Selling a property by yourself

Youngblood.III

I'm going to try and sell a house myself on Daft.ie etc.
Has anyone advice out there on any pit falls, helpful advice...thank you.

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Youngblood.III wrote: »

I'm going to try and sell a house myself on Daft.ie etc.
Has anyone advice out there on any pit falls, helpful advice...thank you.

do you mean just advertising it yourself ? .. as with any advert ensure it's priced correctly shouldn't be too difficult .. but pain in the ass dealing with tire kickers, making appointments for viewings etc.

If you are considering the convincing yourself .. not really an option

I Am The Law

I think it's the way to go but make sure you understand the process well and have plenty of research done. Also make sure you have a good solicitor and hand over to them once you go sale agreed.

Penguino

Cards on the table - I am an EA but this is my opinion.

A lot of viewers search Myhome rather than Daft for sales, so you could be loosing out on potential viewers.

The market has changed a lot this year and there is a large increase in both viewers and offers for properties so the sales process is taking time. Even after "sale agreed" there can be complications that you won't have experience in.

Have a chat to some local EAs and at least get pricing from them before you start the process. Then work out are you happy to put in the hours yourself instead of hiring someone.

I'm not saying that you can't sell it yourself but you need to be aware of the pitfalls before you set off.

Rew

A guy in work did it same time I sold mine via an EA, I was very jealous of him as I handed over 5k despite the poor service provided by EA.

seamus

It can put off some buyers as they feel more comfortable negotiating with an EA rather than directly with the vendor. Plus you don't have any of the "protection" you get with an EA - if a buyer hands you a deposit, how do they know they'll get it back. How confident can they be that you won't gazump them?

Selling your own house can also give the impression that you might be a bit of Del Boy type and you'll be difficult to deal with in general.

I guess the trade off here is that you won't have to give an EA any money, but you may end up only attracting viewings from confident purchasers who are going to beat you down on price. Whereas softer and easier purchasers will go to EAs and may offer you more.

johnp001

seamus wrote: »

It can put off some buyers as they feel more comfortable negotiating with an EA rather than directly with the vendor. Plus you don't have any of the "protection" you get with an EA - if a buyer hands you a deposit, how do they know they'll get it back. How confident can they be that you won't gazump them?

Selling your own house can also give the impression that you might be a bit of Del Boy type and you'll be difficult to deal with in general.

I guess the trade off here is that you won't have to give an EA any money, but you may end up only attracting viewings from confident purchasers who are going to beat you down on price. Whereas softer and easier purchasers will go to EAs and may offer you more.

I'd personally much rather negotiate with a vendor than an estate agent.
It makes it much less likely that the sale will end in gazumping, last minute lowering of offer before closing or other poor practices that people are less inclined to engage in when it is against people that they have had personal dealings with
The buyer doesn't hand the vendor a deposit, his solicitor places it in the keeping of the vendors solicitor.

Archaeoliz

Penguino wrote: »

Cards on the table - I am an EA but this is my opinion.

A lot of viewers search Myhome rather than Daft for sales, so you could be loosing out on potential viewers.

The market has changed a lot this year and there is a large increase in both viewers and offers for properties so the sales process is taking time. Even after "sale agreed" there can be complications that you won't have experience in.

Have a chat to some local EAs and at least get pricing from them before you start the process. Then work out are you happy to put in the hours yourself instead of hiring someone.

I'm not saying that you can't sell it yourself but you need to be aware of the pitfalls before you set off.

That's really interesting to hear Penguino as anecdotally around where I live there is a large drop in viewers and offers, and most asking prices are stable or dropping. I live in rural west Wicklow. Would you say that the market this year is working very much in pockets?

As my own declaration of interest: I am a buyer with previous house sold and attempting to persuade an EA to talk to us as we placed a low ball bid on a house last Thursday in an attempt to get a conversation going. They're ignoring us. Of course as a buyer I am biased in looking for data to support drops and/or stabilisation of prices but I certainly haven't seen any rises since the end of last year in my area.

CreepingDeath

I'm selling via an EA at the moment and my EA is on about "strike 3" at the moment.

Asking for an extra €400 up front for marketing fees on top of the 1.5%.
The main house photo was so bad I dusted off my Nikon D60 and took a better one myself.
They also didn't/couldn't photograph the en-suite & bathrooms which are immaculate, so I took them myself and instructed the agent to post them.

And I only heard a couple of days ago on this very forum that the central bank lender 10% deposit restrictions have a deadline of Aug 11th??
Surely an estate agent should advise his clients when something that will impact viewings and house prices is looming.

So I'm nearly ready to fire my EA and post ads in Daft & myhome.ie myself if the current bidder pulls out.

Paying over €5200 (when 23% is applied) for some chancer to post an advert on the web, answer a few phone calls and open the door to my own house is a bit much.

I think if you have good communication and people skills you could sell your house yourself.

I'd actually say there's a business opportunity there for someone to posts the adverts and operate a small call centre to manage calls for viewings and the like on behalf of self-sellers.

Penguino

There is a drop in interest/prices this year but trying to get vendors to understand this is very difficult.

