Selling a house at a price that both the buyer and seller are happy with is often a challenging task. And if on top of this you add the requirement for the sale to happen fast, the complexity grows significantly and the likelihood of all boxes being ticked gets pretty low.
According to BBC News, over the last few years, the UK housing market has been described as “subdued” with sluggish property chains making it harder to sell your house fast. Even when a sale reaches the final agreement in principle, it can often fall through.
In the last five to ten years, property affordability has become an issue and for many people looking to buy a house, committing to such a purchase has become all but impossible. And it’s not at all surprising that Brexit and the current political instability have caused people to feel even more reluctant about spending large sums on significant purchases like a house. The impact of this is a palpable drop in demand with fewer buyers on the market who are also being extra cautious with their decision.
As well as this, as trivial as it sounds, we should never discount a buyer’s common sense and human nature. Along with the economic uncertainty, selling a house fast is challenging because it is high-involvement decision making, much like buying a car. These purchases are normally expensive and very important for a buyer in the longer term; hence they take their time to properly weigh up their options. With this in mind, it’s unsurprising that buying a house can cause anxiety, stress, or post-purchase regret. That’s why it is so important to choose a trusted, knowledgeable and truly caring estate agent, to assist in this important journey, bringing peace of mind to both seller and buyer.
With all these factors slowing down your sale what can you actually do to speed it up? Read our three tips to see if they could help you to sell your property faster.
Nowadays, we are spoilt for choice when it comes to property agencies - from traditional high street agents to online and hybrid versions, and big established names to family-run or boutique - they are all ready to assist you with selling your house. Their promise is always bright and bold: to buy fast, make it stress-free, and ultimately, offer you the best deal. Is the promise always a reality though? How do you choose the right agent for you?
When selling a house, there are many things that can slow down the process, and even lead to a house sale falling through. No one wants to get stuck in a scary and stressful property chain as just one person changing their mind or slowing things down can cause the whole chain to collapse.
The good news is that you don’t need to be stuck in a property chain. There are many ways to avoid the misery and here are the main pieces of advice we would offer someone looking to sell their house fast:
Anyone who has sold their house knows the importance of pricing research to help form realistic pricing expectations. The main things to take into account when doing your house price analysis are to compare market prices for similar properties as well as understand the current conditions of the housing market. Obviously, when fewer properties are being sold and bought and you want to sell yours fast, you need to be more flexible with your pricing expectations. Either be prepared to drop your price if you need to sell as soon as possible, or choose a fast property buyer to help you sell at a reasonable price, avoiding property chains.
Here are some useful tips to help you work out a realistic selling price for your house:
However, if you choose to sell to a property buying company, they would normally cover all external costs for you (at Vivo we always do!). For instance, if you sell your property to Vivo, we will make sure everything is covered and will make you an offer of roughly 85% of what is believed to be the current market value of your property. Whilst this is a bit below market value, you won’t have to worry about any surprise fees; from paying all your legal fees to the removal of unwanted items and cleaning, we take care of all the costs. Besides, we also buy the property as seen - no viewings or improvements needed - which will save you a lot of time and money.
Read our Guide to house selling fees to equip yourselves with more knowledge in this area.
Aside from being able to buy quickly, avoiding fees and not needing viewings, our clients always commend us on our personal and attentive approach to communication as well as our trustworthiness and professionalism. We often deal with clients who have previously been stuck in a chain which has delayed their sale, only for it to fall through; we have been able to offer them an alternative solution which has allowed them to sell quickly and without stress. Read what our clients’ say about us on Trustpilot.