How To Sell My House Online

• Should I sell my house online?
• Should I trust estate agents to sell my home?
• How can I make the most money from selling my property online?
• Can I sell my house online free of charge?

These are just some of the questions you might ask yourself when deciding whether or not to sell your property online.

If you are wondering how to sell your house online, this helpful guide will hopefully shed some light on the daunting task of selling your home!

There is a market - find it.

Market depicts the sense of an available buyer for every seller. If you want to sell your house, you can be sure that the ideal buyer(s) is somewhere. It is your job to find the most suitable market, or at the very least, employ the right hands that operate within the correct market for you.

With this supposedly general knowledge, how do you find the right market to sell your house online?

It depends entirely on the method you choose to sell your house. Different sales methods attract different buyers. In recent years 95% of house buyers start online. There is no wrong way to sell your property. There are many ways to sell a house and we narrowed down the options for you to the most common methods of how to sell your house. Let us briefly review them with the best ways to sell your home online and sell your home fast.

The different ways to sell your house

1. Sell my house privately

• If you have the extra time on your hands, you could sell your house yourself.
• The significant upside to this is that since you would sell your home yourself, you do not need to pay estate agent.

If you have the extra time on your hands, you could sell your house yourself. This way, the sole responsibility of advertising - taking photos and arranging viewings -, and property pricing amongst other tedious processes falls upon on you. The significant upside to this is that since you would sell your home yourself, you do not need to pay estate agent or auction fees. This method is generally most feasible when you know a suitable buyer: a family friend, for instance.

If you are confident in your abilities and think to yourself; "I could privately sell my home online, no problem" then it is well worth doing some research. However, it is wise to be cautious as not every home buyer will operate in good faith.

Griffin Property Co and other UK online estate agents offer a level of protection that you may not get when selling your property privately.

2. Selling my home with an online estate agent

• Selling your house through online agents swings the odds in your favour in many ways.
• Selling your house through online estate agents takes the burden off of you.
• Working through online agents ensures that you get the best deals with the least stress.

If there are many ways to sell your house, this unarguably is the most versatile. With the progression of technology, it is considerably more straightforward to sell a house online. Selling your house through online agents swings the odds in your favour in many ways, primarily due to the number of people looking to buy homes online. With mobile phones and readily available connection, the internet is the most convenient means to buy and sell your home.

Selling your house through online estate agents takes the burden off of you. With a daily audience running into hundreds of millions, your home gets the widest audience of potential buyers. Working through online agents ensures that you get the best deals with the least stress. Since online agents do not pay so much to the host websites, the commissions they charge are relatively small. While you can showcase your property online yourself, it is crucial to realise that only online estate agents have access to the best property websites; Rightmove and Zoopla.

It may be tempting to go for the cheapest online estate agent, before doing that you should try to compare online estate agents with the other options available when deciding how to sell your house.

Griffin Property Co is an online estate agent that is ready to take up the responsibility of selling your property, offering a unique approach and skillset compared to older and archaic methods.

If you are still thinking "should I sell my house online?" and are considering the pros and cons of trying to sell your house yourself, contact Griffin Property Co today for some advice and free property valuation.

We are a specialist, UK online estate agents providing an unrivalled service to our clients nationwide, supporting them with selling houses online

3. Sell my house at auction

• Your resources are limited when you sell your property via auction.
• When you consider the volatility of an auction, there is a chance of your home selling for less than you would like.

Your property is sold to the highest bidder, which sounds great, but when you consider the volatility of an auction, there is a chance of your home selling for less than you would like. This could be due to the limited exposure to a broad audience compared to other methods of selling your home. Online property auctions allow you to broaden the number of people who could potentially buy your house, but this is still limited compared to the effective marketing techniques used by the best online estate agents.

In more ways than one, your resources are limited when you sell your property via auction, and it is mostly recommended as a last resort if you are having difficulty in trying to sell your own home.

4. Sell my house with an estate agent

• They serve as a limited physical presence of the online estate agents counterparts.
• They, however, charge higher commissions than online estate agents.

Think of traditional estate agents as silhouettes of the online estate agents. They serve as a limited physical presence of the online estate agents counterparts and have been a mainstay in the home selling industry from the beginning. They ease you of the tedious processes involved in property sales. They, however, charge higher commissions (sometimes 0.75-3%), since they do DIY tasks on your behalf. While they have a form of online presence, they are not as strong as the online estate agents. Hence, to maximally benefit from traditional estate agents, you might need more than one of them. Typically, the most successful physical estate agents are the ones who are also adept at selling houses online.

While there are many other ways to sell your house, you will realise upon scrutiny that most of the methods have the internet spice in them. As a result, the additional costs that come with selling your property through an estate agent may not necessarily be worth it. It is definitely a good idea to have a look at online onlky estate agents as they will be able to sell your property online at a cheaper cost.

