Hi everyone,

I thought I would start this general thread since I know the housing market isn't great at the moment (especially in the UK and USA!) and I thought people may have come up with some ideas on how to sell their place quickly.

We sold our house in June 2007 so the market was a little different then. We were putting the house on the market in January 2007 (not the best time of year but we wanted it sold by June when we were leaving) and so got all this done beforehand....

Finish all those 'little' jobs around the house and garden that we hadn't done in the 10 years we'd lived there!

Decorate all the rooms in neutral colours (our study was bright green and may have put some people off).

Get rid of most of the clutter but still make the place look lived.

Try not to sell your place empty since people aren't always that good at imagining what furniture would look like in a room.

Replace any carpets - we didn't replace with anything expensive just stuff that looked better than what we had.

Replace the kitchen. We had meant to do this for years since it was dark wood and depressing. We bought it through trade (most people can set up trade accounts if they have a business card, and a couple of people to vouch for them) and my parents replaces it for us (they had experience in DIY).

Tidy the garden and add plants to the front garden to give the place 'kerb appeal'.

Look at the house from the other side of the road to see if we had missed anything and how a visitor would view the house - first impressions count.

When it came to selling the house we looked in local papers and online to see what similar places were selling for. Then we got the major estate agents round for valuations. The valuations we had from estate agents varied by as much as £40,000 (over A$80,000 since we are in Oz now). That's why you need to know the local prices. One estate agent had no idea of local prices and valued it far too low, whereas another one wanted the business and offered a price too high.

Most estate agents only work for themselves (we're property investors and seriously this is the case even though they take the vendors money). We did not tell them that we were leaving the country (we were moving closer to my parents - it's true since we were staying in there house until we left ) and I didn't tell them the lowest price we would accept. If you tell some estate agents the lowest price you'll accept they actually tell your potential buyers that and so that's the kind of offers you'll get.

We chose one estate agent (they are well known and have big spreads in the local paper and on line, also priced it well) and negotiated a reduced commission and said that they could have it for 6 weeks. Tell them anything specific that you want for example we wanted people who would complete in June.

If possible try to show any prospective buyers round yourself or be there when the estate agent does viewings. I know this isn't always possible but you will probably do a better job of showing your house than most estate agents will. Check your paperwork and know things like when the central heating was put in and other things like that since prospective buyers tend to
ask questions like that about the house and also know some things about the local area (schools, doctors etc).

Work out if you could rent out the property rather than sell it if you don't get a buyer. Some people can and others can't but it's always good to know your situation.

Try not to get stressed - I know this is easier said than done

Good luck with selling your property!

Regards,
Karen

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Money-Magnets: The Blog - How to get your money to work for YOU

When selling property,i made up cards with as much pertinent information as possible ; asking price,'Things' that stay( fridge-stove-drapes-garden furniture etc) location and distance of schools-hospitals-churches-dentist etc,taxes,malls etc .Many people forget these things when contemplating which house has what etc , so your info cards can be a great influence due to the fact many people visit too many homes .I always make my own list as i go for just those reasons , you are selling your house , not the real estate agent , all he/she wants is closure to make income .In Canada we were expected(told) to not approach a viewer , i always told them on arrival that they were welcome to ask anything about anything they were not sure of , the agents rarely did thier homework . Hope this helps get you a quick sale . Colin .

I'm not so sure it's a good idea to be around when people are viewing your home. When I was looking for a condo, I hated it when the owners were there. I wanted to make a comment about something I didn't like, or ask if some obnoxious feature could be removed, and I couldn't because there was the owner, listening. I had to try and remember my questions for later, which didn't work well.

The owner was there at the beginning when I saw the place I bought, but the agent sent him away after a quick walkthrough, leaving me to comment on the dead plants and the Elmo door and the weird closets.

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I would never say anything negative in front of the owner either, but owners can usually sell better their homes better than an estate - I guess I'm basing this on the UK and things may be different in other countries. In the UK I've been shown around a house by an agent who was just holding the same details that I already had and he was reading them to me! He didn't know anything else at all about the property.

Regards,
Karen

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Money-Magnets: The Blog - How to get your money to work for YOU

The whole idea of having the owner present when you view , is simply because 'They know all or most of the answers to your questions' , the agents most likely know diddly squat and could care less or can easily give you misinformation . I think you were being spurious about the dead plants , you were there to view not to comment on thier likes or dislikes , but to be pertinent about things of importance to you as a possible future resident .
What's an Elmo door ? Colin .

When we sold our house two years, my husband or I were always present. There were always so many questions and the fact that we had a granny annex at the end of the garden, the amount off questions that raised was incredible, especially about planning permission. They also wanted to know the more obvious questions, about double glazing, central heating, extended warranties, planning permission for the loft and what fixtures and fittings were being left. There were also a lot of questions about the new secondary school opposite us regarding admission and any problems with parking and the children in general. None of these questions could have been answered by an estate agent, some of whom looked like they were just out of nappies.

I suppose now, a popular question is about the rubbish collection or rather lack of it!

We were lucky because we sold to an investor, who rented the house to us for the two weeks before we left London.

Michelle

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A wonderful place to live

A useful post. Well done!

Just a couple of comments; replacing the kitchen is expensive. If the doors were standard sizes you could give it a facelift by just changing or painting the doors.

We boxed up and put our clutter into store. it wasn't that expensive and just meant we were prepared for the move a bit better.

In the UK Estate Agents are working on the vendor's behalf, to get the best price for the vendor. (The vendor is paying him!) It is against their 'code of practice' to reveal the vendor's lowest selling to a buyer and you could sue them for malpractice if you could prove they did it! But that's not true of everywhere. Here in Cyprus, it seems to me that anything goes! Literally! Always have in your mind the phrase 'let the buyer beware'.

Good point. Ours was a hand built kitchen so we couldn't just replace the doors.

I know that's not the way it's supposed to work in the UK but we are property investors and we've been told the several times by estate agents whether the buyer will accept an offer (and the region of the offer without giving us the lowest price exactly) and we've had estate agents not submit our offers too - both of which shouldn't happen. That's why I wouldn't tell the estate agent anything. Also not all estate agents are part of professional bodies either.

Regards,
Karen

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Money-Magnets: The Blog - How to get your money to work for YOU

I have expereince with selling our home in America.
After all the basic stuff; repairs, fresh painting and gardening I would also have a pot of fresh coffee and cookies available, a candle or two in one bedroom with fresh flowers in the other besides having everything spotlessly clean.

Hi all,
The house i lived in previously had a serious lack of wall sockets......which I did not think to check....1 in each bedroom, none in the hallways and only 2 in the kitchen. It was a major expense and total rewire........I know this is from a buyers perspective, but a fair point all the same !
The house I'm in now......well it had really bad decor(someone thought they were an artist) they were wrong..........and the oven...well what can I do to describe it......I needed a wallpaper scraper to get the gunk from the bottom....so please leave someone a clean oven !
At the end of the day if the bricks and mortar are sound and location is right, well anything else can be sorted.
When I sold my house in Glasgow, I had a bit of Brisket in the oven and fresh coffee on........the house was immaculate, nothing to be done to it, but it sold to the first person who saw, "no lie" !!!
Terrified that doesn't happen this time !
Nance