SELLING YOUR PROPERTY
STEPS TO SALE
There are many steps between deciding to sell and actually selling your property. If you haven’t sold a property before you may be feeling unsure of what is involved. It is quite a journey. Let Next Step Estates take you on it.
- Make an appointment with us to view your property. At this meeting we will take a quick look around then sit down with you to get a good understanding of what you want to achieve. With our local knowledge we will be able to give you an honest opinion on your expectations right away. We may have some questions about the property such as ownership and whether it is freehold or leasehold (lease length, ground rent and service charges). Don’t worry if you are unable to answer these questions at this point.
- We will send you an appraisal (valuation) and note of our fees should we be successful in selling your property (at Next Step you will not incur any charges if your property is not sold through us). If you are happy with us then you will instruct Next Step Estates to be your agent and provide us a set of keys for viewings.
- We will need to take professional photographs, possibly a video tour of your property, and draw up a floorplan (all free of charge). To help us we will need you to make your property look as attractive as possible. We will send you some tips and tricks to do this. You will also need to order an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). This needs to be included in marketing materials. You can search for someone online to do this or we can help you find someone if you need.
- Next Step will then take care of marketing your property as widely (and appropriately) as possible. This will include listings on all of the major property portals online, at our office and on social media.
- Viewings will start taking place. These will always be accompanied by a member of our team. You are welcome to be there or not. All we need from you is to try and make your property as presentable as possible before each viewing. You may notice that at first there are quite a lot of viewings followed by a slight “cooling off” period. This is very normal as new listings often seem to attract maximum attention. If someone comes back for a second viewing, this is a good sign. If someone comes back for a third viewing (often with a friendly builder) then this is a very good sign.
- Someone makes an offer on your property! Usually this will be followed by a period of negotiation. Next Step Estates are experienced property negotiators and will always do their utmost to get the best price possible for you. Don’t be surprised if the first offer seems low. This is normal. It is our duty to inform you of all offers and give advice on what to do next.
- You accept an offer on your property. This is great news but still too premature to properly celebrate.
- Now begins the offer period before exchange of contracts when we really work for our fee. This is often the most stressful time in selling too. We will do our best to take that stress away from you. If you haven’t already, you (and the buyer) will need to instruct solicitors. We can help you with this. Unless the offer is from a “cash buyer”, the buyer will need to go through the process of having their mortgage approved. For you, this means that at some stage an inspector will come and visit your property to ensure that what is being lent is less than what they assess as the value of your property. There will also be forms that your solicitor will send to you for completion. We are here to help you with these if you need. There might seem like an endless list of questions as buyers (especially first time buyers) make sure they are 100% committed to buying. Once all of this is done and everyone is happy…..
- Contracts are exchanged. This is known as “exchange”. This is the point where you can quietly celebrate. Pulling out of a contract incurs massive losses for a buyer and hardly ever happens. During exchange a few final loose ends are tied up and soon after…
- The sale is completed! This is known as “completion”. This is when the purchase money is paid into your solicitor’s (escrow) account and we hand over your keys to the buyers. Your solicitor will pay their fee, our fee, your outstanding mortgage (if there is one) and any other outstanding charges that may be on the property. Once this is done then the remaining purchase money will be paid to you. Congratulations!