I'm going to sell my own house ! - Check List

Culchie

OK, I think I'm going to give this a lash myself, and if it doesn't pan out after 4-6 weeks, revert to plan B, and give it to an estate agent, which will be 1%+VAT (+€275+vat expenses) = approx €4000

I've had the house valued and know the price of similar property in my area within a €10K range.

Property worth excess €285000, could easily fetch €300000+ if several people interested (estate agents words as well). Have a friend selling in the area so I'm comfortable with price range.
Definitely a first time buyers home, and I'm not interested in getting involved with any 'chain sale'.


So I need to do up a checklist of things I need to do to sell this house, thought I might get some feedback from here as well.

1. House cleaned up, polished and presented in best possible light.
2. Photos taken, and positive but accurate description of house.
3. Create a blog/website with pictures and description and website address etc...
4. Advertise in Evening Herald/Buy and Sell/Local Newspaper, with reference to blog address for reader to view and mobile number
5. Organise suitable viewing times of maybe one hour, twice a week, and arrange for 2 or 3 couples to come along at 15 mins intrervals, so that they bump into each other, and at least know there are other people viewing property.
6. If offer is received, organise for deposit to be paid to my solictor with 10 days.
7. In the hands of my solicitor from then on to complete sale.


Anything else?

copacetic

Culchie wrote:

OK, I think I'm going to give this a lash myself, and if it doesn't pan out after 4-6 weeks, revert to plan B, and give it to an estate agent, which will be 1%+VAT (+€275+vat expenses) = approx €4000

I've had the house valued and know the price of similar property in my area within a €10K range.

Property worth excess €285000, could easily fetch €300000+ if several people interested (estate agents words as well). Have a friend selling in the area so I'm comfortable with price range.
Definitely a first time buyers home, and I'm not interested in getting involved with any 'chain sale'.


So I need to do up a checklist of things I need to do to sell this house, thought I might get some feedback from here as well.

1. House cleaned up, polished and presented in best possible light.
2. Photos taken, and positive but accurate description of house.
3. Create a blog/website with pictures and description and website address etc...
4. Advertise in Evening Herald/Buy and Sell/Local Newspaper, with reference to blog address for reader to view and mobile number
5. Organise suitable viewing times of maybe one hour, twice a week, and arrange for 2 or 3 couples to come along at 15 mins intrervals, so that they bump into each other, and at least know there are other people viewing property.
6. If offer is received, organise for deposit to be paid to my solictor with 10 days.
7. In the hands of my solicitor from then on to complete sale.


Anything else?

put an ad up on daft too, if you get an offer and accept it, ask for a booking deposit to be with your sol asap, 10 days is a long wait.

Downtime

Try and add some 'curb' appeal to the house and also clear shelves / walls etc of any unnecessary fuss - let the buyers imagine it as their home.

Be prepared for calls from Agents offering to sell it for you.

Definitely try to add it to daft.ie or similar sites.
Know what can and cannot be done to the house.

Don't forget advertising expeses from an Agent.

Culchie

Downtime wrote:

Don't forget advertising expeses from an Agent.

Cheers, I was quoted €275 for this

garred

Culchie, nothing really to add except good luck with it. I am doing the same after christmas so could you let us know how it works out for you?

Bluehair

Culchie wrote:

Anything else?

It depends on location but I put a big FOR SALE sign outside my house which was hugely successfull. Plenty of slow-moving road traffic going by though which helped a lot.

Culchie

Bluehair wrote:

It depends on location but I put a big FOR SALE sign outside my house which was hugely successfull. Plenty of slow-moving road traffic going by though which helped a lot.

lol The simple ideas are always the best ideas !

madramor

whats the url of house

1:
its comming into the downtime for selling houses
so don't be put off if it takes a while for any
interest.

2:
comming up to halloween, so only show people around
the house in the morning(sat,sun) as there will be
less of a chance of the area sounding like baghdad.

3:
have the bathroom shining, wash the walls with bleech
to make them shine(if tiled) if not give it a coat of
paint,
take everything out of bathroom, soap,shampoo,mat,towel,
toothbrushes,cleaning stuff,toilet brush, toilet rolls,etc.
as long as the bathroom is shining the house will look
clean and well maintained if its not the house will
always look dirty.
also the kitchen to a lesser extent.

