5^th February 2018

Selling your home is not an everyday activity and can be stressful unless you are properly prepared. It pays to take good advice from an experienced estate agent before you embark on the process.

Making sure you take advice from a good mortgage advisor and have a good local solicitor in place will also help things go much more smoothly. 

We’ve helped countless people to successfully sell their homes with the minimum amount of stress, so we thought we’d share with you our key considerations when it comes to selling your home. 

 

Get your finances in order early 

One of the first things to do when selling your home is to get your finances in order. Contact an independent Mortgage Advisor to review your current mortgage arrangements and see if there are better deals available, This will give you an idea of what you can afford and the Mortgage Advisor can arrange an “Agreement in Principle” which will put you in a good position to be able to make credible offers. 

A Mortgage Advisor will: 

 

• Check the amount outstanding on your current mortgage
• Check to see if you could suffer from any early repayment penalties
• Check if you are likely to be able to port your mortgage to the new property
• Shop around for a better deal

 

Get your paperwork in order

It is useful to get the paperwork you will be asked for prepared in advance to avoid delaying the sale further down the line. This documents will include, but are in no way limited to:

 

• Receipts for any development work that you’ve done for the property, including dates
• Roof age and warranties (if applicable)
• How water heater/boiler age, instructions and warranties
• Information for any appliances included in the sale (warranties, instructions, service history, etc)
• Compliance certificates such as permits for extensions, etc
• Energy performance certificate 
• Outstanding mortgage balance and pay-off balance
• Damp course guarantee 

 

Choosing an estate agent

When you’re selling your home, a good estate agent will alleviate a lot of stress and make selling your home as easy as possible by dealing with all the tricky negotiations. For that reason, it’s important you choose yours carefully. 

Matthew’s have a wealth of experience when it comes to selling properties, helping and advising your every step of the way and making sure all parties are kept informed at all times. Our expert team will provide an accurate valuation, compile high quality property particulars and market your property effectively in a variety of different ways such as online, in the press and within our city centre offices. Ultimately we do our utmost to find the best buyer and negotiate the best deal for your house sale. 

 

Choosing a conveyancer/solicitor

It is equally important to choose a good conveyancing solicitor to deal with the legal aspect of the sale. We work with excellent local solicitors on a daily basis and can certainly recommend firms who we know will do a good job for a reasonable price. Their level of communication and competency will be two of the most important factors in negotiating a successful sale so it is worth taking time to find the right one.

 

Preparing Your Home For Sale

Before putting your house on the market, it is well worth having a fresh look at it as if through a prospective purchaser’s eyes. First impressions are very important so ensure the house looks its best from the outside with any gardens and driveways tidied, weeds cleared and paintwork touched up.

Finish off all the little jobs you’ve been meaning to do around the house and clear away as much clutter and personal possessions as you can so the property can be photographed at its best. This will also help prospective purchasers to be able to visualise themselves living there more easily.

Once you are ready, arrange for a couple of estate agent to come and value your property. Valuations can vary from agent to agent but be careful to put your property on the market at a realistic price as you will get the most interest when it first comes on to the market. Trying a higher price can result in the house going ‘stale’ on the market. Read more about Preparing a House For Sale

 

Preparing for viewings

First impressions are paramount when it comes to selling your home. Make sure the house is clean and tidy and well aired so it looks and smells nice. Fully open any blinds and curtains to get as much natural light coming in as possible. It is a good idea to have fresh towels in the bathrooms and as many personal possessions put away as possible.

Try to get rid of as many distractions as possible so the viewer can really have a good look around. Turn off the television, see if someone can take care of any small children while you are showing people around or give them something to keep them occupied. Ask someone to take the dog out for a walk or put it outside if possible. Read more about Preparing a House For Viewing.

 

Dealing with an offer

Once you start to receive offers, your estate agent should advise you about what position the prospective purchasers are in, i.e. how quickly they can proceed with a sale and how easily it is likely to go through. This will help you to decide which offer to accept; for example you may be offered slightly less money for a cash sale as opposed to the full asking price from someone who hasn’t even got their house on the market yet.

Initial offers may also be re-negotiated once a full survey has been done on the property as it may pick up defects with the house. A good agent will have lots of experience in dealing with this and should be able to ensure you still get the best price for your property.

Sales are not legally binding until contracts are exchanged so a good estate Agent will make sure that everything is proceeding as it should be and will alert you to any possible ‘alarm bells’ which may occur during the process so you can quickly put the property back on the market if need be.

 

Negotiating Contracts & Exchange/Completion Dates

Once you’ve accepted an offer to sell your home, you’ll be required to negotiate exchange of contract and completion dates.

Be open and honest, and keep an open line of communication at this point. Set a realistic date for the exchange of contracts and completion of the sale to manage everybody’s expectations.

 

Once contracts have been exchanged – the sale is legally binding.

We recommend setting a completion date of a few days after you’re planning to move out. This gives you a bit of ‘wiggle room’ to deal with any complications that may arise.

We hope you found this guide to selling your home useful, but if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.

If you’re thinking of selling your home, call us on 01244 346226 or email us at sales@matthewsofchester.com

We look forward to hearing from you soon.