The Pro's and Con's of Selling Your House Privately - 20th November 2006
The last few years have seen more and more people selling their homes privately, due partly to people's perception of estate agents and the quality of service they provide, and partly to the potentially huge savings to be made by not paying the agents' commission.
However, this shift in selling practices may never have happened if it weren't for the services offered by online property retailers such as www.MyKeys.co.uk. These companies share two common goals: to shed the myth that you need to use an estate agent when selling your house and then offering vendors an efficient and cost-effective means of selling their home privately.
Whilst there are obvious differences in the services provided by estate agents and their online competitors it must be said that both industries are united in one aim, which is to help their clients sell their properties. The differences lie in the services offered, whether or not those services are delivered and the resultant fees charged.
Many complaints against estate agents centre on the difference between services offered and those perceived to have been delivered. For instance a Which? report found that a third of people questioned felt their estate agent did not keep them informed, surely a client's most basic expectation of such an expensive service.
For their part the private sale websites, on the whole, make it very clear exactly what service they will be providing and what the vendor will need to do himself. It should be pointed out though that there is a fine line between calling yourself an online retailer and being classed as an estate agent. The Office of Fair Trading states that if a company engages in actions such as the following then they will be, or are likely to be, engaging in estate agency work:
The genuine online retailers such as www.mykeys.co.uk ensure their service fits within these guidelines. This is extremely important if, like many, you intend to market your home privately as well as using an estate agent. People doing this tend to fall into two categories: they need to sell quickly so look at every opportunity to put their property in front of buyers; they are unhappy with the level of enquiries generated by their estate agent and decide to do something about it themselves.
If you are marketing your property privately, in addition to the services of an estate agent, then you need to be very clear of the type of contract you have with your estate agent. For instance, if you have signed a Sole Selling Rights contract then your estate agent is the only one with a right to sell your property and will expect his commission, even if you find the buyer. However with Sole Agency contracts, as the name suggests, your agent is the only estate agent with a right to sell your property. You are within your rights to sell your property privately and, if you find the buyer, not pay any commission.
The point here is that if you find the buyer yourself but your estate agent can prove that the online retailer you used was acting as an estate agent (by offering services similar to those listed above) then you will probably end up paying the estate agent and the online retailer.
Elizabeth O'Hanlon, marketing manager for MyKeys says, "We consulted with local Trading Standards Officers before launching our service. The Office of Fair Trading guidelines for online property retailers state that if we are merely 'publishing advertisements or disseminating information' then we will not be acting as an estate agent."
"Our clients create their own advert (just as they would for a local newspaper), we then publish it on a huge number of property websites, enabling it to be seen by literally millions of potential buyers. Being experts in online marketing, many online retailers will advertise on more websites than your local estate agents - a key selling point with vendors when you consider up to 89% of buyers now use the internet."
"When requested, we send a personalised For Sale board to the customer, enabling them to advertise directly from their house and catch local interest. Our For Sale boards do not carry our phone number or email addresses, but direct the buyer to the vendor's online advert for more details, including how to contact them. In fact many boards display a direct contact number for the vendor. At no point in the process do we speak to buyers."
It is clear therefore that online property retailers offer a valid alternative to traditional estate agents whilst sharing the same goals (that of selling their clients properties). Their prices are a fraction of typical percentage-based estate agency fees yet their online marketing may well be better. If you intend to use the services of an online retailer alongside those of a traditional estate agent then you need to carefully consider the services offered by the former and also the type of contract you have signed with your agent if it is your intention to keep the commission due if you find the buyer.