April 5th, 2017
Advice for contractors thinking of selling their home
The way we buy and sell our homes is changing
When it comes to buying and selling property the UK housing market has undergone a quiet revolution over the past few years, with as many as 98% of buyers now using the internet as an integral part of the process.
This change in buying and selling habits has led to the rise in popularity of self-service style online estate agents, with most offering sellers the opportunity to save considerable sums through a flat fee structure. For example, Purple Bricks charge a fee of £849 compared to the 1.5% of sale price charged by many high-street estate agents.
A typical Contractor Mortgages Made Easy client selling a house valued at £520,000 would expect to pay an estate agent fee of £7800 even at the lowest end of the spectrum. By using an online agent they would save in the region of £6951, so why wouldn’t you do it?
Online agent vs traditional estate agent
For:
- With an online agent your property is marketed on all the popular property portals, like Rightmove and Zoopla, therefore maximising your exposure to potential buyers
- Nowadays, fewer and fewer people look for their next property in estate agent’s windows, with most preferring to browse online from the comfort of their own home
- Many traditional estate agents now rely heavily on online based performance.
Against:
- A good estate agent will seek out potential buyers and will close the sale on your behalf
- Doing all the chasing and following up yourself can be extremely time consuming, so using an estate agent takes the pressure off
- An estate agent handles all viewings which is obviously more convenient, the downside is that the prospective buyer is being shown around the property by someone who doesn’t know it as well as you and won’t necessarily highlight all its key selling points
How Contractor Mortgages Made Easy can help
It can be annoying as a prospective buyer having an estate agent question your ability to fund a purchase, but as a seller it’s essential that you establish the mortgage ability of a buyer, which is much harder to do if you’ve decided to sell the property yourself.
If you’ve acted as your own estate agent and you’ve worked hard to find a buyer, a good mortgage broker can help vet them and our expert advisers at Contractor Mortgages Made Easy would be happy to help.
Should you decide to sell your property yourself it can prove to be very financially rewarding, however it’s certainly not for the faint hearted, and we strongly recommend that you do all the necessary homework before committing to the process of going it alone.
For more information, get in touch with us today on 01489 555080 or email: enquiries@contractormortgagesuk.com
Media Contact: Sarah Middleton, Public Relations Manager
Tel: 01489 555 080
Email: media@contractormortgagesuk.com