One question we all think about is ‘What is the best way of selling my house?’ S0, following on from last weeks post about the pitfalls of buying and selling I have decided to look at alternatives for the seller.
I have spoken to a couple of Auction Houses recently, Barnard Marcus and Auction House, and the system is infinitely superior to dealing with any estate agent. There is greater certainty in that when the hammer goes down contracts are exchanged and everyone is committed to the sale, the buyer having to pay 10% deposit immediately which he will lose if he fails to complete. There is also time pressure on the buyer as they often have to complete within 28 days so the seller is not only guaranteed a sale, but he has a great deal of certainty that the sale will go through in a timely manner.
So, what are the drawbacks of this process? If the seller is in a chain, then they may find themselves homeless after they sell their house as their completion will probably take place months before the chain has sorted itself out. On the flip side the seller will have cash to buy and be able to move quickly on another property, presuming of course it is chain free! The key I feel is to put the necessary planning in place so that when you put your property into an auction you know exactly where you are going and have a good idea of the timespan to purchase your next home. If you feel you may be in need of accommodation between sale and purchase you can always arrange a short term stay with the likes of ourselves who specialise in the field without the need for a tenancy agreement.
The key to selling at auction is to list very early, often the Auctions take place every 6-8 weeks so that gives you plenty of time to plan ahead and get the property marketed and viewed by as many interested parties as possible. Get your price right and your marketing right and you know that the whole process will take 3 months with sale guaranteed at the end.
The other major issue in respect of Auctions is the uncertainty of the price you will achieve. You can have a degree of protection by setting a minimum price which you are prepared to accept, called a reserve, but the key is to set a price that attracts a lot of interest and depend on the auctioneer to build momentum and achieve the desired result. It is a difficult balance but the upside is that there is no maximum price at which the property can be sold for, whereas when you set a price with an estate agent you can be certain the 90% of the time you will not achieve that objective and will negotiate downwards.
The massive plusses are the guaranteed sale and speed of the process once sale has been achieved. For those who have time on their side it is perhaps not the first choice with the estate agents being the “comfort blanket” for most sellers as well as buyers.
If you like a flutter or a bit of a gamble, then the auction process could be a winner as there is no maximum a property can sell for. You have the security of the reserve to fall back on and the contracts are exchanged when the hammer goes down. I am looking at selling my house in Lowestoft. Three estate agents have been on the case for months and going nowhere fast. I spoke to Auction House East Anglia and spoke to them about the process and options on fees and they were very knowledgeable and helpful. I informed all the estate agents that I was going this route and remarkably the house was sold by one of them a week later!
You can always consider the likes of Sell My House Quickly Grantham and Sell My House Quickly Newark who offer a streamlined service and could even be quicker than the Auction process, subject of course to good quality Solicitors. So when asking ‘What is the best way of selling my house?’ you see that there are a few alternatives, depending on the amount of time you are happy to wait. So if you want a great price for a fast sale then please get in touch with us here.