Since people only move on average once every 15 to 20 years, selling a home may be a significant endeavor. It is crucial that you can seek guidance from the relevant resources at the proper time. Understanding the correct questions to ask, your rights, and your obligations as a property seller will help you reduce stress and expedite the process.
Our estate agents in York can assist if you live in York and are seeking a hassle-free way to sell your property quickly. Traditional means of selling a house might take months, with us save the hassle and the wait.
Here are 7 key points to keep in mind while selling your property in York.
- Choosing between using a professional real estate agent or doing it yourself.
You can sell your property directly or through an estate agency, depending on your preference. You should think about how much each option would cost and how much time you have before choosing one. The cost of using an estate agent will be more, but they will handle all of the advertising, showing prospective buyers around, and price negotiations. It will be less expensive for you to locate a buyer on your own, but you will need the time to complete all of these preparations and handle any issues.
- Determining the selling price
If you are selling through an estate agency, the agent haggles over the price with the potential buyers. The real estate agent work towards getting you the best price in the market. When dealing independently, you must bargain for yourself. You are under no obligation to take up the very first offer made and shouldn’t feel pressured to decide right away.
- How much to charge when finding a buyer on your own?
You must first choose the asking price for the property if you intend to sell it yourself. It is always feasible to arrange for two or more local estate agents to supply this information since many estate agencies offer free estimates. You can arrange for a permanent estate agent also to offer formal estimates and extra services upon payment of a fee.
Another way you may learn about local home prices is by observing neighborhood newspapers, estate agents’ windows, and comparable homes nearby.
Some goods must be sold with the house unless you specifically state to the buyer that they are not part of the transaction. These are referred to as fixtures and include things like drapes, carpets, central heating and fireplaces. To avoid issues later, it might be beneficial for you to make a note of any objects you want to remove or are prepared to sell as it is not always obvious if anything is a fixture or fitting.
It is customary for a prospective buyer to make a lesser offer for the home than the asking price. As a result, you might want to set your price a bit higher than what you hope to earn in order to account for this.
- Property/estate agents’ fees
The majority of estate agents base their fees on a portion of the property’s ultimate selling price. Less than 1% to 3.5% can be found in this range. This is referred to as the commission rate.
You should determine if the following are included in this cost or need an additional fee – The price of preparing the house’s information, including images, for advertising, a “for sale” sign and VAT.
If you want to work with an estate agent, they must confirm the fees and percentage of commission that will be charged. When they agree to represent you, the estate agent must do this.
- EPC Certification
You must offer a free energy performance certificate (EPC) to prospective purchasers if you intend to sell your house. A through G grades, with A being the most efficient and G being the least efficient, are used in an EPC to provide information on the energy efficiency of a property. A certified residential energy assessor issues the certificate.
It is very important to make sure that an EPC is accessible within seven days of the property being initially listed for sale, together with anybody working on your behalf, such as an estate agent.
All real estate sales advertising, including those on the internet, in publications like newspapers and magazines, as well as any written information about the property, must include the EPC rating as of January 9, 2013.
More details on EPCs can be found on the GOV.UK website at www.gov.uk.
- Deciding on which offer to accept
If you are selling your house through an estate agency, the buyer must submit their offer through the agent, or in the event of a private sale, directly to the seller. Both verbal (over the phone or face-to-face) and written offers are acceptable. Estate agents are legally required to forward all offers for the property up until the point at which contracts are exchanged.
When a prospective buyer makes an offer, you have the option to negotiate; you are not required to accept or reject immediately and not having to sell to the highest bidder is completely your choice.
- Legal dealings (conveyancing)
Conveyancing is the procedure used to change a person’s legal ownership of real estate or other property. It is better to opt for a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to handle it for you because it can become tedious.
A formal contract to transfer ownership has to be drawn once you officially accept an offer for your home. Only when the contracts are exchanged between both parties does an offer become enforceable. You still have the option to reconsider and accept an offer from someone else up until this point.
Final copies of the contract should only be signed and sent to each other if the buyer and seller are satisfied with it. “Exchange of contracts” is what this process is known as. The buyer then transfers the necessary funds to the seller, and the seller gives the buyer the ownership transfer documentation. The seller must next vacate the property and leave it in the condition specified in the contract as the last step. The property is now officially owned by the buyer when the seller gives the buyer the keys.
