Selling your home is one of the biggest financial decisions you will make but, you may be wondering do you need an estate agent to sell your home?
We are going to look at if it is possible to sell your home yourself, the responsibilities that are involved and whether or not you should hire an estate agent.
Can you sell without an estate agent?
There is the option to sell your home yourself rather than using an estate agent. If you are looking to reduce costs, selling your home yourself could work out cheaper. However, before you dive right in and decide to do this, you need to do some research into what an estate agent’s responsibilities are when selling a home, to understand what you will need to do. Take a look of our latest blog here to read about the responsibilities an estate agent has. It is important you are prepared to take on all these responsibilities, before going down the route of selling your home on your own.
Do you have the time?
You need to consider whether you have the time to sell your home yourself, as it can take a considerable amount of your time up. In 2022, on average it is currently taking around 150 days to reach the completion date of a property. So, you will need around five months to sell your home. However, this process could take longer if you have to do everything yourself and you only have time to sort the sale of your house in your spare time. Whereas, if you hired an estate agent they would take on all the responsibilities for you.
How do you market your home without an estate agent?
You need to consider how you will market your home. An estate agent has access to property portals such as, Zoopla and Rightmove which attract millions of buyers each month. Only estate agents can market homes on these portals so, you will need figure out other ways in which to market you home, in order to find a buyer.
Some marketing options are:
- Put a advert in newspapers
- Post your home on social media
- Word of mouth- ask you friends and family to tell people your home is for sale
- Leaflets
- List your home on websites such as, thehouseshop
These marketing options will help you find a buyer however, you won’t be able to reach as many buyers as property portals do and there is no guarantee potential buyers will see your newspaper advert or social media posts. When did you last pick up the newspaper and look at properties?
High quality photographs of your home are important, if your photos do not look professional it could reduce your chances of selling your home. Photographs of your home may be the first thing potential buyers see, so it is important to get them right. If you are selling your home yourself it could be a good idea to hire a professional photographer. The average cost of a photographer is around £150-£300.
Something to remember is that marketing yourself might not necessarily be free, so you will need to budget for this. Agents include all the marketing in their fee.
Valuation
Getting the right valuation for your home is important. If the asking price is too high, your home may end up on the market for a long time. This could leave buyers believing there is something wrong with your home and that’s why it’s not sold yet. Alternatively, if the price is too low you could lose out on a lot of money.
To do a valuation yourself you will need to do some research. You need to find out what homes in your area are selling for and have sold for. You can also use an online valuation website to get an estimation. One way to do this is through Haus, a dedicated desktop valuation website. Haus gives you an estimation on your home and allows you to see the selling prices.
If you want to know more about valuations, take a look at our blog post ‘ A guide on how to get your home valued’.
Energy Performance Certificate
To sell your home you must have an energy performance certificate (EPC). This is a really important document, so you must get one as soon as possible. Be sure to check if you already have one first as they are valid for ten years.
An estate agent would usually help you sort out an EPC. So, if you are selling by yourself you need to do some research into how to get one before selling your home.
Communicating with potential buyers
If you chose to sell your home by yourself, then during the selling process you need to prepare to communicate often with potential buyers. You will have to arrange viewings, answer any questions they might have, negotiate and chase them up. You will need to communicate a lot when you sell your home. So, if you are not good with speaking with people, it would be a good idea to hire an estate agent and let them take on this responsibility.
Are you comfortable conducting viewings?
You will need to show potential buyers around your home if you sell by yourself, so you need to be comfortable doing this. If you was to use an estate agent instead they would handle viewings, vet the buyers and make sure your home is secure.
Getting your home sale ready
Getting your home sale ready for some sellers is is one of the most stressful parts of selling. There is a lot to prepare and you have to keep on top of the cleaning for each viewing. To get your home sale ready you need to declutter the inside and outside of your home, mow the grass, add a lick of paint to your walls, fix anything broken and stage your home.
The benefit of having an estate agent is they know from experience which parts of your home need the most work and how to make the best features of your home stand out. An estate agent will know how to stage your home and what personal belongings to put away. They will be there to offer you advice which should help take some of your stress away.
Negotiations
Negotiations are a responsibility an estate agent would usually deal with. They are trained for negotiations and they know how to create a happy relationship between a seller and buyer. If you haven’t hired an estate agent you need to prepare. Before going into the negotiations have in your head what you want to come away with. What is the lowest price you will be willing to sell your home for? Do you want higher than the asking price? Negotiations can be difficult and emotions can get in the way but, you want to try to have a good relationship with the buyer, in order to get the best possible price for your home and stop the risk of the sale falling through.
Summary
Yes, it is possible to sell your home without an estate agent. However, it will take a lot of work and time and as selling your home is one of the biggest financial decisions you will make, getting it wrong could lead to your home not selling or you losing out on money. So, only sell on your own if you are sure you can take on the responsibilities.
In addition, if you have now decided that hiring an estate agent would be the best option, as they make the process less stressful and have experience in selling homes. Visit our website homemove and enter your postcode to find a trusted estate agent in your area, ready to make your dreams of selling come true.
