In addition to our own Hatch Batten selling guide, the link below to the Government website also provides information on how to sell your home.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-sell-a-home/how-to-sell-a-home
Our guide is broken down into the headings below which form the main parts of the selling process. Whilst it may not cover every eventuality, we trust you will find this information useful. This selling guide is provided as guidance information only and should not be taken as definitive. You are advised to take your own legal advice regarding the selling of your property.
Do your own market research to help establish the value of your property. It is relatively easy in today's internet world to do your own research on what your property may be worth. Searches on national property portals or local estate agent's websites will probably provide comparable properties and therefore indicate the price you should ask. There are also other resources that show what price a property sold for, such as the land Registry in the UK to which a link is provided below:
https://landregistry.data.gov.uk/app/ppd
Local estate agents are valuing properties constantly and therefore should have a good knowledge of current property values in their local area. It is common for property owners to obtain the views of several local estate agents to gain a broad perspective because often views on valuations can differ.
It is natural for property owners to want as much for their property as they are able to obtain, however, increasing the advertised asking price may extend the time period the property takes to sell, therefore if the priority is to sell the property quickly a more realistic asking price at the outset may prove more beneficial.
The vast majority of properties sold in the UK sell through Estate Agents as opposed to private sales and in the majority of these cases the Estate Agents will charge a commission based on the final selling price. Some may also charge a fixed price fee, which has become more popular amongst companies that have based themselves as online agents, which are principally estate agents without local or high street branches. Some traditional estate agents also offer this.
Some people may be influenced by reviews seen on internet sites, but these can prove to be fake and unreliable as well as some that are genuine, the general issue is that often it is not possible to determine genuine from fake.
Research the local agents and judge for yourself how knowledgeable they are about properties in your area. Keep an eye on the number of For Sale Boards agents have displayed on other properties in the area and try to obtain the views and experiences of people who have used the agents you may be considering.
Once you have chosen an estate agent to market your property, the next decision is the type of contract you will enter into with your chosen agent. Most agents would naturally prefer you to instruct them to sell your property exclusively, known as “sole agency”, rather than instruct more than one agent on what is known as “multi-agency”. Sole or exclusive means you instruct one agent only to sell your property for which they will earn X percentage of the selling price. This percentage can range from less than 1% in competitive markets to more than 3% or even higher, which you will find in certain very high property valued areas, or where the more expensive agency chains tend to operate, Central London comes to mind.
Most agents wish to charge a higher percentage for their commission on a multi-agency basis, this is because generally only the agent that actually finds a buyer will be paid the commission and therefore the agents consider there is a higher risk that they will end up doing work to help sell your property but lose out and receive nothing for their efforts if the other agent finds the buyer. Some people may think that in a multi-agency scenario there is a certain amount of urgency on the part of the agents you have instructed to find a buyer for your property because only one will be paid the commission, so time is of the essence.
There is much speculation in to why and how someone selling a property could find themselves paying commission to two estate agents thereby potentially paying double the commission they expect to pay when they sell their property. In essence this simply boils down to the contract/s you enter into with the estate agents and fully understanding the implications when things go right as well as if they go wrong.
Is it possible to find yourself paying double commission? In theory yes, although a previous UK Court of Appeal ruling offers some clarity and protection. See link below:
Most estate agent's offer their services on a no sale no fee basis and their contracts try to ensure their commission is payable once contracts are exchanged, typically with their commission paid on completion of the property sale with payment made through your solicitors/conveyancers. Some agents attempt to claim their commission is payable at the point the “Sale is Agreed”, which means they have introduced a potential buyer and you the seller has agreed, subject to contract, to the offer the potential buyer has made. However, for a multitude of reasons not all properties that become “Sale Agreed” continue to an exchange of contracts or the completion of the property being sold. From the agent's perspective, they have introduced a potential purchaser for your property and as such they are entitled to the commission you agreed to pay them to find a buyer. Clearly from the seller's perspective they would not wish to pay the agreed commission if the sale is not completed. It is therefore important, as it is with all contracts, to read and fully understand what the contract is committing each party to and in terms of commission, when and on which event/s does it become due and payable. Is commission paid at the point the sale is agreed, at the point contracts are exchanged or when the property sale reaches completion.
Photographs can seriously assist in gaining initial interest when they are viewed by potential purchasers prior to even viewing the property in person. Therefore, there should rightly be significant focus on decluttering your property to ensure it is presented in its best light in the photographs.
Most agents will take photos of the property as part of their service and should have experience on how to photograph the property to present the most appealing and saleable points.
Some agents as part of their service will also produce a floor plan of the property which significantly helps gain interest in potential purchasers when viewing the property online prior to organising a personal viewing. 2D floor plans prove very popular with some potential purchasers because they can visualise their own furniture and belongings and how the property space will work for them.
It is a legal requirement in the UK to provide an EPC when marketing a property for sale or rental. The link below to the UK governments website provides necessary details on what the EPC is for and how to obtain one.
https://www.gov.uk/buy-sell-your-home/energy-performance-certificates
The production of the EPC will normally be organised by your chosen estate agent, although you are equally welcome to organise your own. The production of an EPC is carried out by individuals that have trained to identify the various aspects of how energy efficient a property is likely to be and also likely energy costs. The production of the EPC will sometimes be undertaken by someone directly employed by the estate agent or the service may be provided by an external company which offer their services in the market place generally.
