Steps to Selling Your House Privately

If you are wanting to sell my house privately, here are some steps that will assist you in being able to do so with the greatest chance of success.

Step 1: Decide on a price to ask.

Although this is normally what an estate agent can do, you can set your asking price. The trick here is to do your research; trawl through websites to see what similar properties in your area are selling for. Look even at the sales rates because there is most frequently a difference between the asking price of a seller and what a property sells for.

Step 2: Spruce your house

If your property is sold privately then your time is money! By making your house 'pre-spruced,' clean, maybe with a fresh lick of paint, you 're going to make your house even more sellable ... and a fast sale ensures that you don't have to waste your time entertaining others!

Step 3: Begin the advertising of your property

Homebuyers are more likely to travel between 3 and 6 miles away from their current homes according to study. This means that the most likely buyers will be your neighbours if you sell yours in private!

With that in mind, try leafleting the surrounding streets, using the local store noticeboards, advertising in local newspapers, and going all out on word-of-mouth. Those may sound like somewhat unoriginal marketing strategies, but they are tried and tested, and often cost very little.

One thing to note is that most people looking to buy properties would do so online. Sadly most of the large portals do not allow private sellers to explicitly list their properties. One way around this would be to find an online or hybrid estate agent (such because ourselves!), as they will sell your home for a fixed amount on the major portals.

Step 4: Set Viewing Times

Typically it is estate agents who arrange viewings of the house, but if you go down the private sales path then it will be your responsibility. If you are unable to screen, consider enlisting assistance or friends or family to show prospective buyers around.

Step 5: Negotiate a price

The most important aspect here is to determine how much you are prepared to accept in advance and to concentrate on not going below that amount.

Don't stress too much if you have to turn down a bid; it's very very normal, and as long as you do so in a polite and friendly way, you'll always leave the door open just in case the buyer wants to come back with a revised offer afterwards.

Step 6: Accept a bid

In the first case, this will normally be done verbally but be sure to ask the buyer to submit written confirmation via email or post. It is not going to be legally binding (nothing is before contract exchange) but the bigger the paper trail the better.

Step 7: Advise an Advocate or Conveyancer

When a bid has been accepted the next move is to employ a solicitor or conveyor. The most important piece of advice here is to do your research; it is generally a good first step to ask friends or family for suggestions, but the internet and sell my house online sites are also a very useful resource.

It should be remembered that licensed conveyance firms will sometimes be cheaper than lawyers when doing the same job.