How To Sell Your House Privately On Rightmove (Without Estate Agent)

thanks everyone. i dont want to use our local EA far to snobby and uriah heep for me. I am reasonably intelligent so will try this on line way. Can always go back to EA if it doesnt work.The road i live in is very in demand ,houses sell with in hours !! it seems so i think it will save me some money.I know a good solicitor so here we go!

So... how can I genuinely advertise my house for sale online?

Have used an online agent twice.Using an online agent gets you on Rightmove etc - which is , in my opinion ESSENTIAL !!!!.
70% of prospective purchasers look on that site initially. More and more people are computer savvy so it makes sense to use the main property portals.
Estate agents are not really motivated to get you the highest price . They are motivated to get their commission so if it sells for 10k or 20k less that represents very little loss to them in commission terms.
Use good pictures and use a good description.
It is true that some buyers are a little uncomfortable dealing with an owner but be friendly, reassuring and honest about the place.
I have also used online agents to rent out property too - really cheap and easy

this is very encouraging. We had our house for sale with a local EA and they only called us for a view twice when we contacted them to end our contract as we had not heard anything from them. One of the "prospectives" buyer was himself an agent! and the other one was a developer only interested on knocking the price down so he could make a good profit! We will try an on-line agent in the new year.

Wow, amazed at the comments here. A good agent pays time and money up front to advertise a property with the possibility it will never sell. Thats the risk we take as an agent. No fees up front. Anyone asking you for that is usually a con or someone looking to make a quick buck. As an agent we qualify people to see if they can proceed, we carry out viewings, we deal with the solicitors who in my opinion think they are god like in most cases, negotiate the sale and then deal with the sale usually for around three months liasing with solicitors. People pay us, because they do not want to deal with the hassle. When the market is good, yes property will fly off the shelf, but we still have to deal with the sale after for some time. If selling property was so easy and straight forward, more people would be doing it themselves, and estate agents would not be here.

Hey you fellows
Isn't this an excellent blog?
I buy lock-up garages and rent them out. I'm in trouble now because one of my tenants is breaking the terms of his contract. He isn't paying rent and he is living in the garage. The baliff won't evict him because that would be making him homeless. Noooooooooooooo

BTW I don't use a solicitor , I do my own conveyancing if the garage is freehold. It goes much quicker when I do it as opposed to using a solicitor. I know what's going on. I don't mess myself about. I don't go on holiday without telling anyone. I have no qualifications in conveyancing. I bought a book called 'Do your own conveyancing by Which?' for £2.81 off amazon: it works.

Just sold 2 in the last 4 months by using the basic package of estates direct and paid them £354 in total. did the viewings myself. I turned the heating on 2 hours before.....makes all the difference in winter (try getting an EA to do that!). As it was MY house and I had refurbed it the vendors knew they were speaking to the organ grinder and not the blinkered EA chimp. I have always been staggered how EAs dupe the general public into thinking there is only one route. I wouldn't let an EA market any of my properties (self sold 22 now in 7 years) if they offered to pay me £500 to do it. There's too much at stake and most of them in my experience are a combination of dim, unmotivated, unbusinesslike, smug, lazy, lacking intelligence etc. Yes there must be some hot shots out there(probably 5-10% max). Trouble is - you have to engage them before you find out if you've been lucky and got a hot-shot. Even if you have - they still rip you off compared to what you can self sell at. I've saved about 75k over the years. You also get to practice your presentation skills - and improve too. A 100% no-brainer for me. Hopefully I've made my thoughts and feelings clear? :)

Hey Jacko

Thanks for your comments. Just wondering (as genuinely curious) what experience you have of using an estate agent? Especially if you've sold 22 houses privately in the last 7 years?

To slate an entire industry as "dim, unmotivated, unbusinesslike, smug, lazy, lacking intelligence etc." seems a little harsh to me so some clarification would be welcome.

Hi Chris

I had loads of experience for 10 years before selling houses myself became really viable. I know for a fact through my business contacts who still deal with agents that the only thing that has changed since then is that things seem worse than ever.

The industry seems to be getting sleazier and sleazier in my opinion. You must also realise that I deal with agents when I source property. I hunt for distressed sellers (easy if you have a system)and am amazed how bad these agents acting for the seller are! So I see it all the time. Example. I've just got a deal at 95k and the property was originally on at 125k for a fast sale.

