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No matter if you are moving, or improving, our newsletter is packed with the best tips, tricks and ideas to help you dwell well.
Most sellers in the UK, use an an estate agent to market and manage the sale of their property, whether it be a high street agent, local agent or online agent.
In the last two years online agents have evolved and the larger ones such as Purple Bricks, Yopa and House Simple offer their online services supported by local agents and offering a full service more akin to the traditional high street agents.
The best thing about the newer style agents is they charge considerably less and have great online services. If your property is 'standard' and in an area where houses generally sell well, they offer value for money.
If however, your house is more unique or in an area where property does not sell well quickly, a more traditional (but more expensive) agent may be a better option.
All estate agents offer the following services, and if you need more information or advice about which estate agent is best for you, read our article about online estate agents.
By law every property has to have an EPC. They last for 10 years as long as nothing energy related has changed. Visit the government website to download the latest EPC for a property - its free
A For Sale board is a great way to get the local market to notice your property as most people still only move within a few miles of where they currently live. However in 2019 there is a trend by some councils in the UK to consider limiting 'for sale signs' in busy areas such as Camden, London.
When an offer is made, the Agent can vet the applicant to make sure they have the funds in place and they are in a position to move. They can also help in negotiating the deal on your behalf and guidance throughout the whole process
The Agent will liaise with you, your buyer together with both sets of solicitors to make sure the sale is progressing as any problems in the chain of buyers and sellers can cause your sale to fall through. Many people find this can help to move the deal along and resolve problems as they come up to ensure a successful sale.
Here the Agent will send someone to show potential buyers around your property when viewings are booked. This may be useful service you feel uncertain about showing strangers around their home or work/family commitments mean this is inconvenient conducting the viewing yourself.
Whist you could snap away with your camera phone, presentation is one of the most important part of your property's listing and a good picture really does help in the sale. Some Agents offer photo retouching to get the best overall image to its best advantage.
Prospective buyers love to see a floor plan to get a sense of layout and size. Rightmove says that people spend on average 30% longer looking at listings that have floor plans against those that don't, so a good choice.
Virtual tours are becoming a fantastic way to show off particular rooms or views of your property. Providing a panoramic virtual tour showing off your property can be a great way to tempt buyers.
Note: This can only usually be done in conjunction with professional photography packages
Rightmove state that you can get up to 30% more clicks on your listing with a Premium Listing. Your ad will be bigger, have a background and will display 3 photos instead of one and will also contain a red banner stating 'Premium Listing'. The decision is yours
Your ad will be bigger, have a grey background and along with the main picture of your property, the listing will also show 6 smaller pictures at the bottom of the ad.
There is nothing to stop you selling your home and doing all of the work yourself, however, only estate agents and authorised businesses can advertise on Zoopla and Rightmove.
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