10 Things You Need To Know Before Selling Your Property

Selling a property isn’t always a straightforward process, and without a good knowledge of how the process works, it can all become much more difficult. If you’re planning to put your house on the market within the next couple of months, or if it is simply something you are musing over this quick guide can help everything seem less daunting from the offset, and give you a good foundation of knowledge to build on, to make for a happy house selling experience.

1. Be sure you want to sell
The very first step to selling a house is ensuring that you are absolutely making the right decision. Make sure that you know the reasons why you are selling and that those are the correct ones. It can be very pricy moving home, so it could be worth considering staying put and making changes to the house, or consider renting before you sell.

2.Know the market in your local area
It is key when selling a house to do your research beforehand. There are many resources now which mean that you should be able to make a somewhat educated guess as to what kind of price you will get for your house. Online you can often find details of other houses near you that have recently sold, and you can look at what agents are selling that are similar to your property.

3. Know how to sell your house
Although traditionally we all think of using an agent to sell properties there are other ways of doing it:

• Sell privately. This will avoid paying agency fees, however, you will miss out on the marketing of your home that the agent provides.
• Sell at an auction, which is best for a quick sell, however, you run the risk of losing out on the full value of the property.
• ‘Quick sell agents’. These are usually agencies that will buy the property themselves, or find a third party buyer faster than a usual agent, but at a discounted price. Be vigilant with this method – the Office of Fair Trading has completed a study which indicated that in some cases it was unclear who was buying the house and how.

Whichever way you are looking to sell agencies usually do free valuations, so it is advisable to get 3 different prices from different agents to get an idea of sale value, even if you don’t use an agent.

4. Know about Agencies
If you decide to go with an agent make sure you do your research here too. If possible try and ask around the local community for good/bad experiences with agents so that you know who will give you the right service.

5. Know about Energy Certificates
It is now a legal requirement in the UK to have an energy certificate for a house that is on the market. These indicate to buyers how energy efficient the house is, and they can easily be arranged through your agent. If you are selling without an agent, you can find an assessor through the EPC register.

6. Know your buyer
Once you get an offer on your house it is important to consider the position of your buyer. If you are lucky enough to get more than one offer on the house, you need to make sure you choose the right buyer for the right reasons. If you are using an agent, it can be advisable for you to ask them to try and get some information about the buyers, for example if they are first time buyers, cash buyers, and when they are looking to move. Being equipped with this information will ensure that the exchange of the contract will happen as quickly and as smoothly as possible.

7. Know Conveyancing
Conveyance is the legal process of selling and buying properties. You can do this yourself, however, it can be quite complicated. Most people choose to use a solicitor, or in England and Wales, you can use a licensed conveyor. It is advisable to find a solicitor through the Law Society, and if you want to use a Licensed Conveyor then it is essential to go through the Council for Licensed Conveyors. In both cases you should ask for a breakdown of fees before you start so you are sure you are not paying over the odds.

8. Know Exchanging
The Exchange part of the process is when all contracts are drawn up and signed, and a moving date – completion – is set. If there is a deposit set for the house, this is when it will be paid. This is the best time to inform utilities companies of your move, so as not to incur extra charges on your bills, as well as informing the council for council tax bills.

9. Know How To Protect your Investment and Get The Most For Your Property
There are often small and cost efficient changes that can be made to your property before you put it on the market, which can make a significant difference in price. Understanding what will be picked up in a survey is important, as sometimes alterations can be relatively inexpensive. Making changes to decor and decluttering the house can also make it more appealing to a buyer, meaning a quicker and more fruitful sale.

10. Know all of the costs
The overall costs for selling your property include:

– Agency Fees – usually between 1% – 2% of the value of the property. With some agents there are additional costs for : advertising, preparing details of the house including photographs, a ‘For Sale’ board and VAT.

– Solicitors Fees – for the conveyance it is important to get many quotes from a solicitor. Ensure you are clear whether it is a fixed fee you are being quoted for, or if it could varyin accordance to the workload, check VAT and expenses are included, and also ask the cost that would be incurred if the sale falls through.

– Survey – Anything between £250 for a standard survey, up to £1,000+ for full structural surveys.

– EPC cost – between £60 – £120, it is worth shopping around for the best deal.

– Stamp Duty – For properties over a certain price you are required to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax. The amounts are as follows:

Purchase price of property – Rate of SDLT (percentage of the total purchase price)

£0 – £125,000 – 0%
£125,001 – £250,000 – 1%
£250,001 – £500,000 – 3%
£500,001 – £1 million – 4%
Over £1 million – £2 million – 5%
Over £2 million – 7%