Ditch the estate agent
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If you've sold a house in recent years, it's more than likely you hired an estate agent to help you through the process.
However, with households tightening their belts in the current uncertain climate, a growing number of vendors are contemplating the DIY route to selling their home.
Given that estate agents can charge between 1.5% and 2% of the sale price for sole agency - where only one firm can market your home - and more than 2% for joint agency, you can potentially save yourself thousands of pounds.
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How to go about selling privately
The good news is, if you are considering bypassing the estate agent, there are a number of alternatives available to you.
These include selling directly to friends or family, advertising in the local newspaper, or simply putting up a prominent 'For Sale' sign outside your home.
The internet is another very popular option, with Property broker and and HouseWeb among the longest-running dedicated private sales websites - both of which can help with listings and sales-boards.
Tepilo another option
Earlier this year, TV celebrity Sarah Beeny, launched a new dedicated property-selling site called Tepilo, designed to 'hand-hold' vendors through the home-selling process, with video tips, guides and advice.
As a seller on Tepilo, you get to personalise your description, and as there is no estate agent taking a cut on services such as the Energy Performance Certificate and floor-plans, these can be done very cheaply.
According to the site, the average person selling privately here will save at least £10,000.
"Now, more than ever, is a time when people need to save money when selling their home, and you can do this by leaving out the estate agent," said Beeny. "There is still a general perception that selling your home is daunting and incredibly complicated, but by providing a simple-to-use platform, we can help people through the process."
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Going it alone
Helen Ransford, 30, and Paul Robinson, 32, recently sold their one-bed home in East Dulwich, south-east London, through Tepilo and saved around £2,500 on estate agent fees.
"We weren't in any rush to buy and didn't want to spend a hefty sum on an estate agent, so decided to go it alone," said Helen, who works in marketing. "The only difficulty we encountered [on the site] was drawing up a floor-plan, as this was quite fiddly."
With their property up on the site, the couple then conducted all the viewings themselves.
"We had done some research on what to do and showed about 10 potential buyers around," said Helen. "As the property was on the market priced just below the stamp duty threshold, we had a lot of interest, and actually ended up with two buyers bidding against each other."
Helen and Paul sold their East Dulwich property to their chosen buyer for £249,999, and this has enabled them to climb up the property ladder and buy a new home in Angel, north London.
"The whole process was very straightforward, and we'd definitely sell privately again," added Helen.
The steps you need to take
While this may all sound very appealing, you have to remember that going it alone is not all plain-sailing.
"You could save a fortune by selling privately, but it does involve a lot of work and hassle, as you have to do everything yourself," said Melanie Bien from broker Private Finance. "This includes setting the price, marketing the property, showing people around, and negotiating with potential buyers."
First off, you need to get the price right, or you could find yourself losing out financially - or waiting a long time for a sale; useful sites include the Land Registry, Net House Prices and Property Price Advice.
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Market your property
As a private seller, you'll also miss out on an estate agent presence both on the high-street and online, which means you're going to have to work extra hard to market your property.
The key is to put as much detail as you can into your advert to make your property stand out, or you risk failing to do it justice.
The ad will need to include all the sales particulars, such as a floor-plan, general description, room-by-room lowdown, a list of what's included, council tax and contact details.
Be innovative, but not reckless
Also, remember you can improve your chances by adding photographs and even a YouTube link to help market your home to potential buyers. On top of all this, a regulation-sized board outside your home is also strongly recommended.
However, Kate Faulkner, author of Buy, Sell and Move House: a Which? Essential guide, urges sellers to remain security-conscious at all times.
"You must not leave any personal details on a private site," she said. "You'll also need to organise and conduct all the viewings yourself, so think hard about how you're going to vet viewers before you let them into your home, and think about your safety at all times.
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Be prepared to negotiate hard
Also bear in mind that if you fail to negotiate hard with the buyer, it could actually end up costing you more in the long run.
After all, estate agents are skilled and experienced at selling homes, and are trained to get the best possible price; they will also have a long list of registered applicants on their books.
"You should only cut out the estate agent if you feel bold enough about asking all the right questions," said David Smith, senior partner at property consultants Carter Jonas. "An estate agent offers experience and advice, and will weed out any time-wasters.
"They also offer a level of distance between you and the buyer when it comes to the negotiations - and could end up getting you more than you'd expected for your home."
Further, Smith also points out that as a private vendor, you will not have access to the prime property portals, such as Rightmove and Findaproperty.
"Every estate agent pays a fee to be on these prime sites," he said. "You may be putting yourself at a disadvantage by not marketing your home here."
A halfway house for vendors
If you're looking for a kind of halfway house, you might want to consider the new iSold www.isold.com site launched by estate agent group Spicerhaart in March this year, in association with Tesco, as this offers vendors the opportunity to sell their homes for a fixed fee of £999.
The basic package includes a valuation, an iSold 'For Sale' sign, advertising on property portals such as Rightmove, Primelocation and Findaproperty and a central branch team whose role it is to keep sellers up-to-date, arrange viewings and negotiate on selling prices.
Think hard before taking the plunge
Around 7% of people buy and sell themselves, according to Faulkner, but as a vendor, you need to think carefully before deciding to cut out the middleman.
If you're really keen on seeing if you can do it on your own, then be prepared to put in some hard graft and give it a try.
Even if you do decide it's too difficult a little further down the line, there's nothing to stop you instructing an agent at any time to ensure things go smoothly, and help manage the process through to completion.
