There might be multiple reasons that have led you to the decision of selling your property. We would like to ensure that you are happy with your deci- sion, and help make sure you have considered all your options.
Main reasons to sell and alternatives:
- Space: downsizing or upsizing.
ALTERNATIVE: If lack of space is a problem, you might want to consider borrowing to extend your existing property.
If you have too much space, have you considered renting out the extra space?
- Relocation: it may be that you have decided to move closer to work or to family.
ALTERNATIVE: a possibility would be to rent your home. If you currently have a mortgage, contact your lender who may be happy to rent your proper- ty for you.
- Financial difficulties: one of the biggest reasons to sell properties is due to financial difficulties.
ALTERNATIVE: you can change your mortgage, extend your current term to reduce monthly pay- ments. Or even remortgage to release some of the equity in your home.
- Repossession: you may want to decide to sell your property as soon as possible to clear yourself from the debt owed.
ALTERNATIVE: there are specialist companies that offer to buy your property from you and rent it back to you under a tenancy agreement
- Divorce or end of a relationship: this is sadly one of the most common reasons.
- Bereavement: you may want to sell your property if you have lost a partner or have inherited a prop- erty that you would like to convert to cash.
- Costly repairs: your home may need necessary costly repairs that you just can’t afford
Step-by-step guide to help you sell your house fast
Deciding to sell your property can be one of the most stressful times of your life.
The decisions you make throughout the process can help or cost you many thousands of pounds.
This step-by-step guide was designed to help you move on with your life altering decision and to help you concentrate on your fresh start.
Reasons to sell Preparing to sell Staging your house
How much is your house worth?
Who should sell your house?
How to handle viewings Legal work
Property still not selling?
Preparing to move 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
• Space: downsizing or upsizing.
ALTERNATIVE: if lack of space is a problem, you might want to consider borrowing to extend your existing property.
If you have too much space, have you considered renting out the extra space?
• Relocation: it may be that you have decided to move closer to work or to family.
ALTERNATIVE: a possibility would be to rent your home.
If you currently have a mortgage, contact your lender who may be happy to rent your property for you.
• Financial difficulties: one of the biggest reasons to sell properties is due to financial difficulties.
ALTERNATIVE: you can change your mortgage, extend your current term to reduce monthly payments or even remortgage to release some of the equity in your home.
• Repossession: you may want to decide to sell your property as soon as possible to clear yourself from the debt owed.
ALTERNATIVE: there are specialist companies that offer to buy your property from you and rent it back to you under a tenancy agreement
• Divorce or end of a relationship: this is sadly one of the most common reasons.
• Bereavement: you may want to sell your property if you have lost a partner or have inherited a property that you would like to convert to cash.
• Costly repairs: your home may need necessary costly repairs that you just can’t afford
There might be multiple reasons that have led you to the decision of selling your property.
We would like to ensure that you are happy with your decision, and help make sure you have considered all your options.
Here are the main reasons and alternatives:
Reasons to sell
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to sell
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Budget for your sale
Make sure you make a note of how much it will cost you to move as everything add up. Here are some of the things that you will need to budget for:
• EPC (energy performance certificate): prices can vary between £60 and £90.
• Estate agent fees: if selling your house through Fastest House Buyer, this is something you won’t have to worry about. Normally agencies charge a fee based on a percent- age of the sale price plus VAT.
• Repairs: this might be one of your reasons for selling.
However, unlike Fastest House Buyer, some agents might ask for these repairs to be done. Make sure you ask you agent before singing any contracts
Preparing
So you have decided that selling your house fast is still the best option for you? Great!
We will talk you through each step to make it as hassle free as possible.
• Solicitor fees: legal fees can vary so make sure you ask for a quote so that it is a fixed price and you don’t get a nasty surprise in the end. Again, with Fastest House Buyer, this is something you won’t have to worry about as we will pay the legal fees.
• Removal costs: these will obviously vary depending on the amount and distance moved. Shop around and get several quotes.
• Tax: Check to make sure if you are not liable for Capital Gains Tax. Go to direct.gov.uk for more information.
Budget for your sale and make sure you make a note of how much everything will cost you.