5. Sell my house to a cash buyer

Selling to these sites create a quick option that stops the property chain. However, you will get a much lower offer than the usual market rate. Usually 10% - 15% below the actual market value of the property. There are multiple scam sites which will bring the price down when purchasing the property leaving you in financial difficulty so always be careful with this method doing your research and reviews before deciding selling your house to a cash buying company. This is definitely one of the quickest ways to sell your house online but the pros do not outweigh the cons.

6. Selling my house to a family member

Although this may seem like a good idea selling a house to a family member can be a daunting process with a number of downfalls to consider for example HMRC trying to think you are dodging tax.

There are multiple ways to sell a property to a family member using the gifting option so you can avoid a large tax bill, legal fees and estate agent fees. You do leave yourself liable to other taxes so advice and planning is needed for this option.

How Many Viewings To Sell A House On Average?

According to research conducted in the UK, the average amount of viewings per sale is 15. but properties in the North needed fewer viewings than in the South.

Certain areas had a lower amount of property viewings, with properties in Carlisle only required 6 viewings. On the other hand, properties in London tend to have 22 or 23 viewings on average!

This may be due to the price of the properties since London is significantly more expensive; people tend to be more cautious.

There are a number of other factors to take into consideration aswell, such as; the condition of the property, the properties suitability for extension, Japanese knot weed etc.

How long does it take to sell a house?

When relocating from a town or city, you need to find out how long it takes to sell a house. Selling a home may take several weeks (or sometimes months). This is because of the paperwork and steps that are involved. But your house doesn't have to take so long before it is sold.

Each house sale is different, as such the amount of time it takes to sell your house will always vary. It is always best to be as transparant and as prompt as possible in order to speed things up on your end of the house sale.

Read our comprehensive guide for more detail here.

When is the best time to sell your house?

Having reviewed four common ways to attract the right market, let's discuss the right timing.

You should schedule to sell your property online when:

• Workers are paid en masse.
• Significant incentives are granted.
• The nation as a whole experience an exponential boom.
• The market is the most competitive.

Best time to buy and sell a house

Spring is the best and busiest period for property sales of any sort. With the least holidays and shortest duration, it is a hit-and-run operation. Summer is slightly slower before picking up in the autumn months, winter (especially December) is the slowest with people usually dealing with the Christmas break. However, any month is still good to list your property online as there are always buyers looking for the latest deal.

The best month to sell your house

What is the best time to sell your house? According to theadvisory.co.uk between February and June is the best month to sell your house, however, this also depends on many factors including the type of property being sold and where it is located.

The waiting process

While there is no specific waiting time, you can be sure that the internet offers the shortest durations. Put up your house for sale in your local newspaper if you still plan to stay there for say five years.

The location of your property could also affect how fast it would sell. It is only logical that properties located in urban areas sell more quickly than those in rural areas. Regardless, with really efficient online estate agents, the average waiting time is usually eight weeks. Online estate agents remove intermediaries and speed up the process. It would be unrealistic not to mention the luck factor. Sometimes, you can sell your property in only a few hours; sometimes it can take a lot longer, for no particular reason.

It is also not enough that your property is beautiful or in good condition. Make known to others, what you know! In essence, package your property excellently. Use a professional camera, and take beautiful pictures of your home. If anything, these little things attract more potential buyers. Since some will not be able to travel from wherever they are to inspect the house until confirmation of purchase, bring the house to them online! Use efficient online agents, and all of these will be handled very well. Ultimately, proper packaging shortens waiting time and helps to sell your house fast.

Are there any other people who could give me advice if I choose to sell my property online?

There are a number of different industry professionals who could provide you with advice on how to sell your property, but not everyone will be impartial as many will want to win your business.

It is recommended to speak to friends and family about their experiences as they will always have the best of intentions and want the best outcome for you. Otherwise, if you are familiar with a legal professional specialising in property/conveyancing, they may be able to answer the more difficult questions that you have about selling your home!

Top tips for selling your home

Make the property bright and airy

Open the windows, clear and clutter and give the walls a fresh coat of paint

Time the sale:

Property tends to sell better in autumn and spring.

Promote local perks:

Are there local gyms, train stations, schools or restaurants? If there are mention them in your ads

Remove any sights of pets:

Although we love our pets some buyers might not, so just removing any signs of animals could make a sale quicker

Online house valuation

Don't forget to get a good online house valuation from an estate agent

Selling your house fast

If you are keen to sell your home as fast as possible without losing money on the sale, there is a few selling your house fast tips below:

Get professional photos taken of your home:

Anything that doesn't look great can look even worse on a photo, make sure you get professional photos created.

