are going to include any extras in the sae sale, for example, appliances, carpets, furniture etc.  A price for these can be included in the asking price or a separate price can be asked in addition.

Draft a detailed list of what you will include in the sale.  It is normal practice to include the standard Fixtures and Fittings, i.e., heading ng system, but list everything.  It will look professional and will put you in good standing with a potential buy buyer.

It is normal practice for a potential buyer to offer a lower price for the house than the seller is asking. You might therefore ore want to allow for this by setting your price a little higher than the amount you would like to get.  You could always justify the price by making a comparison ofn of other properties in the area.

 

The Right Details

It is very important that you cre create an advertisement that gives potential buyers a reason for wanting to view your property.  Having no information or very little will not produce a sale.

You can create a House Brochure in a number of Formats, for instance Microsoft Word, Publisher and a whole host of other software prograograms.  Just remember if the person you send it to cannot open it then you have a potential missed sale.

If you advertise with RealtorPlus we can take a host of formats and and convert these to PDF or XPS files that everyone with a computer is able open and read.

A Realtor or Agent will also be able to ho help you.  They can take photographs and compile a professional document to provide all potential buyers.

Advertising in the local nel newspapers is restrictive in that you have limited space to provide all the details.  The more space you use the the more you will have to pay.

At RealtorPlus you able to provide a document in PDF or XPS.  If you cannot create one we can taketake your existing document and transform it for you.  We provide this service free to all our Property Advertisers.  The underling benefit of advertising your property with RealtorPlus is tha that you can ‘Showcase’ your property to thousands of people and you are not restricted by any area or country.

 

RealtorPlus Property Advertisement Benefits:

•  List the fhe full details of your property

•  Attach a ‘Property Showcase Brochure’

•  Display up to 6 Photographs

•  Responses directly to your email box or your designated  Realtor or Agr Agent

•  International Coverage in 5 minutes

•  30 Day Ad at absoabsolutely NO COST - renewable at no cost!

 

Using a Realtor / Agent

Yes we do recommend you work with a Realtor or Agent as well as advertise your property with RealtorPlus.  It It simply makes good sense to cover your options when trying to sell your house.

Nearly all Realtors / Agents calculate their fees as a percentage of the final selling pri price of the property.  You will find that a Realtor or Agent will give you a percentage price of the sale amount.  This is known as the rate of commismmission. You should also check if the following are included in this percentage fee or have to be paid for in addition:-

•  advertisitising costs

•  costs of preparing details of the house including photographs

•  a ‘For Sale’ board

•  VAT or other Sales Tax

If you decide to use use a Realtor or Agent, these companies must confirm the charges and rate of commission that will be made. They will, and must, do this when they agree tee to act for you.

If you use one Realtoaltor or Agent to handle the sale,  commonly  known as a ‘sole agent’ you may find that the agreagreement covers:

•  that commission is only paid to the agent if they sell the property.

•  that the commission rate and or fees are lower.

 

Don’t get confused …

There is also an agreement known as ‘Sole Selling Rights’.  ThisThis term may differ depending where you live, but under this agreement the only one who can sell your property is the Realtor or Agent.   So even if you man manage to sell the property by your own efforts the Realtor or Agent will be entitled to its fees.

If you employ a 'Joint Agency Agreement' it will allow your to get better marketing coverage for your house.  In this case the Realtors or Agents will share the commission fees on the sale.  Under this type of agreement ent expect to pay a higher percentage rate.

 

What do Realtor / Agents Do?

It would seem, from the outside that that the Realtor or Agents job is easy money.  In fact the truth is the Realtor or Agents job is quite a complex one.  It takes time and a lot of effort to sell someone’s house.

The Realtor or Agents first task is to visits your house in order to value it ait and decide on an asking price with you.

 

Remember:  Check the valuation that has been suggests by comparing it to similar houses in the local paper and or asking other Realtors or Agents to asses your property.

The Realtor or Agent will prepare details of the house to send out to people who are interested in buying it. These details will ill include the number and size of the rooms and all the fixtures and fittings which will be left in the house. The Realtor or Agent also arranges for the pr property to be advertised.

Important:  In many countries today, the owners are required by law to have a ‘Home Information Pack’. Check with your Realtor or Agent.

You should make sure that any enquiries are dealt with by the Realtor or Agent and tnd that should include any viewing's.

 

Working Together

At Rea RealtorPlus we actively encourage our advertisers to have any responses directed to their Realtor or Agent.  This frees your time away from having to dea deal with the enquiries and the Realtor or Agent is in a much better position to negotiate a sale through you.

Remember:  A Realtors or Agents primary task is to negotigotiate with the potential buyer(s) about the price. The Realtor or Agent should try and obtain the bes best possible price for you. If you are acting alone, you must negotiate yourself. You do not have to accept the first offer put to you and should not be rushed into making a decision quickuickly.

Get your Property Listed Today

 

Can I sell my house to anyone?

Regardless to whether you are selling your house by yourself or you engaged the services of a Realtor or Agent. As a general rule you can sell your house to whoever you want ant and do not have to sell to the buyer who offers the most money. You may wish to take into account whether the buyer:-

•  is a first time buyer

•  is part of a large chain

•  is paying cash or is likely to get a mortgartgage

•  wants to move at the samesame time as you.

If you are using a Realtor or Agent, it is often easier for the est estate agent to find out this information from the buyer.

Remember: It is against the law, in most countries, for a seller to treat pet people unfairly. The following types of discrimination are against the law:

•  sex discrimination

• disability discrimination

•  sexuality discrimination

•  discrimination because of religion or belief

•  race discrimination.

 

Accepting the offer

In most countries, even if you have accepted an offer, there is nothing in law to prevent yot you from changing your mind and accepting a higher offer from someone else.  Again do check this with your local legal advisor.

You should also bear in mind that when an ofn offer is made and accepted the potential buyer can also withdraw, for example, they may not get a mortgage, or the survey may show up some structural problem. Again check your local legal advisor to be sure.

Don’tuo;t put your eggs all in one basket …

You should keep a record of Names and Telephone numbers of any potential buyers providing an offer, whether accepted or not.  If tIf the offer you finally accept does not go through then at least you have potential buyers waiting in the wings.

 

The Legal Work

Your solicitor / lawyer

When you have accepccepted an offer you, or Realtor or Agent, needs to inform whoever is doing the legal work. You can do it yourself  however the process can be complicated.

 

How much it will cost?

It is important to contact mct more than one solicitor/lawyer, unless you already have one that you use and trust, or licensed conveyancer as there is no set  fees for this type of work.

Things to do …

Is the figure quoted fixed or varied to the amount of work?

You need to inform the utility companies, Phone, Electric Gas, Cable TV and others that you are leaving and ask for final readings to be made of the meters on completion day.

You will also need to contact your local authorities to ensure that any property taxes are paid.  If in doubt ask your solicitor / lawyer.

Remember :  If you have an accountant ask them to make sure that you don’t fall foul to any capital gains or other property taxes.

 

Completion

You must arrange to leave the house empty by completion day and to hand over all the keys.  Your solicitor / lawyer will receive the rest of the purchase price from the buyer and will pass this, together with the deposit, to you.

 

Thank you - We would like to thank you for reading our Guide to Selling a House.  We hope you have found the information useful. Ready to Sell Your House?

 

©Article written and supplied by: www.buyassociation.co.uk