Seller’s Guide

This Seller’s Guide is designed to provide you insights on the intricacies of selling your residential and commercial property and land in the UK and elsewhere, faster and at best price.

Should you be selling at all?

• If price of the property you wish to sell in a particular market is rising rapidly, you may not afford to buy a property right away. So, consider converting the attic, build an extension or dig the basement to get more space from your existing property.
• In some circumstances, letting off your home could be a better alternative to selling.
• If you are negative equity, reconsider selling your residential or commercial land.
• If you have separated from your spouse and considering selling as a result, explore the legalities thereof to avoid last minute glitches.

What price to put it on?

• Get the valuation done by multiple estate agents but do not always go for the highest one only for the sake of it.
• Research your local market inside out. Buyers are likely to negotiate, so put a price up to 10% higher than what you would accept.

Working out the finances

• Notify your mortgage lender of your plan to sell you residential /commercial property or land.
• At the early stages, figures at best will be approximate only. Get a rough idea of your house’s worth and how much amount will be left with you after paying off the mortgage.
• Figure out about outstanding mortgage amount and early redemption penalties if any.

Decide how to sell your property

• You can sell your home, residential or commercial property and land either of your own, through online estate management websites like Agent Home Owner or through a local estate agent.

Selling through estate agent

• An estate agent does not value your property. Valuation could only be done by a qualified surveyor and may cost hundreds of pounds. Estate agents simply place an Asking Value for your property.
• Never accept an agent’s estimation at face value as they try to maximize their profits. If you feel they have underpriced your property, it means they want to make a quick sale to receive their commission faster. Estate agents, at the end of the day, are salesmen.
• Remember that valuation only sets the asking price, your residential or commercial property is worth the price someone will finally buy it for.
• While signing a contract, ensure that it does not have the term “sole selling rights.” Don’t confuse it with “sole agent rights” which is quite different in its meaning and scope. If the agent refuses to remove sole selling rights clause, do not engage him.
• Compare estate agents based on their past record of coming closest to the asking price, and how quickly they had sold properties of their clients.
• The regulations of the Office of Fair Trading clearly state that you need not pay anything to the estate agent if you did not sign a contract for sole selling rights with him.

What to watch for in an estate agent

• Agents usually provide the percentage figure of commission they will charge. Don’t forget to add VAT to it as they normally not include it upfront.
• Always negotiate on the percentage commission of the agent which they are most likely to agree as they want business from you.
• Check the contract for hidden fees, like penalties and marketing fees. Any additional charges must be agreed upon in writing so that it does not come as nasty surprise at the last moment.

Selling online – Online estate agents gaining grounds

• A growing number of sellers are shunning traditional agents and marketing their properties through online estate agents, and saving thousands of pounds in the process. For example, while a high street estate agent could charge you £6,000 for the sale of a property worth £300,000, the same sale could be done by an online estate agent for £1,000 or even lesser as they do not incur overhead expenses in maintaining an office and pay for its infrastructure and staff.
• Selling online makes sense as you feel as if you are in charge of the whole selling process.
• Selling online is also the best option if you think that you are in a better position to sell your residential home or commercial property or land, and don’t mind conducting the viewing yourself.
• In online selling, you save thousands of pounds as the online estate agents do all the hard work for you at a fraction of the cost of high street estate agent’s fee.
• Online estate agents are gaining more acceptances among the sellers. Sole agents usually charge 1% plus VAT. Sellers use online estate agents to sell properties faster at low flat fees.
• At present, private sales sites account for five percent of the completed sales, as per the study of Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, and this figure is continually improving. Online estate agents come handy for selling attractive properties in popular areas.

How Agent Home Owner is different from other online estate agents and conventional agents

Agent Home Owner offers a comprehensive range of services for the property sellers and buyers that make it stand apart from the rest competing in online and offline marketplaces. Some key deliverables that differentiate AgentHomeOwner.com from other online and conventional estate agents are summarized below in brief:

• Advertise your residential or commercial property and land absolutely free for 14 days at AgentHomeoOwner.com.
• To continue your listing, you can choose any of the low cost premium advertising plans starting from £9.95.
• Advertise your residential or commercial property or land for Sale and To Let.
• Display “For Sale” or “To Let” Boards on your properties or commercial land that you could put up yourself if you wish OR you can choose our professional board erection service and let Agent Home Owner to do it all for you, professionally and securely.
• The average saving on properties sold through Agent Home Owner is around £4,000.
• Your property will be viewed by thousands of serious buyers and house hunters all over the UK and elsewhere, weeks after weeks.
• AgentHomeOwner.com is a comprehensive marketplace for the homeowners and landowners to sell direct.
• Download free Brochures and Leaflets showcasing your residential or commercial property in an attractive manner to the prospective buyers.
• Test the market by advertising on AgentHomeOwner.com and judge the response. The price you advertise isn’t necessarily the price you get. If there is lot of interest, buyers will naturally bid the price upwards. Modify the price in real time of your live advert to cash on the response of the buyers.
• Display multiple photos with property description. Link a local map to help the prospective buyers easily locate your residence or commercial property.
• Integrated messaging system for buyers and sellers.
• Receive instant notification of buyer’s queries and messages.
• Our bespoke viewing request system allows sellers to arrange viewing dates that suit the buyer. Receive Notifications of any viewing request accepted etc.
• You get your own Online Control Panel which puts you in complete control of your advert, incoming messages and viewing requests 24 x 7, so you never miss out on a potential buyer.

Getting the best of both worlds

There is one more option that is a real value proposition. You can get your home valued for free by an estate agent and then use AgentHomeOwner.com to advertise your residential property or commercial land at par of the market value. We will also give you an indication of an initial asking price.

