Whether it’s to immigrate to warmer climates (lucky you) or to finalise a divorce; if you are reading this then I guess you need to sell your property more quickly than the rest. So, what are your options?

Auction

Not for the faint-hearted! People and developers who buy at auction are there for a bottom of the barrel bargain. You may not get anywhere near the amount you expected and be stuck with lots of legal fees. Get some great advice if you’re venturing down this route.

Estate Agent

The traditional route, that has currently got a little stuck. Estate Agents will fall over themselves to manage your property and can sometimes over value your property to win your business so do your research and talk to 3 or 4 to get an accurate idea of the situation. There are no guarantees of speed or even a sale.

Established Property Buyers

This could be a good solution; however look out for a few things. You want to find a company who give you a respectable offer (average offers range between 60-80% of the Market Value) treat you well and work with a strong degree of transparency. Ask friends for recommendations. Search for Testimonials and feedback on a company. Make sure they are regulated by the FSA.

The initial conversation with a property buyer:

Give them a ring, apply online or pop into their office for a chat. Feel free to ask any questions you may have. You should be personally assigned a representative to work with you from start to finish. They should first get an understanding of your property and situation. Ask to ensure that all your information that you provide is held in the strictest of confidence. Companies will generally then make you a provisional offer at this point. This should be 60-80% of the current Market Value. Then together if you are happy you can arrange a meeting/viewing.

The meeting and viewing of the property:

Normally you will find companies that will visit you within 48 hours of the initial conversation. If you are happy with all the details, the contracts can be exchanged and signed on the spot. There are national cash property buyers that do have this ability, don’t get me wrong you will find that most still take months so be sure to ask the question, how long will it be before we exchange contracts? This gives you the security of a guaranteed quick property sale. How long will it be before the property sale is completed? Again there are companies out there that can complete a sale within 48 hours if you need to.

The next thing is the advertising side of the project. With an estate agent they will normally pay for the advertising of the property, however when you are selling your own property you will have to pay for your own advertising up front and to cover a large area you may have to advertise in the papers and the internet. The other thing is the large estate agents will advertise on places like “Right move”. Private sellers are not accepted to sell on these websites which means you could loose some coverage. Not only this but you will have to make your own For Sale board up if you decide to have one.

You will also have to consider having someone there to take the calls. There are some people who will not ring a mobile phone because they think it is too expensive. So make sure you have someone there to answer your land line phone. Viewings are the next thing you need to consider. with an agent sometimes you can trust them with a key to go and do viewings when you are not at home. When you are selling your own home you will have to be there every time you wish to do a viewing. This can be an advantage because you know where everything is, however some people may not find it easy trying to negotiate prices direct with the seller and prefer to do it through an agent so they don’t have to be face to face with a bartering situation.

Bear in mind when it comes to the actual sale and contracts to be drawn up you will probably need to employ a solicitor or conveyancer to handle this part. You will have to keep chasing the solicitors and other parties to make sure everything is going to plan where as normally your estate agent would do this job for you. Before you start to take on the responsibility of your own sale take into account all of the tasks necessary to see if it is worth the saving in money or if it is worth letting an agent get on with the job.