All the national papers are slow to admit that the housing market has slowed in 2015 and prices now are the same or lower than this time last year (generally speaking).

Remember the EA only gets paid once the house is sold so it is in their better interest to get a deal done. However sometimes we have to advise the vendor to either withdraw the property for sale or let if for a period of time if the prices they are hoping to hit are unachievable

Penguino

CreepingDeath wrote: »

I'm selling via an EA at the moment and my EA is on about "strike 3" at the moment.

Asking for an extra €400 up front for marketing fees on top of the 1.5%.
.

Those prices seem high, did you get many EA's in to quote? How long is your place on the market, has there been many people through the door, many bidders?

You should have signed a contract with your EA outlining costs etc and if needs be how to cancel the contract

Archaeoliz

Penguino wrote: »

there is a large increase in both viewers and offers for properties

Penguino wrote: »

There is a drop in interest/prices this year but trying to get vendors to understand this is very difficult.

Sorry, I'm confused here as those two posts seem to say opposite things. Could you explain please?

Youngblood.III

Penguino wrote: »

Those prices seem high, did you get many EA's in to quote? How long is your place on the market, has there been many people through the door, many bidders?

You should have signed a contract with your EA outlining costs etc and if needs be how to cancel the contract

Any idea of what % are been charged....1.5% +VAT was the rate in the boom.

Claw Hammer

Youngblood.III wrote: »

I'm going to try and sell a house myself on Daft.ie etc.
Has anyone advice out there on any pit falls, helpful advice...thank you.

If you have to ask a question like that you shouldn't be doing it yourself. There have been attempts to start a For Sale by Owner business where owners are given a sign advice etc and told how easy it is. It hasn;t taken offf and likely never will.

athtrasna

Mortgage approval posts moved to http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057350873&page=157

Mod

Penguino

Archaeoliz wrote: »

Sorry, I'm confused here as those two posts seem to say opposite things. Could you explain please?

Sorry for confusion, meant to say there is a large DECREASE in interest and offers

Youngblood.III

Claw Hammer wrote: »

If you have to ask a question like that you shouldn't be doing it yourself. There have been attempts to start a For Sale by Owner business where owners are given a sign advice etc and told how easy it is. It hasn;t taken offf and likely never will.

Well using an EA I'll pay for the ad, sign, photos, websites upfront...and basically pay a fortune on top of upfront fees for someone to open the door for buyers maybe twice a week.

Archaeoliz

Penguino wrote: »

Sorry for confusion, meant to say there is a large DECREASE in interest and offers

Thanks!

CaoimheSquee

Just to say, gazuming can happen regardless of an EA or not.
That is completely down to the vendor every time, not the EA. If someone comes in after a sale has been agreed the EA HAS to communicate this. The choice of gazumping lies with the vendor then.

Nekarsulm

Surprisingly, DoneDeal can pull in a good number of views for a property Ad. Considering the price, its worth sticking your Ad there as well.
Perhaps get a mobile phone specifically for the sale of your house, and save all inquirers names on it.
Because you will attract timewasters as well as honest purchasers, and do you need these people googling your main phone number and finding that you are on this or that committee etc.

Be prepared for many viewings after which the people never contact you again, despite promising to "call after we discuss it" etc.
Be prepared for viewers not turning up, turning up late (when you have someone else coming) and expecting you to jump up from your Sunday dinner to do a viewing, etc, etc.

Be prepared for bitchy comments about your house. Often in a "stage whisper" that you are meant to hear.
Be fully informed about your property.
Is it a cavity wall house?
What width is the cavity?
Is the boiler cylinder indirect?
Are the roof trusses cut or gang nailed in a factory?
Have you planning for that little utility room?
All this sort of stuff and more.


And if you are not a "People Person" , then you will find it a trying business.

CaoimheSquee

Youngblood.III wrote: »

Any idea of what % are been charged....1.5% +VAT was the rate in the boom.

The biggest of the property firms still charge this, and more.

Claw Hammer

Youngblood.III wrote: »

Well using an EA I'll pay for the ad, sign, photos, websites upfront...and basically pay a fortune on top of upfront fees for someone to open the door for buyers maybe twice a week.

It is obvious that you don't know what and EA does so the chances of you doing it properly yourself are slim. In any event it is your house and your money. You can do what you want. The biggest problem is messers. After that it is solicitors and architects.
I have yet to see anyone tell you it is illegal to advertise without a BER. I look forward to another thread in a few months.

johnp001

CaoimheSquee wrote: »

Just to say, gazuming can happen regardless of an EA or not.
That is completely down to the vendor every time, not the EA. If someone comes in after a sale has been agreed the EA HAS to communicate this. The choice of gazumping lies with the vendor then.

I agree that gazumping is a choice of the vendor. It is probably not a big problem in the current market though.
Another pernicious practice that sadly happens in house sales is where a buyer, at the final stage of signing contracts, says that they will sign but not at the agreed price and demands a substantial discount on the previously agreed price in the hope that the vendor has more to lose by not completing than they have.

I imagine that far fewer buyers would engage in this type of behaviour if they had made a deal person to person with the vendor and shook on it as opposed to buyers who dealt only through an estate agent.