You can sell by both methods – through high street estate agent AND also through AgentHomeOwner. If you do sell through AgentHomeOwner.com first, then it’s a big plus as you can save 1,000’s of pounds by not paying the estate agent’s fees (As you can take it off their books then). All it would cost you is only the small fee you initially paid for advertising on AgentHomeOwner.com property portal.”

Selling your home faster

Showcase your home to attract buyers, sell faster and make a value proposition to the prospective clients.

Get rid of the bad odor, excess clutter and tidy up. Don’t just cover them, fix those little shagging things, put up a mirror and provide it a fresh finish of paint.

Make the house look airy and pretty

• Make it light and airy. Clean windows inside and out, fix up electricity connections and lighting,
• Wall mirrors make a house look bigger and welcoming. Making a residence feel airy and lighter gives it a feel of spaciousness, making it more attractive to the prospective buyers.
• Windows should be properly dressed with curtains or blinds. Flowers and flights bring life to a house.
• Don’t just cover the bad smell, rather fix its source. Air the kitchen from old cooking smells, clean drains, wash any dirty bed sheet and get rid of any furniture laced with the smoke of cigarettes.

Improvise the kitchen

• Consider re-facing your kitchen cabinetry.
• Declutter the kitchen by taking out bulky appliances.
• Upgrading kitchen counter top will help increment the worth of your kitchen.
• Leave a bowl of fresh fruits in the kitchen. An updated kitchen will help in closing the deal when the buyer is unsure.

Things to watch for before signing a contract

• Review all commission rates; they should be in line with what was agreed upon.
• Ensure no services have been handwritten onto your contract and you have not been signed up to an in-house service you hadn’t agreed to.
• Ensure that there are no additional charges.
• Strongly resist agreeing to Sole Selling Rights as this means you will have to pay the commission to the estate agent even if you find the buyer yourself.
• Negotiate the length of the Tie-in-Period and the written Notice Period. Open Ended Sole Negotiator Contract would mean you may have to pay commission to the estate agent even if the offer is made by the extended introducer of the estate agent months or even years after the agent stopped marketing your property.
• Challenge anything you are doubtful of and never pay more than you need to.
• Understand the continuing liability you might be signing up beyond the term of your contract.

Working the commission of agents

Some agents work on fixed commission basis. This could be advantageous compared to working out an exact budget for the agent’s fees. Flip side of this arrangement is that the estate agent is not motivated to get higher price for your residential or commercial property and land as he will get the same fixed price. To keep him motivated, offer incentive or agree to higher fixed fees if he gets higher selling price of your property.

Understanding Conveyancing

• It’s the process of legally transferring the ownership of a home from a seller to a buyer. It is generally done by a Conveyancer or a Solicitor that you need to hire.
• You need to negotiate and accept an Offer through an estate agent.
• You will have to fill out a variety of questionnaires to provide relevant information to the buyer. Some of these are:
• Provide general information (TA 6) about boundaries, disputes and complaints etc.
• Provide information to the buyer on common hold (TA 9) or leasehold (TA 7) in case you do not own the freehold.
• (TA 10) provides information on fittings and fixtures while (TA 13) includes finalization details related to handing over the Keys to the buyer.
• The above questionnaire information would be used by your solicitor/conveyance. Draft a contract that will be submitted to the buyer for approval.

Types of contracts

Four main categories of contracts are discussed below. Each one has its own advantages and drawbacks. So, choose the one that suits best to your needs, requirements and expectations.

• Sole selling rights: The agent has the exclusive right to sell your residential and commercial property and land during the period of contract, and he will charge you his commission even if you manage to sell the property of your own. So, think carefully before singing such a contract.
• Multi-agency: You can engage as many estate agents as you wish and pay only to the one who sells your property at a rate closest to your asking price. You potentially get higher offers as you get more buyers but end up paying higher fees to the agent as well. Evaluate the market and type of your property before signing this type of contract.
• Sole agency: It is similar to sole selling rights arrangement. However, you need not pay anything to the agent in case you sell the property of your own efforts. In case the contract is open-ended, the estate agent might claim for commission even years after the termination of contract.
• Able purchaser: In this arrangement, you need to pay the estate agent for finding a buyer, even if you do not sell to them. Obviously, you should not accept this type of contract.

Exchange of contracts

• Solicitors/conveyancers of both parties (Seller and Buyer) make sure that the contracts are identical and send them to one another.
• Once the contracts are exchanged, both parties are legally bound to sell and buy residential or commercial property or land under consideration of the Contract.
• This means, you are legally bound to sell the property to the buyer and cannot accept another offer. If you don’t, the buyer can sue you.
• Similarly, if the buyer doesn’t complete the sale, you can keep their deposit and also sue them.
• Immediately after the exchange of contracts, you should receive the buyer’s deposit, which is usually 10% of the price of the land or residential /commercial property you are selling.
• The conveyance/solicitor will register the transfer of ownership with the Land Registry.
• After the completion, your solicitor/conveyance/estate agent will send you an account covering their costs and disbursements that you need to clear. If you notice some discrepancy in the account, you may even get small refund.

Things to do on the completion day

• Receive the outstanding balance of the property.
• Hand over the legal documents of the property or land to the buyer.
• Hand over the Keys to the buyer.
• Outstanding mortgages on the property can now be paid off. This is normally done by the solicitor/conveyancer from the proceeds of the sale.

Preparing to move out

• The property has to be in the condition agreed upon at the time of completion.
• You legally own the property till the agreed date of moving out. You can stay in the property till the last date, however, it would be better to move a week or two earlier (after all you have to move somewhere) to make your exit less stressful on the last day.
• The buyer and their agent may come around in between to ensure that everything is properly in place.