Selling A House For The 1St Time.

[Jenarry]

I want to sell my house to buy a house together with my husband but I've never sold before so i don't know where to start.
I am thinking of using an online estate agent such as Purple Bricks as they are cheaper and from what I have heard from a lot of people traditional estate agents barely do anything for their fees and can make the whole process very frustrating and slow.
Has anyone got any tips on the whole house selling front and has anyone used an online agency-would you recommend it?...TIA

[naomi24]

Don't choose an on-line agent. You have no idea who you're dealing with. Use one of the established companies. They know all about selling and buying houses and will give you all the advice you need.

[ummmm]

I wouldn't use an on-line agency either. I'd go to a local estate agent. Have a walk round your area and look for for sale/sold boards. Contact a few agents for a valuation.

The estate agents will also advice you regarding mortgages, solicitors etc...

[bednobs]

get three local estate agents round to let you know how much they recomend you go on hte market for and, importantly what their fees will be (you can usually beat them down a bit.
Round here at least, houses are selling really fast, so you could probably use an online estate agent, but just be aware that the majority of people look for a house on rightmove - would yours be on there?

[bednobs]

pps you don't actually need an agent at all really, if you want to save money

[Baldric]

Just had a look at their Site, when I clicked on "meet our experts"
I had to give my Postcode, then up popped the Local Estate Agent that I've bought a couple of Rental Properties from.

[Buenchico]

There's absolutely no need to use an estate agent if
(a) you can find a way to advertise the property for sale ; and
(b) you (or a friend) can be present for any viewings that will be required by potential buyers.

When I came to sell my late father's house I realised that it was on a main road and close to several other properties that were for sale. (So anyone viewing those properties would be likely to notice 'For Sale' signs on my Dad's house). I simply designed a suitable sign on my computer, printed it out and took it to a copy shop, where I got two A2 copies made on brightly-coloured paper for about a quid each. I then put those signs in the windows of the house. Result: One successful house sale at a cost of just two quid (plus, of course, the legal fees)!

These days you'd also need to get an Energy Performance Certificate for the house, so that would add a bit to your costs, but there's definitely no need to use an estate agent if people will be able to see that the property is for sale.

When selecting any estate agent though (irrespective of whether it's a traditional or web-based service) the important thing to check is which websites they'll advertise your property on. Many people probably look no further than RightMove, Zoopla and PrimeLocation when looking for a house, so it's important to check that your property will be listed there. (Annoyingly, you can't go directly to any of those sites; you have to go via an estate agent). As long as your property appears on each of those sites it's unlikely to make any difference as to which type of estate agent you used to get it there.

[Jenarry]

thanks everyone for your advice. I have heard bad things about traditional estate agents during the past year or so(and a variety of them at that) that we are going to look into the online companies as they cant be any worse and they charge you less for the pleasure.we've booked someone from tortoise to come and see us on tuesday and I want to try purple bricks too and poss the sarah beany company too.