• De-clutter
Living in the same home for years can be synonymous with clutter. Keep in mind that viewers need to imagine what the property would look like if they were living there, and generally speaking most people have a hard time doing this. Make it easier for them by putting your excess clutter in storage or start selling it. The fewer items you have in your home, the bigger it will appear. You will be amazed by the amount of things you currently have that you don’t have a use for anymore. It’s important to depersonalize, without it being left looking like a chain hotel. Leave a bit of personality, this will help stimulate the imagination for potential buyers. But remove family pictures,
memorabilia collections, quirky art, religious items and political posters. These personal items can influence buyers views on the property. Also consider moving furniture around that make rooms feel smaller then they are.
It is hard to see it objectively after being in a home for so long, but it must be done.
• Freshen out dated rooms
Again, this is all about making it easier for viewers to imagine themselves in the property. If you have several rooms all painted with different and vibrant colours, remember that it will not be to everyone’s taste. By simply giving walls
Staging
your house
Try to look at your property from a viewers perspective. Does it look attractive, well kept, and clean, or is there room for improvement?
We have compiled a few simple tips that may appear to be obvious at first,
but can make all the difference to on sealing the deal.
These tips will help to potentially
add thousands of pounds to your property value and to sell it faster. Lets start by ‘staging’ - which essentially means preparing your property and arranging your furniture to best showcase the floor plan and maximize the use of space for viewings. With these tips your property will be picture perfect.
a quick splash of neutral paint rooms appear
lighter and bigger and will help viewers imagine themselves in the property. Don’t forget the exterior! Clear pathways, ensure that the exterior lights and doorbell works. You can even replace the door number to make it more memorable and place a few tubs of flowers outside that you can take with you when you move!
• Keep up with the maintenance
Many buyers want to be able to simply move in without having to worry about the long list of things that need to be repaired in the property. Quick fixes always pays off.
If you have minor adjustments that can be done such as broken doorknobs, cracked tiles, holes in the wall, dodgy paintwork, etc - do these before you have any viewings.
This is also a good way to keep the value up and leaves less room for negotiation from potential buyers.
First impressions are so important with viewings so make sure that everything is sparkling. Clean everything, get rid of limescale and hang up fresh smelling towels to make the property look and smell more appealing. A garden is a good selling point for any house, so make sure it is properly maintained, you may even want to consider planting flowers and touch up the exterior paintwork.
• Update the kitchen
You’re not actually selling your house, you’re selling theheart of the house – the kitchen. Note that the keyword is to update, and not buy a new kitchen, which is something personal to each person. The fastest and most inexpensive way to update it, is to take out bulky appliances, upgrade plumbing fixtures and if it’s possible, paint cabinets with a neutral-colour paint so you can present potential buyers with a blank canvas. If you have some extra cash to spend, consider buyer a new stainless steal appliance. This will trick people into thinking that all appliances are expensive.
• Make it look light and airy
A great idea is to hang up big mirrors – they make rooms appear much bigger and lighter. Hang the bigger ones in smaller rooms and hallways opposite windows to create this optical illusion. Don’t forget to clean all the windows inside and out and replace any fused light bulbs and place uplighters in dark corners to make the property appear more visually appealing. It’s the smaller details that make all the difference.
Viewers need to imagine what the property would look like if they were living there.
So de-clutter, keep to neutral colours hang up big mirrors – they make rooms appear much bigger and lighter.
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• Create an ambience with smell
Good smells can make a property appear more alluring and there are some great tricks to fool the nose. If you are a good baker, consider baking some cakes or bread.
This may not be practical for everyone, so why not brew some coffee instead. This will get viewers drooling and will heighten their smelling senses. If you have a fireplace and if it’s a cold evening, consider lighting a fire with some pinecones. It will give your property a homely feeling while smelling delicious. But if its not cold, make sure the fireplace is clean.
• Dress your property up
It may seem obvious, but make sure your property is presentable. Ensure windows are properly dressed (and clean). If you don’t have any curtains, consider buying some cheap neutral ones to make the rooms appear more personal. Get some plants and flowers to dress up the property – not only will they brighten up the room, they will make the room smell lovely too.
• Remove pets
Although your furry friend may warm your heart, keep in mind that not everyone is a dog or cat lover.
Also, allergies are something that are becoming more common, and these are linked to animal hairs. If you have a pet, consider having them stay at a friends house while potential buyers are viewing the property. Also remove all bowls, food, toys, litter boxes etc. A prospective buyer should never know that a pet has lived in their future home if it can be avoided.