It actually sold for 134k at the top of the market in July 2007! I was convince3d the EA hadn't put my offer through to the owner. I then turned detective and it took me 3 days to locate her(it was an empty house modern - a little unloved - no worse than that - she lived 30 miles away). She was furious with the EA and ultimately 3 days later took my offer. she was highly distressed and her mortgage was 92k. I sold her on a 4 week completion for cash - and the benefits involved.I think this experience says it all about agents. They will still want their wedge off her on this deal though! I have had loads of experiences like that.

I always advertise and manage my own lettings too...piece of cake. LAs are even worse than EAs.

Perhaps you are a whizz kid Chris? However there arent many about.

Hi Jacko

So had the agent put your offer forward or not?

That was my point..no they hadn't. I suspected they wouldn't when he said he'd be embarrassed to do so. He did confirm when asked that their was no point below which he was instructed not to bother. The vendor has gone mad with him. The good thing is that I only ever make bids that are embarrassing - that way I know if I get it then its a steal.

I have had nothing but problems from EA,s. they tell lies and data protection is none existant, Hunters advertised my last house, never again, I have successfully sold my last 2 houses without any problems at all,

No surprises. Ive just listed another 2 with estates direct. Its a walk in the park £354 all in for what I need. If you need more hand holding then you could spend around 800 with them. I've 12 to sell in 2 years - this approach will save me not just 30k in fees but also the hassle and headaches of dealing with sharp-talking, hollow-promising, over-optimistic jargon obsessed kids in EA offices who have dodgy haircuts, cheap shiny suits and white socks.

Jacko - "white socks" ??? What on earth are you on about, this isn't 1987 this is 2015.

Are you sure you're not affiliated with Poundland? Sorry, I mean Estates Direct?

Chris. I find it hilarious that the only thing you object to(with you being an EA) is my white-sock comment. I therefore conclude that you are in agreement about everything else? You date the peak of the white-sock era well. So well, that it makes me think you were perhaps one of them? I had 2 EAs to look at one of my houses for sale lately (I like to check that they are still, in general, as bad as ever). I wasn't disappointed. All the classic signs and guff appeared. Over pricing, telling me of lots of buyers waiting, market's booming Sir! I felt sorry for these half-wits who had obviously just been on some sales school pep talk given by some bloated and grey HQ has-been - and were hypnotised to drone on.....and on...and on.....Still it gave me a fun 2 hours on a rainy afternoon. Let's thank god for this comical 'profession'.

You might decry the fact ED were started by the guy who started Poundland, but they and there ilk are going to take a massive chunk out of your cosy market share - and quick Chris. I'm sensing my comments hurt you? Aww bless. Your cheap retort is typical of any threatened person coming out with pre-planned canned lines. I know, that you know, the truth and reality. Maybe you're one of the very few good guys? If you are then you should be doing well. RIP traditional EAs.

Jacko - To be honest (and you will inevitably say that I "would say this wouldn't I") but in our area, traditional full service estate agents are thriving. The market share of the online agents or DIYers is actually shrinking and FAST. This is because we live in a fairly tight knit area, lots of people have tried these new "agents" and realised that a cheapo second rate service is not the best way to market what, for most people, is their most valuable and prized asset.

Your choice of property marketing doesn't irk me. What irks me is the derogatory language and cheap insults you level at an entire industry. And then you follow it up by using an estate agent (no, in fact two estate agents) to give you a market appraisal, no doubt to check you are marketing at the correct price???!!!

You state you are a property developer? To be honest in my experience, if there is one "profession" that is greedy and unprofessional it is the one man band developers that have flourished on cheap credit over the last twenty or so years. In fact, in an earlier post you allude to a scenario where you actually hunt down a seller who actually sounds quite vulnerable to then bully them into taking your quick sale, cash offer!?

I agree the agent you mention should have (legally) put your offer forward and you have every right to pursue this through one of the various INDUSTRY or PROFESSIONAL channels available. Failing that go to Trading Standards, they (like you) love a bit of high street estate agent bashing!!

