What do I need to know when I sell my house? 
Knowing about –

• Important documents
• Asking prices
• First impressions
• Timeframes
  will help you when selling your house to stay on top and in control.

Selling a house can be an incredibly confusing and difficult time with a huge amount to know and all sorts of long processes that you have to go through. We Buy Any House know it can be frustrating, especially if you don’t know what information you need to hand and the importance of it, so we wanted to put together some information to help you!

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What documents do I need?

When you sell your house, you will need to be able to provide various documents to prove your identity, that you own the house, and that the house is able to be sold. Some of these documents and why they are important are –

• Proof of your identity

  This can be something like a utility bill, and a form of photographic identification to ensure you are who you’re saying you are to adhere to anti-money laundering laws.

• Property title deeds:

  This will prove that you own the house to be able to sell it, and you can get a copy if you don’t have one from the solicitor that you used when you bought the house.

• Freehold/leasehold documentation:

  Whether your house is freehold, meaning you own the land it’s on as well as the house, or leasehold, meaning you own the property but not the ground its built on, you’ll need the paperwork to prove this and to state the fees that can be involved for your buyer. For more information on this, you can read our blog, buying freehold or leasehold – what are the differences? here.

• EPC:

  Your Energy Performance Certificate needs to be included when you sell and needs to be done every 10 years to stay in date and correct.

Do I need to have an estate agent?

Most homeowners think that they have to go with an estate agent when they sell their house, when the reality is there are ways that you can do it yourself if you’d prefer to. Often, homeowners aren’t happy about the fees that they have to pay to estate agents after, which can be as high as 6% of the sale price or even higher depending on their fees.

Because of this, some homeowners choose to sell on their own terms using quick sale companies like We Buy Any House, who don’t have any fees involved letting you keep the full amount that you sell for.

Asking prices

If you sell with an agent, they will usually survey your property and tell you the value so you can then confirm the asking price. It’s really important for homeowners to know that when estate agents do this process, they will almost always value your house higher. This works in two ways – it encourages you to sell with them as you’ll think that you can get a better price with them and increases their percentage of the sale if you move forward.

Generally, when a buyer puts in an offer on a house, they will go in lower than the asking price and estate agents know this. They will suggest a higher value to balance this out, however, it can often backfire. If your asking price is higher than other properties in your area that are similar to yours, you’ll likely lose the interest of potential buyers. This means that you could sit on the market for months and get very little attention, which will make your property value drop.

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Knowing this means that you can avoid these issues and be aware from the start how important getting your asking price is.

First impressions count

Not every house is perfect, and that’s something that we expect when viewing. There have been many questions about the condition a property needs to be in when you sell, which we looked into more in our article can you sell a messy house?

While your house doesn’t need to be in perfect shape when you sell, there are some things that you can do to increase the interest you generate and boost the chance of selling –

• Stage your house:

  You can find out more about doing this in our article how can I stage my house for viewings? here, but this is a great way to make your house look the best it can and create the most appeal to your viewers.

• Redecorating:

  Some homeowners prefer to do a full redecoration on their house before they sell, but if you aren’t in the position to do this or simply don’t want to, some small changes often make a huge difference. Freshening up the walls with a coat of paint can really transform the interior and encourage more buyers to put in a potential offer.

• Repair any issues:

  Most homes have their imperfections, but anything too noticeable could put off your buyers and leave you waiting to sell for longer. Damaged walls or broken tiles are a common one – if they can be repaired relatively easily it’s worth doing to achieve a faster sale.

Timeframes

The average house sale on the open market takes over 6 months, which is an incredibly long time – especially for someone who doesn’t have that long to wait. Some homeowners need to sell faster than this, and whether it’s due to being at risk of repossession or trying to avoid a break in the chain, there are other options.

We Buy Any House are here to help those looking for a quick and easy sale, working to timeframes that suit you. Being able to buy your house in as little as 7 days, we can provide you with a free cash offer today!

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