If you have had animals on the property for a longtime you may want to consider hiring a cleaning service to do a deep cleaning and remove those unwanted animal smells and hairs.
• Storage
Good storage area are a great selling point and something homeowners can’t get enough of. It’s a must to show them off. Keep them clean, tidy and remove half of their content.
This will give them the illusion of being bigger then they are. If you show it jam-packed the buyer will think the house doesn’t have enough storage.
If you have a pet, consider having them stay at a friends house while potential buyers are viewing the property. Also remove all bowls, food, toys, litter boxes etc.
Don’t neglect to fix things that are broken.
Although temping to leave those small fixes undone, now is the time to do all those little fixes that you have been putting off for years.
You may have found a way of living in harmony with these imperfections, but that doesn’t mean that prospective buyers will.
Don’t give them any reason to be put off.
Top Tip
Top Tip
• Estate agents: Estate agents will know the local property prices. Our tip is to ask three different companies for a free valuation, and base your price on all three. You may want to add a little bit extra to allow for negotiation.
• Do your own research: go online and research your local property market. Have a look at what similar houses in your area have recently sold for and have a look at what current homes that are similar to yours are up for. You can also ask your neighbours, they might have had a professional valua- tion recently and can help you. Check out the ‘Land Registry’
for property price guide in England and Wales. Doing all this and free valuations from estate agents should give you a better idea of how much your property is worth.
How much is your house worth?
• Useful websites
Land registry House Price index www.landreg.gov.uk/house-prices Registers of Scotland
www.ros.gov.uk
Land Registers of Northern Ireland www.irelandlandregistry.co.uk RICS housing market survey www.rics.org/housingmarketsurvey
TIP: Don’t ask for too much money
Although you know how much you paid for your house, don’t forget that your house is only worth what the market is willing to pay you. Pric- ing your home too high will discourage interest- ed buyers from making an offer.
There is no exact science when it comes to property value. Ask for too much
and your property may not sell, ask for too little and be out of pocket. At this point it is worth starting to invest into your research to make an educated guess what
is the best realistic value of your home. 4
• Private: sales can take a while. You can try and sell your property on your own, by advertising it on portals
such as Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket. You will need to take nice pictures (or preferably hire a professional photographer), take the right measurements and so on.
You will have to negotiate and market your property on your own.
You have successfully done all the hard work!
Now comes the nerve-wrecking part – who do you trust to sell your house?
• Estate agent: sales can take up to nine months. They have knowledge of the area, tips to make your home more desirable and excellent marketing and negotiating skills plus they have a huge date base of potential clients.
A good estate agent will sell your home much faster than you can. However, you will have to pay agency fees, solicitor fees etc and the sale not guaranteed as national figures show that a third of sales made through estate agents fall though.
• Fast house purchase company: sales are typically between one and four weeks. They buy the property for slightly under asking prices, but there are no other hidden fees or legal hold-ups. No endless viewings, no estate agent fees and no unsightly ‘For Sale’ or ‘Sold’ boards.
Guaranteed sales. Talk to us to find out more!
Top Tip
Unless you have bought and sold dozens of properties, a ‘For Sale by Owner’ sign outside your home isn’t going to work. There is a lot of work behind selling a house, and many laws to abide by and could end up costing much more money in the long run as opposed to saving you some. If you do insist on selling it alone, then make sure you get a lawyer involved in the process from the start.
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A sale through an estate agent can take up to 9 months, while fast house selling agents can sell your property
in a matter of weeks!
Who should sell your house?
• Timetabling: even though most viewing only last 10 minutes, allow up to 30 minutes per viewing to allow to show off your property to the full extent and allow for any questions at the end.
• Feedback: get all feedback you can from viewers to improve for your next viewing. If viewers thought that your house was too cramped, consider putting furniture into storage.
• Notes: try and keep notes with names, details, times and dates so if you do get an offer from them, you know who it is and what your thoughts were on the person in question.
• Give them space: after showing your house, allow the viewers to view the property on their own
How to handle viewings
Now that you have made your home as attractive as it can be, it’s time
to welcome potential buyers to your home!
While doing this, try and detach yourself from the fact that it is your home. Here are a couple of tips to help you through this process.
Top Tip
Keep in mind that your home is perfect for you, and may not be someone else’s kind of ‘perfect’.