We'll have to agree to disagree on all of this I feel. And, for the record, the only white socks I wore in 1987 were the ones during gym class at school! I do consider myself and my colleagues as the good ones, but there are many many like us.

Oh and by the way, my main role is running a busy lettings office - so that makes me, in your eyes, lower than low I seem to recall.

We're a high street EA and charge just £500+vat for our full service including floor plans, Rightmove and accompanied viewings. Most online packages are so basic and there's more work involved than vendors realise. I agree that fees of 2% and up is greedy!

I have contacted I am the agent 3 times now, once email through their site and twice by phone can anyone recommend anyone better

I Wouldn't after my experience !

Last 24 hours : 4 Valuations of my flat

On-line Agent: 30 -35 grand
Local Agent 1: 65 Grand
Local Agent 2: 55 Grand
Local Agent 3: offers over 50 grand sure to rise to 55 ..

Seems Local is by far the best in my case.

@Kiwi and @Chris Hall - Chris you make some fine points in comparing agent fees around the world and it is true that UK fees are lower than most - HOWEVER I completely agree with Kiwi that UK EA's are terrible to deal with in the main. Either shockingly unprofessional used car salespeople with zero morals or plum in the mouth types just talk down to people and are overly curt and smug. Let's face it - they do NOTHING. Take a couple of photos and stick them on a portal. Send a kid over (often grudginly) to accompany a viewing. Then play one against the other to maximise fees. All the same time charging a similar fixed percentage on restrictive contracts on ever-increasing sale prices despite the costs falling rather than rising. Agents are two a penny. Not qualified at all and from, what i hear from insiders I know are rude and cavalier about buyers and their customers too. This industry is ripe for disruption and I cannot wait for the online for sale by owner model to break through. The ultimate cheek was the Agent Mutual challenge Onthemarket to 'tackle the duopoly of Rightmove and Zoopla'. What a bleedin' cheek. This industry has done nothing but stitch up people trying to buy someone TO LIVE. They have turned property into the major asset class of society and together with record low interest rates, helped fuel a feudal landlord/tenant society by hiking up prices for greedy vendors. The market works when all parties have "perfect knowledge". False markets ie. incorrect prices work where parties are not privy to all information ie. the agents hide true valuations and bid parties against each other. You cannot keep a false market forever. The taxpayer has helped you for long enough by sustaining interest rates at record lows to stop a housing price crash which because of your collective greedy selfish actions have meant houses are the only assets people have nowadays. The only way to end this ridiculous situation is to do an Uber on estate agents. And by the way Chris - very very very rarely do you get what you pay for. The expression is only used by dinosaurs who know the game is up.

Chris - i see you have made other comments... It is a fallacy that EA's provide any significant value to the housing market except to line their own grubby pockets and perhaps downsizers. I say perhaps, because these sellers have been stitched up the whole way up the ladder. Everyone else loses because of the 'services' you provide. In the old days, you were an essential part of the housing market. You were the 'distributors' of a classic goods-type industry. You aggregated vendors together and advertised properties. You did real marketing and connected a world of buyers who wanted to buy with a separate world of sellers who wanted to sell. You did this by building a database of clients which you maintained. You took out expensive press adverts which took a lot of admin and indeed some considerable risk. You made photocopies of property details and mailed them out with stamps to your database of buyers. All this comes at a cost to you and Vendors, and therefore Buyers had to pay. Now you are redundant. And rather than pitch yourself as a FULL-service at low commission, making it obvious that you are a luxury for buyers and sellers - a bit like a travel agent - you continue to charge the same percentage as decades ago - and that despite house prices increasing at a rate that far exceeds the increase in your costs - most likely costs have plummetted as anyone who administers an e-newletter compared to sending out thousands of letters will testify to.

So how does it continue? Well because vendors are greedy and believe they will recoup the cost of using an agent in the higher price. And they probably do. So for very little value-add, the prices of UK houses are artifically high and this goes into the pockets of agents.

In next weeks post, we can get into the entirely unfair system of sealed bids where the agent calls up their developer mate on the last day - something so common-place it is quite openly joked about.

Crikey, that was quite a rant Toby!

Are you sure that you're not an 'online agent' or maybe you have a vested interest in a 'for sale by owner' enterprise? Reading some of your comments you certainly know all their jargon!

