6 Tips To Sell Your House Quickly

We all want to get things done in the time it takes us to snap our fingers. The process of selling a house can sometimes take a lot longer than we’d want it to, often taking 3-6 months or even longer, but there are ways to cut the process down. Here are some top tips and tricks to sell your house fast.

Hire a conveyancing solicitor before you put your property on the market

Quite often people hire a solicitor after they have accepted an offer, but if you’re not prepared with a good conveyancing solicitor straight away you could be adding days (or weeks) to the process. Hiring a conveyancing solicitor early on can help you cut down the length of the selling process significantly. James Pendleton can happily recommend Elite Conveyancing who will get on the right path straight away.

The reasons we think you should look to have this all arranged early are:

• As the vendor of a property, your solicitor has to prepare the contract for the buyer’s solicitor to review. If your solicitor can get started right away, the buyer’s solicitor will not have to wait for documents to arrive.
• As a professional experienced in the conveyance of properties, your solicitor will be able to flag any roadblocks in the process before you run into them.
• You can jump right on the conveyance process once you accepted the offer. So, the sales process won’t be on hold as you frantically search for a solicitor.
• Stay on top of the legal process. You can fill out all the questionnaires and forms first. Get to know the timeline of the whole legal process and be proactive, communicating with your solicitor as to what they need from you and getting questions resolved in a timely manner.

Get the right agent on the job

When you’re selecting the agent who will represent your property to the market, put yourself in a buyer’s shoes. The estate agent you choose is the first point of contact the buyer will have regarding your property. You want an agent who is prompt, polite and knowledgeable, as they will be liaising with your potential purchasers.

Bear in mind also the length of the contract; the average time of selling a house is 6 months to a year, a two-year contract is probably too long. At James Pendleton, we know that people looking to sell their homes are after a fast turn-around with the right sale price (nobody likes to get caught in a chain while they watch one dream home after another float past), and we use our range of tools and local experience to help you achieve the right sale, at the right time, for the right price. Make sure you’re not tied to an agent whose sales pitch isn’t working for you.

Help your estate agent, tell them everything you know about your house and area

This will save the agent’s research time, speeding up the process even more. You could help by telling them the unique selling points of your house, such as what your neighbourhood and the community is like? How many local schools in the area, how convenient is the transportation, etc.

Unlike some others, we know the area we are responsible for. We live in the areas where we work, and lots of our team members work at a branch near where they grew up. With all our years of experience and with a great understanding of your property, combined with our knowledge of the local area, we can provide all the information the buyers will need, from the best restaurants to the best dog walking path. We’re perfectly placed to find you the right buyer.

Make your house looks presentable, inside and out

There is more to do than just tidying the property – try to think how you would view the property if you were approaching it for the first time. So put some gardening gloves on and clean up the garden, from the gate to the garden path and maybe even repaint the front door. Nobody thinks “I wish I could live here” when they’re confronted with tatty curtains and dirty windows or a front gate hanging off its hinges.

Once inside, try to declutter so you’re making the space inside your house feel as big and airy as you can. Not so much that the place feels empty, it still needs to make people feel like they are looking at a potential home. You need to find a nice balance. Obviously, make the house clean and tidy, and if possible, make sure your bedrooms are dressed in clean and neutral linen. Keep in mind that the viewers have around 5-10 minutes to look around, it is all about the first impression.

Remember, buyers are not buying bricks and walls, they are buying a lifestyle, they want a homey environment.

If you have a front garden, make sure grass and bushes are well trimmed, no litter lying around, the pathway is clean, get rid of wilted flowers.

If you have a communal area, make sure all the lights are working, organise the letters, get rid of junk mail, make sure the floor and walls are clean. This way the buyers will see you as a respectful neighbour because you take care of the building as well as your house.

Present your house differently to different types of viewers

When your estate agent is selling your house, they are selling a lifestyle, and each potential buyer is on their own path. Speak to your estate agent and quiz them on the people who book to come and view your property so you can tailor your property to their needs. Present your house according to your audience; for example, if viewers have children, you could put colourful decorations, stuffed animals and toys in a room to help them see your house in action as a family home; if the buyers are keen cooks, you can make sure to do all you can to make the kitchen look the heart of the home.

Try to keep your house layout and designs as they area

We have heard several cases where people have renovated their kitchen or redecorated rooms to sell their house. This can be a risky move; you don’t want to spend £4,000 renovating the house to find your buyers don’t share your taste. These well-intentioned updates can simply end up eating into your profit. Not only that, this slows down the selling process a lot more as you need to add in the time of renovation. If there is a bit of touching up that needs to be done or a few small repairs that need to be done, by all means do them – you want your home to look its best for its potential new owner!

At James Pendleton, we have over 20 years of experience in letting, selling, renting and more. We also have links to a financial consultation service. If you want to sell your house with us, you will have double exposure to the market, as we will sell your house to internal connections to buyers and also the external market.

Of course, we are not here to hard sell, it is all up to you who you want to work with. If you want to get started, we have a checklist for selling your house so you can be on top of things!