Viewings of your property by potential purchasers would typically be organised and accompanied by your chosen agent as part of their service. Often this is based on convenience because the property owner may be at work during the day and therefore viewing times would otherwise be limited to outside working hours. Also, the perceived benefit of the estate agent accompanying viewings would be that an experienced estate agent would understand the needs of the potential purchaser and therefore know how to best present the property during the viewing process, by naturally highlighting those aspects of the property that they know may appeal to the potential purchaser. Some property owners choose to conduct their own viewings in order to ensure they fit within the activities of the property owner and family commitments.
Some agents organise what is commonly known as “open house” viewings. This is where the property is open to be viewed only on a certain day or perhaps more then one, but is intended to have the maximum number of viewings on a single day. This can be attractive to those property owners who wish to declutter and present their property in somewhat like a show home presentation on a single day, which then leaves them to live normally without interruption for intermittent viewings. In addition this type of viewing arrangement can lead to a number of potential purchasers viewing at the same time or have viewing times that overlap, which may cause competitiveness amongst the potential purchasers.
The link to the guide below provided by Rightmove provides further information on the types of viewings and other useful tips.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/guides/buyer/buying-a-property/viewings/
Whilst many people will have differing views on a property value two points are fairly consistent. The first is that the seller will often have a higher value of the property than prospective buyers. Secondly, the real value of a property is what someone is prepared to pay for it, irrespective of individual valuations placed on it.
It is sound advice to have a realistic price in mind that you wish to achieve for the sale of your property. Typically, as the seller you may wish to place a higher asking price for the property than you wish to ultimately achieve, knowing full well that most purchasers will offer something less than the asking price. Conversely, some sellers who are eager to sell quickly may wish to place a lower asking price for their property and indicate firmly that offers below this will not be entertained.
It is typical for your instructed estate agent to be involved in the price negotiations because in general it is through the agent that prospective purchaser will make their offers, although it is important to remember that it is you the property owner that remains in control.
It is important to determine what is and is not included in the selling price that is finally agreed, which may include internal or external items. Equally important is to define if there are any other elements or conditions applied to the acceptance of the purchase price. This could for example be conditions concerning the time frame under which contracts are exchanged or when completion of the sale/purchase must be concluded.
Finding a Solicitor or Conveyancer to handle the legal process of selling your property. Whilst it is not a legal requirement in the UK to use someone legally trained in the buying/selling process and you could conceivably do this yourself, it is seriously advised that property transactions are completed by trained professionals.
Ask family and friends for recommendations based on their experiences.
Some estate agents will refer you to solicitors/conveyancers that they have relationships or arrangements with. Commissions or introduction fees may be paid to the estate agent for these introductions, however, it is worth being conscious of the fact that it is in the estate agents interest that the sale of your property reaches completion, often because their commission payment from the seller is determined by this.
In addition to the Law Society where registered Solicitors may be found, there are two organisations where registered conveyancers can be found. Links to all three are provided below and each provides a search to find Solicitors/Conveyancers:
Law Society
https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/public/for-public-visitors/
Council for Licenced Conveyancers
The link below will take you to the relevant page to search for a licenced conveyancer.
https://www.clc-uk.org.uk/cms/cms.jsp?menu_id=19871
The Society of Licensed Conveyancers
https://www.conveyancers.org.uk
Once the seller and purchaser have agreed the price and also any other terms of the sale of the property and subsequently instructed their respected Solicitors/conveyancers, their representatives will begin the legal process. This will involve the exchange of information between the seller and the purchaser through their legal representatives regarding the sale, what is included, any conditions appertaining to the sale. It will also involve the seller providing answers to a detailed questionnaire about many aspects of the property generally, services to the property, compliance and test certificates where applicable, planning or building regulation certificates to any changes to the property and also details regarding services to the property and disputes with local neighbours. In addition to any specific questions posed by the purchaser.
As part of the questionnaire process the purchaser's legal representative will also undertake what is commonly known as searches. This includes obtaining legal documents, Title Deeds from the land registry to verify that the seller is the rightful owner. Obtaining documentation from the local authority regarding planning permissions or planning applications or local authority plans that may affect the property being sold and its surrounding area both currently and in the future.
Once the purchaser and their legal representative are satisfied will all the information from the questions and searches a draft contract of sale/purchase will be drawn up between the legal representatives of the seller and buyer. The draft contract may go back and forth until all parties are satisfied that it truly represents what has been agreed, following which a date will be agreed to “Exchange Contracts”. Exchange of contracts is somewhat of a paperwork exchange exercise on the day of exchange, however, this may also include deposit payments being made or verification of mortgage approval etc if these have not previously been attended to.
At the point contracts are exchanged the legal commitment has been made by all parties to progress with the sale/purchase of the property. This is unless of course any material information should come to light that may render the contract null and void.
As part of the process of the Exchange of Contracts a date for completion of the sale/purchase may also be agreed.
Completion refers to the specific date on which the sale/purchase of the property will be concluded. It is on this date that the legal representatives of the seller and also the purchaser will ensure the money and all other aspects of the contract are fulfilled, upon which completion of the sale/purchase has been concluded.
It is normally expected that seller will fully vacate the property and keys handed over to the purchaser on the day of completion and to be fair to each party, seller moving out and purchaser moving in, sometime around the middle of the day is considered fair, although not always possible.
It is also important as part of the completion process to take meter readings for things such as water, electricity, gas and provide these to the respective suppliers to ensure the sellers commitments ends and the purchaser's liability takes commences. It is generally advised that these are shared between the various parties involved with the sale/purchaser to avoid disputes between the parties or the various suppliers later.