Regardless, do you honeslty believe that estate agents in the UK have even the slightest influence over house prices? If so I think you need to do some economics research.

Chris,

Yes I am sure. I have absolutely no interest in or with the estate agency industry. I have bought and sold various residential and commercial property in the course of my life. And i have a natural interest in disruptive business models especially internet ones. I am sure you have views on Uber and have no affiliation with mini-cab firms and know their competitors. If you are savvy and business-aware I am sure you can join the dots. I know you rely on a naive world so that you can continue to blur the perfect market which would erradicate your industry but there are many of us 'critical thinkers' still out there.

Dismiss criticisms as a rant and cast ad hominem dispersions to deflect attention from the points. Yep there's no mistaking your profession.

So that we are all clear... as grown ups now talking business - the only reason why estate agents exist is to create separation of the buyer from the seller and drive up prices and using negociation tactics by controlling the flow of information. You know it and I know it and so does everyone reading. Surely you don't justify charging 1.5% on a £2m house sale for simply getting a nationwide subcontractor to put a board up, take a few photos, draw a floorplan and then half-heartedly show up to a couple of viewings before pitting one hard working family against another. No agents promise (and deliver) higher sale prices for their clients. Swear on your life that you do not tell vendors that your fee is justified over a competitor agent because you can achieve a higher price. Think you are the only one!!

What do you do for a living Toby? I'd be really interested to know.

Estate Agents = Devil's Disciples

I've never met a straight one yet and I've dealt with dozens in my life time.

All they are interested in is making as much money as possible from a sale. No morals. No professional standards. No code of conduct.

To bump up prices 99.9% of the time they'll lie to the buyer by creating "fictitious" competing buyers. The buyer potentially could end up forking out thousands more than they needed to.

"That's not so bad", I hear you say if you're a seller as you're getting the best price right?

Well the taste isn't so sweet when they decide to act on the buyer's behalf.

Yes I'm taking about the dreaded "brown envelope" scenario.

Picture this, you have your house up for sale for £425,000

A buyer turns up and tells the agent that he wants it at £400,000 at all costs and he's happy to pay a "buyer's fee" of £10k.

This is a fancy term which legitimises a bribe in the Estate Agent industry.

Do the Maths,... Does the agent make more money by selling your property for £450k at 1% commission or selling it for £400k and taking a fee of £10k from the buyer and his 1% commission from the seller?

So far the only agents who I've met who would walk away from taking a fee from the buyer is where the risk of the seller finding out is too large or where they are too junior within the organisation and they risk their superiors finding out (who would do the same themselves anyway).

Sellers who are abroad or hardly ever at the property are most at risk for falling for this trick. The agent will coerce them into accepting the lower offer by locking out other buyers willing to pay more and then saying whatever it takes for the seller to accept the lower offer.

The only thing that an agent is good for is setting up appointments to view your property.

Give them too much power and there's a strong chance of it getting abused.

Would you trust a complete stranger who you have only known for 5 minutes deal with several hundred thousand pounds of your money on your behalf? Most people would say no to this question. But that's exactly what you're doing when you give an Estate agent the power to make / receive and negotiate offers on your behalf!

I have had previous issues with Estate Agents and believe that they charge far too much for what they actually deliver so this time when we sold our house we decided to use an online agent. It only cost us £500 and we had an offer and accepted after 3 months. This is not to say that all went smoothly because it did not. Communication with the online agent started off ok with a small hiccup of putting an incorrect address in the Sale of Contract. This was eventually rectified but caused a considerable amount of confusion with our solicitor who was sending legal documents to the wrong address which in effect delayed the processes. The people buying our house happened to be an old customer of mine so we swapped telephone numbers and email addresses. This did help a little with communication. We did not finally complete until 6 months later. The problem was there were 9 parties in the chain. The agent that we were buying our new house from did most of the donkey work and communicated with us on a regular basis at least once or twice a week to inform us of the situations further down the chain. They deserved what ever commission they were making. Hats off to them for a great job. Unlike our online agent who only communicated with us when we had asked questions. They should have been communicating with us at least once a week or once a fortnight to advise us of the progress. Most agents are not very good at following information through and just because it's in the hands of the solicitor does not mean that they should sit back and relax. Reading all the comments above I think it could be due to a lack of training.
We lived in America and the Real Estate there is quite different. The Realtor works for a firm but they promote themselves as an individual person. They contact you and arrange to meet up with you with the intention of building up a good relationship with you and gain a clear understanding of what type of property you are looking for. Our realtor brought along a picnic lunch for each of us during our first property viewings. I quite liked the way the Americans operate in business. They have a very good sales technique and it seems to work well.
What a lot of agents lack over here is the ability to communicate regularly and follow things through from start to the final end. I think it is really important to build a good rapport with a customer.