4:
definitely your own sign is a must, for all those people
who drive around checking out the area or who are look
at other properties in the area.
http://www.logosoftwear.com/forsalebyowner.php
do a google for more, or make your own, but keep it
simple, red background with white letter.

5:
Most people have only bought a house via an estate agent
and will therefore think
It might be dangerous to buy direct from owner,
less legal protection, does the owner really own the property
and other mad things.
So
have a page on your website& handout telling people how the sale
of the property will be handled,
a) direct bidding with you
b) upon accepting the bids deposit handed to solicitors
c) everything handled by solicitors from then on

6:
also be aware that estate agents will badmouth your property,
get one of your mates to go to an agent and look at properties
in the area and then mention they saw a house for sale by owner
and seee what they say,"no agent would touch that house...,its a
scam.., the house is about to fall down".

7:
also people will offer you silly money because they think that
your desperate to sell and have no money.

8:
use daft and other online places

snatch

Great post culchie, and great advice for those of us who were thinking of doing the same but hadn't a clue where to start.

Let us know how you get on and good luck!

Jnealon

I have to agree with the op suggestion of a for sale sign. I have done this a few times and it works wonders, better than the indo, daft etc. On the last house I sold all I did was put up a sign. Make it yourself or get a screen printer to do one up for you, I went for the screen printer. Looks just as good as some of the agents signs

AndyWarhol

This all sounds great but...

Have you got a quote from a reputable estate agent? They are sales experts and more often than not, they'll be able to wringle an exta €20k on a 3 bed semi-D for you. Say they charge 1.5% on a €420,000 house, this is a fee of €6,300.

In theory, if you sell on your own, you could get €400,000 instead of 413,700 by going the reputable, hard salesman estate agent route.

I guess everyone is a property expert these days especially when their own house is on the plate. Have you considered the estate agent route? Nobody wants to hand over seemingly unnesecarry cash especially for a service that there is an invisible, intangible return on. Or are you just trying to prove a point?

I was talking to an estate agent friend of mine over the weekend about this very thread and he had me convinced in 10 minutes that private sale was a definite no-no area and that there's no way he's recommend anyone to go down this road on their own. Or maybe he's just very good at changing people's minds?

garred

AndyWarhol wrote:

This all sounds great but...

Have you got a quote from a reputable estate agent? They are sales experts and more often than not, they'll be able to wringle an exta €20k on a 3 bed semi-D for you. Say they charge 1.5% on a €420,000 house, this is a fee of €6,300.

In theory, if you sell on your own, you could get €400,000 instead of 413,700 by going the reputable, hard salesman estate agent route.

I guess everyone is a property expert these days especially when their own house is on the plate. Have you considered the estate agent route? Nobody wants to hand over seemingly unnesecarry cash especially for a service that there is an invisible, intangible return on. Or are you just trying to prove a point?

I was talking to an estate agent friend of mine over the weekend about this very thread and he had me convinced in 10 minutes that private sale was a definite no-no area and that there's no way he's recommend anyone to go down this road on their own. Or maybe he's just very good at changing people's minds?

I would say he is doing it himself as he would be able to get the maximum property price without having to pay a fee. I don't think estate agents hold the respect and professionalism they once had. I'm going by my own personal experiences and that of others. So once the op has done his homework he should be more than capable in selling it at the max price.

Jnealon

Have to disagree with Andy. I got 10k more for my house than the exact same house two doors up which was sold by an agent at the same time as mine.
While we are on the subject of professionals, I knew a lady who ran a coffee shop a few years back, business wasn't going well so she shut shop and reopened an estate agent, no qualifications nothing. The majority have no qualifications

Culchie

Well, being honest, I'm surprised it has taken a week or so before someone challenged my thread in the first place....so fair play to you.

I have had the house valued, and gleaned as much information as I could from the Estate Agents. I've outlined their charges in original post.

I'm not pretending to be an agent, I'm going to be someone who wants to sell their own house if they can, and not have to pay over €4K if I don't have to.
If anyone asks me why am i selling my own house, I'll tell them exactly that.
I think the buyers/consumers of today will surely be able to see the merits of such an approach.


If I can't sell it within 4-6 weeks, I can ask an agent to do it for me.

So I don't see the problem of giving it a lash anyway.

I'd be interested in hearing your friend's views on why exactly this is a no-go area.