Although your aqua marine wall may go well with your sofa, but its likely they won’t match anyone else’s things. If your viewings aren’t going well, this is the point to consider letting go of the features you love and consider making everything as neutral as possible.
Don’t get emotionally involved
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Get all feedback you can from viewers to improve for your next viewing
Sellers using Fastest House Buyer don’t have to worry about arranging or paying for the items in this section, as we will organise and pay for it all so that the whole process is hassle free.
But for those selling privately or through agents here are some solicitor payments you need to consider:
Legal work
• Conveyancing: the legal process to transfer the property from one name to another. You might want to consider get- ting several quotes, and check that it is a fixed amount. Allow a minimum of £600 and check if it includes VAT to avoid nasty surprises. You can do this without a solicitor or a licensed conveyancer, but it is highly adviser you use a professional for this.
• Find a solicitor: you can ask around, or visit:
The Law Society of England and Wales www.lawsociety.org.uk
The Law Society of Scotland www.lawscot.org.uk
The Law Society of Northern Ireland www.lawsoc-ni.org
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers www.conveyancer.org.uk
The Conveyancing Association www.theconveyancingassociation.co.uk
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For those selling privately
or through agents here are some solicitor payments you need to consider
• Price: the first obvious point to look at is at your asking price. Perhaps your price is too high?
Property still not selling?
If after all these tips, your property is still not selling, there might be an underlying problem.
Here are some tips to help you get to the bottom of it:
Top Tip
It is possible to be near completion and then have to pull out from a sale due to minor details.
There are people that have lost a sale because they have decided to take the mantelpiece instead of leaving it. Don’t be that seller!
Don’t lose a sale over minor details
• Marketing: if your house is listed online, make sure that the pictures taken of your property show it off in the best light.
Don’t forget that this is the first impression potential buyers will be viewing before visiting the property. If your proper- ty is only listed with one estate agent - and if your contract allows it - why not consider listing it with other agents online for maximum visibility.
• Fix it up: maybe its your property itself that is the problem?
This is when it is important to make a note of the feedback from viewers. If it is due to problems that you are able to fix, it may be time to consider doing that to make it more desirable.
• Need a quick sale? why not contact us so we can help sell your property for you.
Is your asking price too high?
Here are some other things to consider.
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• Set a date: as soon as possible, make sure you make a note of what date you are able to move, and book time off from work as soon as you know.
Preparing to move
We want to make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible from start to finish, and just because we have successfully sold you house, doesn’t mean we shake hands and move on. We know that moving is one of the most stressful thing you can ever do, so here are some tips to make sure that the move goes as stress free as possible:
• Set up and cancel existing utility contracts: confirm your moving date with gas, electricity, water and telephone companies and don’t forget to cancel existing contracts and give them your final meter reading. Do the same with your local authority for Council Tax and notify the Post Of- fice to redirect post (there is a charge for doing this)
• Removals: don’t leave it until last minute. Make sure you book the removal company or arrange with friends and family to help you move your things. If you do book a removal company, get a few quotes from different companies. Don’t forget to check your home insurance to know if it covers you for damages during the move.
• Children and pets: make sure you make arrangements for children and pets on the day you are moving. They will be having a much better time if they are having fun at a family members home. Plus it will be much less stressful for you!
• Cleaning: clean as you pack, to avoid a huge backlog of cleaning at last minute. Start eating you way through the contents of your freezer.
• Clear out: Perhaps you have already done this step while preparing your home to put it on the market, but one
of the good things to come from moving is that you finally get a chance to go through all of your things with a fine toothcomb. You will be surprised to see the amount of stuff you have been storing away. Start to clear out what you don’t need and pack what you won’t need before the move.
• Packing: One of the best moving tips is to start packing as soon as possible. Even if you think you don’t have much, if you leave it until last minute you may get a nasty surprise.
• Colour coordinating: this is a super helpful tip and will save you a lot of stress if you manage to do this step.
Use colour-coded stickers (different colours for each room) and place them on the boxes and furniture to help you organize on the move day. Try placing a list of the boxes contents on the side of the box. Although this may seem a bit too much hassle, you will find this very useful when trying to find plates and cutlery.
• Details for new owners: leave a list for the new owners with all information like water meter, fuse boxes and gas / electricity meters, as well as information on rubbish and recycling collection.
Use colour-coded stickers (different colours for each room) and place them on the boxes and furniture to help you organize on the move day.
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