I am at the moment trying to sell my House here in Wales. I have a newish estate agent, well new to me anyway selling my property. I only get any feedback if I ring them! I am trying to sort out an online agent and have been put off by the way they sell. If your property does not sell i.e. for 12 months, you have to purchase another 12 months! Well, to be honest, you might as well get an EA in the first place as this on line agency is making money from you for nothing. At least a local EA has the "No sale no Fee" to consider. Just thought I would add my little bit.

If anyone has any ideas of selling privately, then I would be grateful.

Thanks

Great site...just stumbled across it as looking for a cheap way to sell our previous home. Just for the record my wife and I have sold our last two properties without an estate agent and one also without a solicitor ...that one we put a home made sign in the window and bought the @how to sell your house without a solicitor ' book from WHICH...total cost to sell that house £20...£10 for legal paperwork (solicitors stationers) and approx £10 for the book ! We obviously used estate agents to look for info for property for sale and were totally put off using them as most hadn't a clue about the properties they were trying to sell us ..obvious stuff like 'what is the council tax on this property'? ...not a clue ...and I got to thinking 'poor sellers' ..they are being charged all this money by people who are supposed to be working for them and they can't even be bothered to do their basic homework . Will never , ever use an estate agent to sell our property...you don't need 'em and they are in the main an absolute waste of money . And ps ...is that the Chris Hall from the N. Wales estate agency that said they were going to evict the smelly tenant who lived next door to us and keep us informed on their progress ...and never did ?!

What did Nina expect for her £500, of course you will not receive the same full service from
an online agent that you would receive from an EA.
I wonder how much the American real Estate agents charge for their services?
You pay your money and take your choice, online is good for those that are prepared to do some of the work themselves, you can't have your cake and eat it!

Thanks for sharing this. First think I need to do is research to see at what price other similar properties are selling and what i need to do for making my house much more sellable.

Good website and interesting comments, thanks. I stumbled on the site when I was looking for a free online selling portal to sell my house, such as Gumtree. The online estate agent option sounds interesting. Did one poster create his own website i.e. become an online estate agent to sell his property?
If so, this would be even cheaper than using an online EA, as a domain name only costs about five to ten pounds per year and the hosting about a hundred.
I would if Rightmove would accept a temporary online EA like this or would they see through the cunning ruse, lol.
On a different note, my house has letting potential and I have used it as a HMO in the past, it also has a self contained flat on the top floor. I wonder if these factors would increase the asking price?

I am still very confused with the online agents. Some are good and some not so good (so I have been told) I am at the moment with another local agent!! I will not complain about them at this point, but will be glad when the 3 months are up! Was told not to ring them as they will ring me if anyone has any interest in my property - not pleased with this attitude. I thought it best to ring now and then for any updates! Surely, this is the norm to show some interest in how things are jogging along. I am seriously thinking of trying to sell myself via my own website/or a free online selling portal. How do I go about this, can someone enlighten me please! Thanks in advance.

It's a pity you cannot go to Rightmove now and sell. You could at one time. By the way, is anyone looking to purchase a nice large two bedroom cottage?

As I originally stated back in April, my experience of buying or selling through high street estate agents is that their service is dire. and I am not surprised at all about the one Andrea is using telling her 'not to bother them '...! Exactly.! Of course , why should she take an interest in the property she is selling? ...Omg !!! The estate agent there just wants to sit back and collect the money but make no effort , as, in my experience, is usual ! I currently have a property for sale ...one sign in the upstairs window ( I bought this on-line for about £20)and am in no rush to sell the house but have already had half a dozen enquiries , Come on people, unless your house is 5 miles down an un-made road don't be fooled into thinking you have to use the local estate agent or even Rightmove or Zoopla . Houses got bought and sold way before the invention of the internet.

