Most people choose to sell their property through private treaty, which often involves using an agent to help, but can be done privately. Other less common methods involve part-exchange or auction.
The typical way to sell a property is by private treaty on the open market through an estate agency like ourselves. The property will be advertised with an asking price and the buyer will submit an offer for you to consider if they want to buy the property.
In England and Wales, once an offer has been accepted and an agreement is reached, a contract of sale will be issued and those contracts signed and exchanged. The exchange of contracts will only happen once the buyer has done the following:
Both parties are only legally committed to the sale once the contracts are exchanged. Up until this time if circumstances change, either the seller or the buyer can pull out.
If the seller is receiving multiple offers from multiple buyers, a ‘sealed bids’ situation may be proposed. This involves each prospective purchaser submitting their best and final offer. After the deadline, the agent and seller will review the best offers and decide how to proceed. They are likely to take the offer they believe to be best but are not under any obligation to do so.
Selling a property can be a long process, so using an auction method to sell your property may suit you better. There are two types of auction (Traditional and Modern) that could be used and each has its own benefit.
Selling at auction is often suitable if:
Auctions are normally seen as an opportunity to buy or sell quickly, often below the true market value, but this is not always the case. Prices can often far exceed expectations if a bidding war begins due to many bidders showing interest.
The auctioneer will normally set a guide price for the property giving an indication of the possible price the property may achieve. You can also set a reserve price, which is generally not disclosed, and is the minimum price you allow the auctioneer to sell the property for.
During a traditional auction, once the hammer falls, the buyer with the highest bid is committed to the purchase. The contract is ‘exchanged’ on the fall of the hammer, so from this point you cannot pull out. The deposit, normally 10% is payable at the same time – always check in advance what methods of payment are acceptable to the auctioneer. The buyer will also have to pay an auction premium or fee, which is normally a fixed amount stated in advance.
After the auction, you will then have 28 days to pay the 90% balance of the money and ‘complete’ the transaction. If for any reason, the buyer is unable to complete the transaction, you will be able to retain the deposit monies that were paid.
This is also known as a conditional auction and offers a little more flexibility than the traditional auction process. At the end of the auction or once an offer has been accepted, the buyer will need to pay a non-refundable reservation fee. This reservation deposit will vary but is normally calculated as a percentage of the final selling price.
The buyer will then have an exclusive 28-day window to exchange contracts and then a further 28 days after that to complete the transaction. This differs from the traditional auction method where contracts are exchanged almost immediately.
The advantage is that the payment of the non-refundable reservation fee shows the buyer is financially invested in making the purchase. This is different to the usual sale process (Private Treaty), where the buyer can walk away from the purchase until the exchange of contracts, without financial loss. From a buyer point of view, it means the seller cannot change their mind about selling the property or change the price.
The reservation fee is not a part of payment of the purchase price, but is often offset against the seller’s cost of marketing the property.
Some developers offer a part-exchange option for you to be able to sell your home to the developer when buying one of theirs in return. If you are looking to buy a new-build home, this can be an effective way of connecting the sale and purchase process and removes a lot of worry.
The developer will value your current home and then, subject to any criteria they may apply, offer you a price to buy it from you. A good developer will offer a ‘fair’ price and arrange for independent valuations to take place in order to back up the offer they have made.
The advantages of selling this way are:
Note: part-exchange is not available if you are purchasing using the Help to Buy scheme.
As we get older, most of us find that we have the greater part of our wealth locked up in our property. With that you may want to sell in order to release funds to use during retirement. A home equity release scheme is one way to access this money without having to move out of your home. These schemes are only accessible by older owners, the minimum age varies between 55 and 65.
With these sort of schemes, you either sell the property to the provider or the provider gives you a lifetime mortgage. In both cases you can release money and continue to occupy your home.
In both cases, there are significant charges to consider and you should take professional advice to understand the risks, the costs and whether this is the best option for you. It will also prevent you from passing your home to your family after your death.
There are a number of companies now that will offer to buy a property from you, often for cash and within a very short time scale. These companies are looking to buy a property below market value, which is how they make their profit and in return will offer a very quick sale.
This way of selling is generally only of interest to a seller who is already in a compromised position. For example, they may have a pending repossession or may be going through a divorce and need to exit the property.
If you decide to use a quick sale company be sure that you do your research. You will need to understand how much your property is worth and therefore at what discount you may be selling. As with all transactions, check what additional charges there may be and do not sign any paperwork until it has been reviewed by your solicitor.
Although this is not a method that we allow on our site, another, more unusual way to sell a property is through raffles. This is where the seller issues and sells raffle tickets, with the property they are trying to sell being the main prize.
If you’ve decided how exactly you want to go about selling your property, then maybe this Moving Home Checklist will help.
Get an indication of what your property is worth for sale and rental
Use our online calculator to get an idea of how much you could borrow
Work out how much Stamp Duty you’ll need to pay on your new home
Check out the homes we have available for sale in Cambridgeshire