Selling Guide
Getting your home market ready
First impressions really do count and never more so when it comes to selling your home, which is why getting your property ready for market is crucial if you want to secure a quick sale. Kerb appeal is always high on buyer wish lists so it’s important to make the front of your property as attractive as possible.
Removing unappealing objects such as waste and recycling bins, mowing the lawn, jet-washing the driveway and cleaning windows should all be on your to do list. You might even want to consider giving the front door a fresh lick of paint. Similarly, it will pay to cast a critical eye over the inside. A good de-cluttering will always help, as will undertaking all those niggling DIY jobs you’ve been putting off for weeks!
Organising a valuation
When you’re ready to sell your home, the first thing you need to do is learn how much your current property is worth.
To do this you need to organise a valuation with a good local estate agent who will decide on a fair asking price based on different factors such as location, size, condition etc. Good comparable evidence and an understanding of the target audience should also support the valuation.
At Priors, if we think you could increase the value or saleability of your home by making certain changes, then we will tell you – it could be as simple as sprucing up the garden or replacing cupboard doors in a dated kitchen. It can be tempting to blindly choose the estate agent who’s given you the highest valuation; after all, you want the best price for your home!
But if a property is priced too high for the market, it won’t sell. If a home remains on the market for an extended period of time, buyers might start to think there’s something wrong with it, and the more likely you are to have to drop the price.
Selling through an estate agent
Choosing to sell your property through an estate agent, as opposed to privately, will not only reduce stress levels but also help you avoid big risks.
At Priors, we bring a wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise to the process of selling, from the initial valuation right through to completion, with our friendly team on hand to guide and advise you every step of the way.
Keeping the sale on track and acting as a safety net if something does go wrong, is all part of the service because we know that selling your home is probably one of the biggest transactions you will ever deal with in life and that achieving your desired result is vital.
Marketing Your Property
Promote your home to the most suitable buyers, which at Priors include the following component parts:
- Digital photographs taken to highlight the key rooms and features of your property
- A professionally drawn up floor plan
- Internet marketing through such portals as Rightmove and priorsestateagents.co.uk – our own bespoke website.
- On social media platforms such as Instagram
- Targeting the clients on our database with pro-active phone calls and specific emails to promote your home to most suitable buyers.
Accepting Viewings
Marketing material complete and your property now live, the viewing process can begin in earnest. We will accompany each viewing and offer the most flexibility in terms of times and days to suit your busy lifestyle.
While you are welcome to be present, we suggest you leave the prospective buyer to wander freely with us while making them aware that you’re available to answer questions if needed. We find that people are far more open and honest if the estate agent shows them around and this enables us to get far more detailed feedback.
At the end of a viewing we will give you full and honest feedback, some initially and then more detailed feedback within 24 hours. Please don’t take this personally, but rather see it as an opportunity to make changes and/or adjustments.
Negotiating Offers
When it comes to negotiating an offer, we as your estate agent, will handle the process, going back and forth until a bid is hopefully acceptable to you. This may not always be the highest one, however, especially if you have more than one offer and one of the prospective buyers is cash or perhaps chain free. A mortgage Agreement in Principle or the ability to work to your preferred timescales can also swing a sale.
It’s important to us that a seller never feels pressured or forced into accepting an offer, and it’s worth remembering that as your estate agent, we are acting on your behalf, not the buyer’s. We will therefore work with you to ensure you get the best possible price from someone in the best possible position for you. We want your decision to be made on an informed and well-educated basis, and as such we will always advise on other interest, viewings, feedback, general market conditions and comparable properties that have sold.
Accepting an offer
You have accepted an offer and the sale has been agreed, now both parties need to instruct a solicitor. If you know one with glowing references, then great, but if not, we know plenty that specialise in conveyancing that we’d be delighted to recommend.
Once we have both sets of solicitors in place, we send out a Memorandum of Sale to all parties involved, detailing the agreement and enabling the solicitors to make contact.
Conveyancing and survey
Sales Progression has become one of the most important parts of the house selling process, yet its one that a lot of estate agents overlook. Agreeing a sale your property is not simply ‘job done’
At Priors we proactively follow, chase and report back to our sellers throughout the whole sale process. It is the key to keeping the sale on track, keeping all parties fully informed, nipping any potential issues in the bud and keeping stress levels to a minimum.
Once the solicitors begin the conveyancing process, your buyer will be required to get a survey on behalf of their mortgage lender (unless a cash buyer of course), which could be just a basic mortgage valuation, a more detailed Homebuyers Report, or depending on the type of property you’re selling, an extensive building survey. Providing the survey shows the property is a suitable purchase at the agreed price, then the mortgage offer will be honoured.
If there are any concerns about the initial report, for example damp or gas safety, the buyer may choose to get further independent surveys. We would suggest, however, that if you suspect there could be a potential issue with your property that we discuss it before going to market as this information can then be shared with a future purchaser, potentially saving time and renegotiations further down the line.
Exchanging contracts
Conveyancing process complete and your buyer’s mortgage offer agreed, now contracts can finally be exchanged. Before exchange, however, your purchaser will need to lodge their deposit with their solicitor and a completion date needs to be agreed with everyone in the chain, after which the transaction becomes legal and binding for all parties.
Again, Priors will always be on hand to assist with the process of agreeing a moving date throughout any chain.
Completion
The big day has arrived and it’s time to load up the removal van. Before that, however, your buyer’s solicitor must transfer the remaining amount due on the purchase price. Once your solicitor has received monies outstanding then that’s it – completion has taken place.
This will be confirmed via a phone call to both you and us, after which we will arrange for the new owner to collect the keys. Completion monies will be transferred to you, usually minus your solicitor and estate agent fees.