Save money by selling your home privately

Homeowners looking to sell their properties have traditionally hired estate agents who find a steady stream of prospective buyers, show them around, and manage the whole process through to completion. But with wallets tightening, more and more vendors are contemplating the DIY route to finding a buyer - in a bid to save thousands of pounds. And, given that agents tend to charge between 1.5 and 2 per cent of the sale price as a fee, you could save yourself a small fortune by going it alone.

Alternatives to estate agents

If you're looking to sell for a fraction of the fee, there are several options to consider, such as private sales, selling directly to friends and family, advertising in the local newspaper, and putting up a "for sale" sign outside the property.

Selling over the internet is one of the most popular alternatives, and classified ad sites such as gumtree.com, craigslist.co.uk and vivastreet.co.uk all enable you to cut out the middleman.

Dedicated property-selling sites
As well as classified ad sites, there is also a growing army of websites dedicated to private sellers. Propertydatingagency, for example, charges sellers a registration fee of £10 which entitles them to contact a set number of buyers who may be interested in their property.

Tepilo, a recent venture from TV presenter Sarah Beeny, aims to guide vendors through the home-selling process step-by-step, and there is no charge for uploading your property details.

Other useful sites include houseweb.co.uk, thelittlehousecompany.co.uk and click2move.co.uk.

Earlier this year, new website iSold.com launched offering people the chance to sell their home for £999. Run by Spicerhaart, in association with Tesco, the site initially launched in Bristol, with plans to expand to other cities.

Take out the basic £999 package and you will be given a valuation of your home, a "For Sale" sign, and details of your property will be advertised on portals such as rightmove.co.uk and zoopla.co.uk
If you cut out the estate agent, you will have to put in a lot of time and effort as you're going to have to do everything yourself - starting off with working out how much your home is worth.

Get the price wrong, and you could either find yourself losing out financially - or waiting a long time for a sale - so check the selling prices of similar properties in your area, and make use of websites such as landregistry.gov.uk, nethouseprices.com, and propertypriceadvice.co.uk.

Marketing your property
As a private seller, you'll miss out on estate agent presence both on the high-street and online - so you're going to have to work extra hard to market your property.

Put as much detail as you can in your adverts online to make your property stand out, and bear in mind that photographs - and even Youtube links - may improve your chances of securing a sale.

Equally, if your home is on a road with good footfall, a prominent home-made For Sale sign could be a great investment; other possibilities include talking to colleagues if you work in a big company - or even at the gym.

A relatively new phenomenon involves holding an "open house" event where you throw your doors open to would-be buyers at one specified time.

Compile sales particulars and a HIP
You'll also need to prepare sales particulars for potential buyers, such a floor plan and general description, room-by-room details, a list of what's included in the sale, council tax, the asking price and contact details.

You'll also need to look into compiling a Home Information Pack although there was talk this was being phased out so check the direct.gov.uk website for more information.

Organising viewings
As there will be no estate agent to conduct the viewings, you'll need to organise these yourself.

Consider how you're going to vet viewers before letting them into your home, and remain safety conscious at all times. While estate agents are trained at getting the best price, if you're going down the DIY route, no-one will do this for you, so you need to be prepared to negotiate hard with the buyer to ensure you get the best price for your property.

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