Are you ready to sell your house? It’s a good idea to make sure you know the ins and outs of selling a home before going ahead with it. Make sure you know exactly what your house is worth and make sure you make your home look as appealing as possible to potential buyers. Think about how you would expect the home you are buying to look, add some little extras, such as fresh flowers, a candle. Something to brighten the place up.

This article has a few steps you can follow to make your selling process a little easier

Read the full article here

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/nov/24/factsheet-selling-home-property

 Selling a home

 Selling a home can be a long and complex process, but there are certain steps you can follow to make it as smooth as possible.

Find out how much your home is worth

Ask a selection of estate agents to value your property, and look in your local paper’s property section and online to find out the asking price of similar homes. Alternatively, you can get an online estimate from a site like Zoopla, or pay for a detailed report from Hometrack. Remember that the final price it sells for will not necessarily be as much as the asking price.

Decide whether to use an estate agent

Nearly all of us trying to sell our homes do so through an agency. Estate agents bring properties on to the market and introduce buyers. However, you can market the property yourself to avoid agent’s fees, which can be between 1.5% and 4% of the sale price of the property. If you do opt to use an agent, don’t just choose the one that gives the highest valuation – think about which one you got on with best, what you’ve heard from other people, and which one you’ve seen the most Sold signs for. Don’t be afraid to try to negotiate a lower fee.

Prepare your home

Make sure your home looks its best for any viewings. Tidy any mess and clear unwanted clutter to maximise space. If you have time, you may wish to try to make the decoration as neutral as possible to attract buyers, and make any minor repairs such as fixing leaking taps. Also have all your household bills on hand for prospective buyers to view.

Wait for offers

The estate agent will get in touch with you when an offer has been made on your property – he or she must tell you about every offer that is made, regardless of whether you are likely to accept it. Your agent should be able to advise you whether it is a good offer, but the final decision is up to you.

Is there an ideal time to sell your home? Probably, but you may find that your home is different. Some people like to sell their home around springtime, it seems the best possible time to sell due to Christmas being out of the way, and its not quite time for the summer holidays yet so people have a little more time available. While winter seems like the worst time to sell, its not always the case. Someone may be looking to be in a new home for Christmas or just after Christmas. The right time to sell is when you are ready. This article might help if you are selling during winter, read the full story here: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-2850422/Why-winter-good-time-sell-home.html

Winter can be a good time to sell your home

Starting to feel the winter blues about selling your property?

While spring and summer are the busiest times to market your home, it’s not always the best time to sell.

Common wisdom suggests avoiding selling in winter, but some agents argue that with less properties to compete with and only the more serious buyers on the hunt, it can be a good time to market your home.

Ian Westerling, managing director of Humberts estate agents, says: ‘For house sellers thinking of moving in the New Year, November and December are great months to sell.

‘I’ve always sold my own properties at this time of year.’

There are still plenty of buyers out there – Rightmove had more than 500,000 visits last Christmas Day, rising to 1.3 million on Boxing Day.

Jonathan Cunliffe, of Savills in Truro, Cornwall, adds: ‘Our market is surprisingly unseasonal, in fact the darker winter months have been our most active in the past two years or so.

‘Buyers are less distracted at this time of year. There’s also less supply because there are few new launches and many properties have been taken off the market.’

Charlie Lancaster, director of York estate agent Lancaster Samms, agrees the market is becoming less seasonal.

‘Traditionally, sellers were discouraged from putting their properties on the market ahead of Christmas,’ he says.

‘However, within York stock is currently low due to the strong market conditions we’ve experienced in 2014. Therefore, if it’s an option for our sellers, we encourage coming to market sooner. It’s at these times too that we tend to have more serious buyers.’

So don’t be too hasty in taking down the For Sale sign.

If you are selling before you buy, make sure you have mortgages etc organised before you sell so that you are able to buy quickly. So you may want to make a few decisions before selling such as what area you want to live in and whether you would like house, flat, bungalow etc. Sort out as many things as possible before hand so that your buying process is simpler once you have sold. If you need to sell quickly to be able to buy your home Soldquickly have the ability to help you do so.