Selling Your Home

If you're selling your home to buy another, you will have additional expenses on top of the usual costs of buying a home. The main additional cost associated with selling is estate agents' fees. Your solicitor's fees will also be slightly higher because there are two properties to deal with -- the one you're selling and the one you're buying.

As with buying a home, if you want the whole process to go more quickly avoiding a long "chain" of buyers and sellers is also a good idea. Of course you may not always have that option.

Estate agents' fees will usually be between 1% and 2% of the value of your home for the costs of advertising it and showing people round the property. You can sign up with more than one estate agent if you want to but you'll probably be charged a higher fee.

Make sure you understand the contract and the meaning of certain terms. For example:

• 'Sole selling' means your estate agent is the only one with the right to sell your house. Even if you find a buyer yourself, you'll still have to pay the agent.
  
  
• 'Sole agency' also means the estate agent is the only one with the right to sell your house but if you find a buyer yourself, you won't have to pay the agent.
  
  
• 'Multi agency' means that you can choose several estate agents to market your house but you will only have to pay commission to the one who sells it.
  
  
• 'Ready, willing and able purchaser' is a contract term that should be avoided like the plague. If the estate agent finds you a buyer and you later withdraw from the sale, you'll still have to pay him.

Check how long the contract is for. Anything over eight weeks is probably too long and if an agent can't sell your house in that time period, you might want to take your business elsewhere. Check the length of the notice period too -- it's often two weeks and you can't usually give notice until the minimum contract period is over.

Make sure you ask how your agent intends to market the property and what the charges will cover. It's all very well them putting a picture of it in the local newspaper and making the property details available to prospective buyers who ask for them but a good website is important these days. Don't put up with a bad photo of your house or with descriptions of it that you don't like.

One of the problems with finding a good estate agent is that anyone can set up an estate agency -- no formal qualifications are required. Although there is an Ombudsman for Estate Agents who can fine agents up to £25,000 in the event of wrongdoing, only around 60% of the UK's estate agents have signed up.

The key point, for sellers then is to use an estate agent that has signed up to the Ombudsman scheme (you can find your local members on the Ombudsman's website by typing in your postcode). Apart from suing an agent through the small claims court, this is the only way to ensure you can get financial redress if anything goes wrong and members are far more likely to abide by the Ombudsman's strict Code of Practice.

Make sure you get valuations from at least three different agents. That way you're more likely to get a genuine picture of what your house should be priced at. And don't choose the agent who gives you the highest value. He could be overpricing it in order to get your custom and, besides, it's for you to agree what price the house is marketed at so, if you want to chance your arm with a higher price, you can still do this but with an agent you trust more.

Don't be afraid to try and negotiate a lower fee. Let them know you're considering a number of agents and that the fee will be a deciding factor. You never know your luck.

Also bear in mind that about a quarter of houses sold in England and Wales are bought without a mortgage but if your estate agent tells you he's found you a 'cash buyer' make sure you establish what he means by that as they can be a little loose with the phrase these days. A cash buyer should be someone who's got the money in the bank to buy your house outright. You might find that he really means someone who is 'chain free' but that there is a mortgage involved which could hold up the transaction.

Finally, although most prospective buyers will go to the local estate agents when househunting, don't forget that it is now possible to sell your home yourself on the Internet. If you're prepared to show people round your home yourself, and you think you'll reach a wide enough market, then it is worth considering.