Why should I consider selling my house privately?

It is a common misconception that Estate Agents play an irreplaceable role in the sale of a property, either from a seller’s or buyer’s perspective. Though they can ‘hold your hand’ and also do a lot of the leg work that you might not want to do, the process is generally much simpler than you might think and certainly most people are more than capable of doing it themselves.
Many of the tasks involved in the sale of a property are co-ordinated by good Estate Agents but the tasks themselves are all carried out by others. Surveys, mortgage arrangement and conveyancing (the actual process of transferring the title to the property) are all carried out by specialists and not the Estate Agent.

For an increasing number of sellers the issue is not 'what does a good Estate Agent do?' but instead is: 'Does the use of an Estate Agent represent good value for money in this day and age?'

Estate Agents will arrange accompanied viewings of properties during work hours by prospective buyers and this can be advantageous for buyers wishing to view during the day. Estate Agents also claim to ‘vet’ buyers as seriously interested in a purchase to remove any risk to the householder from bogus buyers looking over the property as a potential for burglary or just simple ‘timewasters’. Recent television programmes and reports by consumer groups however have raised doubts about just how rigorously Agents actually do this under the pressure to be seen as arranging multiple viewings. Indeed there have been accusations of totally inappropriate ‘buyers’ being shown properties in which they could have no interest solely to satisfy the seller that they are doing something! Agents frequently leave the seller to accompany the viewer themselves if the viewing is outside of their working hours. It is not unknown for a sale to go through without an Agent EVER having accompanied a viewing of the property. It is difficult to see any advantage to the seller in this case.

Private Sellers are increasingly finding that personal contact with interested purchasers helps them get a better ‘feel’ for how serious the viewer might be. It is also true that the majority of purchasers nowadays prefer to view in the evenings.

The main function of Estate Agents in the past has undoubtedly been the ability to advertise the property better than a private seller (and of course they supply the ‘for sale’ board.) A recent Office of Fair Trading investigation into what Estate Agents actually did for the money found that the advertising of the property in a high-street window and the erection of a ‘for sale’ board referring potential purchasers back to their High Street shop were practically the only unique functions of agents.

The Internet is changing all of this by giving the private seller the ability to advertise their property nationally (and to erect their own ‘for sale’ boards).

Another often cited advantage of a private sale is the ability to talk direct with the owner, giving the purchaser the best chance of knowing the true state of play. Agents are sometimes accused of distorting the truth about the progress of a sale in order to protect their or the seller’s interests. However, what is sometimes an advantage can also be a disadvantage: having an agent acting as a buffer between you can be useful in certain situations. A potential seller should weigh up the pros and cons of this buffering.

For an increasing number of sellers the issue is not ‘what does a good Estate Agent do?’ but instead is: ‘Does the use of an Estate Agent represent good value for money in this day and age?’ Although the average house price (Countrywide £179,425 or just under £300,000 in London – Dec 2006) had risen by 187% countrywide or 240% in London in the previous 10 years, Agent’s fees have remained a fixed PERCENTAGE thus rising far faster than any other price index. On an average London property (Just under £300,000 according to the latest Halifax survey at that time), the cost of selling through an agent can vary between 1.5-2.5% PLUS VAT. (The taxman’s slice is not insubstantial!) This makes the average cost of using an agent in London between £5287 and £8812 including VAT and before any other charges and costs. Is it really worth over one third of Annual National Median earnings (£22,724) to sell a house?