Selling your home without using Estate Agent?

I sold to a friend of mine without use of an estate agent. There is no issue with this.

However - the risk you take with leaving it to your partner is that they will have no chance of getting the best price possible. That is the real value of an estate agent IMO...they will get the best price and have the farthest reach. This is what makes their % commission worthwhile.

Some buyers will see a fella selling privately and thing this is a bit mickey mouse and not engage. The argument for your partner will be that 'any house can sell itself in this market'.

But for me - to get the best price after commission - go to an estate agent.

Or use Auctioneera.ie. They offer a set price and they use all the usual channels for advertising it. They do all the usual viewings etc and offer the platform where bidders put their bid on. You will definitely save money against the traditional agent.

I would go with a reputable Estate Agent.

It should be a straight forward deal but...... Yeah tyre kickers and dreamers.

Three good questions to ask are who is your solicitor and surveyor? Boom.... That is 80% of the dreamers sorted. How long have you been looking? Two months.... Dreamers. Have you assets/letter of intent from solicitor? That sorts the tyre kickers.

Are you willing to put up with these muppets? Also if your partner was so good why isnt he doing it now for his 6%? I would rather sell myself. The estate agent we were dealing with dragged it out on either end when both parties wanted to settle quickly.

There is no such thing as a reputable estate agent, they are all crooks and gazumpers. Its not the mechanics of the system that will be your problem but rather the people dealing.

We advertised our last house by ourselves (a simple painted sign). It was located in a busy city in a seller market. Offers were in within a week simply based on people walking the area on foot. Don't think we lost out on a penny and saved a few thousand.

We are selling our country cottage now in rural Roscommon and decided to go with an agent. Offer accepted was €52k higher than expected so in this case the agent more than earned his fee and I have confidence we would have undersold it if we did it ourselves.

Horses for courses.

I sold my last house privately back in 2017. Got a photographer friend of mine to take decent photos of the house inside and out and i put it up on Daft.ie (300 euro i think it cost) i also copied and pasted some of the "lingo" auctioneers use to make the ad look more professional and "stand out". Also made sure that weekend viewings only strictly by appointment - within 2 weeks of the ad going live i had a flurry of enquiries but nothing concrete until about a month later when a couple came to view it - i handled the viewing myself while my wife and kids went off into town for an hour.....i explained the process to the prospective buyers on how i was cutting out the middleman (auctioneer) and the house sale would be handled through solicitors and they were agreeable with that. They ended up coming back for a second and third viewing before the negotiation began on price. In the interim another couple had also viewed the house and were also very keen - there ended up being a mini bidding war and i ended up getting 15k more than the asking price in the end from the first couple - with the 5k saved on the auctioneers fee i ended up with a tidy sum of 20k in my pocket.

Well I had personal experience of an EA closing a bidding process when I had 50K more to spend as they were in a hurry to close it before the weekend. I was the highest bidder by 1K but they persuaded the seller to go with the underbidder.

Yes, but I was never given the chance to give a higher bid. I rang the EA and they said that bidding is closed, no more bids accepted and that the seller is going with the underbidder.

I had said this years ago when I was selling a house, the EA got in touch to say he had a bid on the house and then said they wouldn't follow through and would withdraw the bid which is what happened, the EA just knew it's a skill they have.

The agreement wasnt reached, that is my point. The seller wanted a quick sale, we wanted a quick purchase. The estate agent wanted a desired price based on his commision. It was only a few grand difference but he peeved off both us and they buyers. I was willing to walk away at one point. I was bidding against "a doctor in the hospital".

They are both probably your biggest asset that has the vast vast majority of your wealth tied up.

You would be automatically on their books if you on their books if you bid on any property with them or registered interest.

Sell you some overpriced rubbish? The OP is a seller, by your last point that's exactly why they should use an estate agent.

Nope, bought one house in my life and never sold one.

Just know the value of using professionals instead of DIY

Good questions to ask are :

How long are you looking? 2-3 months they are not sure of themselves 4 months plus and after a few failed bids they know the process

Have you got proof of funds? Any answer other than "YES" mean they dont know what "proof of funds" are and they havent got a solicitor.

Who is your Solicitor and Surveyor? Any answer other than Mr X and Mr Y means they are not familiar with sale process.

Those people are not ready to buy and sadly I was one of them once and had to learn the hard way.

The process is indeed straightforward in theory: listing the property, arranging viewings, and handling inquiries. However, there are some challenges to consider. Marketing a property effectively, negotiating the best price, and managing the paperwork can be time-consuming and stressful. If you feel confident in your partner’s abilities and you're both ready to handle these tasks, it could save you a significant amount of money. But, if you're unsure, the peace of mind provided by a professional agent might be worth the cost.

When I was selling my house, I initially thought about going the DIY route too, but I wanted to ensure I got the best possible outcome with minimal hassle. I found a company that specializes in buying properties directly from sellers, which was incredibly helpful. They offer a quick and stress-free sale, and I didn’t have to worry about marketing or negotiations. You might want to consider this as an option, especially if you're looking for a faster sale. You can check them out here:

https://www.thepropertybuyingcompany.co.uk/news/selling-house-council-do-they-buy-private-houses

Some people rent houses by themselves, some people get an estate agent to do it.

Some people selling their house themselves, most get an estate agent to do it.

If I was in an estate where houses go for 400k and I'd save 6 k I'd probably do it myself.

One off in the country harder to get a handle on price probably use estate agent.