Advertise on as many websites as possible:

Do not underestimate the power of advertising online, use as many property portals as you can. This will speed up the process of selling your house fast.

Set a realistic price:

Try not to be too greedy, if you set your house price slightly above average then expect to get an offer.

If you are going to sell your house, unfortunately, you must incur some costs! While online estate agents make the process seamlessly easy, never expect it to be as simple as buying or selling in the conventional sense of it. While you eventually make money from your house sale, you must have spent some money on selling the house. Bulleted below are some expenses you may incur in selling your house.

The cost of selling a house

Conveyancing:

This is an aspect of the law that entails the transfer of documents of ownership of a property from one party to another. It ranges from £100 - £41000+.

Estate agent fees:

This is the fee you pay to estate agents (either online estate agent or traditional) for the services they render. This is the same as the commissions they charge. For traditional agents, it ranges from 0.75-3%. Online agents charge cheaper fees.

Removals:

These include the final aspect of house moving. They entail the transport of goods, clothes, furniture, or any other items that you own. Removal companies charge different fees; generally £400 - £1500.

Energy performance certificate:

They are certificates that are issued by the government, providing energy efficiency ratings for your property. They range from A (very efficient) to G (inefficient). EPC cost can start at around £75.

Capital gains tax:

When you sell any property, the government gets a particular percentage of the revenue you earn, because they are the government! When you sell for below £11, 100, there are no taxes charged. For sales above 11k, tax percentages range from 18-28%.

In conclusion

While there are innumerable ways to sell your house online, online estate agents offer the most seamless and efficient ways. Your home means to us as much as it means to you. We remove from your shoulders the burdens involved in property sales.

Can I sell my property online for free?

It's more than possible to sell your house for free if you are well connected without the conveyancing fees, however, it can take a bit of work.

The first point will be to value your home, while you can find free house valuations online they aren't completely accurate. Usually, free online house valuations hold older data and are not a substitute for having an agent value your home in person. We recommend to first receive an online house valuation so you have a rough estimate of what your house is worth and then inviting an estate agent round for a more accurate estimate.

The next stage would be to advertise your property online with social media, social media can be a very powerful tool for selling your property. With enough shares and friends on your facebook list, you can reach thousands a day who may be interested in buying your property online. Although social media sites do not have the reach of Rightmove and other property portals you can find people who are more interested in your local area and could be friends of friends on social media. The trick to selling your property on social media especially Facebook is to use the best description and pictures possible, make it stand out from the rest. We have an example below which shows the potential of using emoticons and methods to selling your property using Facebook.

1. A listing always requires a good title, use a title which is eye-catching and will attract Facebook users to look more in-depth at the property details.

2. Use emoticons to catch the users eye, list each of the best aspects of the property to attract users instantly.

3. Use the best photos with wide-angle shots for the main photo to show the whole extent of the house you are selling.

4. Use the next best 2 photos which are showing the next best features of the property.

Using these guidelines with social marketing will definitely help attract more buyers and interest in your home.

What are the benefits of selling your house online for free?

Using our table below you can now see at a glance what the cost & benefits are from selling your property online yourself compared to using an estate agent but also the list of things you need to produce by yourself which an estate agent usually does.

	Estate Agent	Selling Your Home Yourself
Advertising	When selling a house with an estate agent they will have access to multiple selling property portals including Rightmove and Zoopla. In addition to this, the agent will be able to take high-quality photos of your property which looks professional, not to mention a good description of the property.	You cannot advertise on the large property portals like Rightmove and Zoopla. Just on social media and have to take photos yourself.
Cost	Online Agent: From around £245 High Street Estate Agent: Usually commission based around 1.3%	Potentially £0 however a lot of time investment and learning.
Floor Plans	Most will include a free floor plan with completely accurate dimensions, this helps people know what they are getting when you are selling your house online.	You will have to produce your own floor plans and dimensions.
EPC	EPCs can be arranged by an agent and paid for yourself at a low cost.	You will need to arrange your own EPC.
Valuation	You will get an online house valuation for free when selling your house online.	You will need to arrange your own house valuation.
Dealing with Offers	An online estate agent will deal with your offers and keep you notified of any new offers immediately.	You will need to keep track of your offers.
Chasing the Chain	An estate agent will help deal with the buyer and seller to keep the chain up-to-date.	You will have to find out where your buyer if there is one and chase them up on a regular basis to make sure the selling of their property is up to date.
Preparing your Home	An estate agent will help you arrange your home to produce the best images, this will help.	You will need to take your own images and get the correct lighting to make it look professional.
Negotiations	An estate agent will deal with the buyer using their negotiation skills to help get you the best price.	You will need to bargain with a buyer or estate agent for the negotiation of the price.

Image is from a terraced property for sale in Suffolk Road, Sudbury. For the full listing, please click here

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