I just bought my house from a private seller using Purple Bricks. Dealing with sellers directly as opposed to an agent is much better in my experience and also speeds up the buying selling process when dealing with solicitors and chasing up for information.

Hi all

Thank you for your comments which I have taken on board. I like the sign in the upstairs window idea. The only thing is, I do live on a road where not many people would see the sign. Saying that, I think that cars passing by would see it eventually. I have a local EA Board outside, so people do know that my House is up for sale. As said before, I cannot wait for the 3 months duration to end so that I can sell it myself (hopefully) As Alan Roberts has said, I am in no rush to sell my House either. Needless to say, not one person has been to look at my House. It did sell back in May this year, but I could not find anything suitable, so they (purchasers) (very rightly) pulled out. It was my fault!

Spot on Ayyaz...and with the added benefit of not always having to go through a third party , it cuts waiting time and you are talking to the'organ grinder' not the monkey ! I know I would rather talk and negotiate with the person who has the most personal interest in the property and 99% of the time that is the buyer or seller themselves .

Take heart Andrea, where we used to live there was a detached house up for sale for 3 years and that had 3 different local estate agents boards outside it ! There is no magical solution for selling a house but you can do the obvious to tilt things in your favour i.e. make sure the front is always tidy , know what band the council tax is , how much average utility bills are ...all basic stuff really but not the sort of info I found many estate agents seem to possess when buying or selling a house !

I have a .com property domain for sale. Many years ago, I started a local private sales/lettings company, which ultimately failed to take off as I couldn't get access to Rightmove and Zoopla in order to upload the properties (they only use high street/online agents).

I've always believed there is a massive market for private sales/lettings/house swaps/holiday swaps/house sitting. Maybe someone has the ambition and knowledge to be the "Rightmove" equivalent in the "private" world? Or use the domain as an Online Agent?

As the domain contains the word "house", it could really apply to a lot of businesses (e.g. architecture, interior design, household goods) not just the housing market.

not all agents are grease ball there are a few slimy ones but generally agent have to have the chat and the bare face to say no its worth more , where as if some one is not confident or get mislead then have no one to blame but there self in they feel pressured slightly into agreeing ,again as in the valuation , this could be a scam of under valuation, or ghost viewings where ppl are misled into believing . tread careful ppl there is plenty ghost viewing going on every day just to show numbers going in the door , if organised it can lead to low bowling on your offer ,, boom i jus blow the hole game ,, 25 y a agent i seen it all

"What, you mean, without any kind of agent, including an online one?

Technically, you can market your property anyhow you want, but I personally wouldn’t bother."

An amazing statement! We have successfully and quickly sold 2 previous properties without any estate agents - online or otherwise. What exactly do EAs do anyway? The house we currently own was sold to us through Estate Agents (the previous owner was an elderly lady). The owner showed us round, contacted us regarding anything, personally. The EA did nothing at all. All we did was phone the Estate Agents initially to view the property. What a mistake doing that, as she then had to pay for absolutely no service whatsoever. Additionally we were told by EA that we had to use one of their list of Solicitors (they refused to use ours); something we have since found out, was illegal for them to do. NOTE: This was a very well known EA, not a small company by any means.

Sorry but we have no faith in EA's although can't speak for online agents. I guess far cheaper for the same service.

I have no comment to make, but can't see a way of subscribing to receive emails without putting something in this comment field. Sorry to waste your reading time, therefore!

Not sure why Rightmove would not want a home owner to use their site to advertise their property and pay them directly for the privilege.

Rightmove - you've said it can't be done but you haven't said why. Surely you are missing out on a portion of the market that want to do the leg work themselves. Looking at what is advertise on your sit the only thing I would struggle to provide is a floor plan. But there's bound to be software out there for that (or maybe you could offer that as part of the package!

I can sell my home better than an estate agent. All I need is an avenue to advertise.

Great blog. I want to sell a property in Portugal ( a large historic townhouse in Castelo Novo for 60k), do any of the new agents handle overseas property?

I have a property and a business to sell, so in other words, a commercial property. I've tried selling it with normal estate agents, with no luck, so wondering if this might be an alternative route for us.