How to Sell Your Property Without An Agent

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How to Sell Your Property Without An Agent

By: Gary Sherman

When most people are thinking about selling their house, they make their first and only port of call to their local estate agent. This is because they believe that estate agents are best placed to do this job and in return earn a commission.

This of course does not involve situations where seller had to sell the property fast
or had financial worries or, worst, had repossession looming . In other words, he was to sell the property through normal sale channels, and could afford to wait for a couple of months.

But the only problem was that agents charged a bundle starting at 3% + tax in UK. On a £150,000 property this could easily be almost £5300 to the seller.

How did they manage to get away from that? Because they ‘knew’ some thing that rest of us did not. But with modern technology and free flow of information, these ‘secrets’ are now readily available on various sources, including Internet.

The only advantage of dealing via agents is that they know how to handle the buyer. And they know where to list the property so that It is visible to potential buyers. Can you think of any other advantage? There is not any.

However many others I know believe that estate agents are not any superior in their dealings o professionalism than you. For example, are you good with people? I do not mean that you can or can not charm people. Buying a house is a serious decision that involves a lot of money. No one buys the house just because some one could charm them. In fact I know many agents whose charming abilities are better left answered. It is about answering buyer’s inquiries courteously and patiently. These enquiries are generally about the house, about local area, schools, neighbourhood etc. Can you do it?

Agents hardy know any thing about your property. In my experience they almost never take the time to learn about your property. All they want is property on their books – that is all. How are they going to persuade the buyer that your property is better than the one next door – the basis of merit? In our experience, majority do not work hard enough to earn their thousands. Period!

Here is one true story. I know because it happened to some one I know personally. An agent visited his house for valuation. Owner decided to go with this agent. The agent promptly took a For Sale board out of his car and erected it on outside the house.

While walking in the street, a potential buyer saw the board and called the agent. Agent promptly called the seller, asked for a suitable time for the buyer to come to take a look. At appointed time, buyer went to view the house, without the agent. Sell did all the ‘charm’ bit. Then buyer went to see the house twice again, after calling the buyer direct. During these visits he discussed the offer, which was accepted. The house was sold soon after.

All this happened without the agent leaving his office. Buyer never saw the agent. Seller saw him only once. But agent still pocketed many thousands. Not bad for turning up to see a potential client to value the house. Seller was not looking to sell the property fast but that is what he got, without trying.

There are many such stories where agents hardly did much to earn their money. And many continue to do so.

So do not think that you do not know that an estate agent knows, or you cannot find out. Here is the fact: estate agents have an upper hand because buyers often make them their first port of call. But buyers also know that buying privately will be much cheaper than via an agent because some one has to pay their fee.

The ground rules to sell your property privately are as follows. Remember that a bit of trouble may cost you some money but is a fraction of what estate agents will charge you. And they will not give you guarantee that they will be able to sell the house.
- Advertise property in local papers

- Find websites and advertise your property there

- Search for a private buyer. They are easier to find then you think.

- Look for some one who you can sell the property to for cash in weeks .

Look around you and you will see where buyers hang around. You will find them looking for a property in the relevant section of local paper. You will find them searching on search engines, on property websites or forums.

It is easy to put your self in front of them. You will be surprised how many will contact you, especially if they know that you are willing to sell the house not just at its true market value but below it. Because you may consider splitting the savings made by cutting out the agent for a fast sale.