James Bore and Nikki Kopelman are around £12,000 better off after ditching their estate agent and selling their three-bedroom bungalow themselves.
The couple decided they would rather arrange their own viewings at times that suited their work schedules which led James, 41, to think – what else would they need an estate agent for?
“It didn’t really add that much [value] to have the marketing done by the agent compared to what we could do ourselves,” said James, owner of security and technology consultancy Bores who lives in Stanmore, London.
“I’m not saying estate agents are worthless, but they weren’t in a place to add much value to us, they just gave us added hassle and took extra fees.”
The couple had been quoted between 1% and 2% commission from local agents to sell their £650,000 home.
James and 36-year-old Nikki, a translator, used a combination of marketing techniques to get their property noticed by the local community.
They posted their home in the local neighbourhood WhatsApp group, placed a classified advert in their local paper costing £35 and made their own for sale sign which also cost £35.
To widen their reach the couple also used Facebook Marketplace and Nextdoor.co.uk – a platform for buying and selling items and sharing tips with people who live in your postcode area.
“The sign got us more attention than anything else,” said James.
A neighbour saw the sign and told their friend who wanted to move house.
Two months after listing their home for sale and more than 20 viewings later, James and Nikki accepted an offer of £625,000, £25,000 below the asking price.
Their sale completed at the end of September.
Lewis Buckley, co-founder of house selling platform Hiizzy, said: “Selling your own home requires motivation. You must take responsibility for the process.
“But, those who do can benefit from significant cost savings. It is up to 95% cheaper than traditional estate agents.”
If you do decide to sell your own home, getting it noticed is your main goal.
First you need to create an online listing that you can post on social media.
If you’re using marketplaces such as Facebook, Gumtree or Nextdoor.co.uk you must create your property listing on their platform following some simple steps.
To maximise the number of people who see your property you can pay for extra advertising.
Gumtree, for example, charges £9.99 for a basic listing and £19.99 for premium advertising.
Nextdoor.co.uk recommends advertising your listing in its For Sale and Free section as well as posting your property in the general news feed. Its free and can reach users in a 100-mile radius.
If, like James and Nikki, you want to advertise in the local paper and use a For Sale board as well, you can create your own online listing and add the URL link address to your adverts. The couple used a website called Canva to design their free listing.
Your advert should include the price, high quality photos, a video of your home, floor plans and a description.
If you lack the know-how, you can use Purple Bricks’ free service which lets you build your listing and promotes your property through Zoopla. The team also value your home.
Or, for £395, you can use new platform Hiizzy. Once your property advert is ready, you can promote it through your own social media channels as well as the Hiizzy marketplace. It provides sold price data to value your home and gives prompts to help you describe your property.
If you are flying solo, invite three estate agents to view your property to tell you how much it would sell for. Choose the valuation in the middle. Be prepared for lots of follow up calls to win your business.
Search through the sold prices on Zoopla and Rightmove to find out how much local homes like yours are selling for.
Or, pay for a valuation. James and Nikki did all three to get the most accurate price, paying £600 for a valuation.
With the average estate agent fee coming in at 1.42% of the selling price, according to consumer group HomeOwners Alliance, sellers stand to save £4,153 on a property with an average price tag of £292,505.
You have direct contact with your buyers instead of waiting for messages to be passed through a middleman which could speed up the sale. You are also in the best position to sell your home as you will be more familiar with its features.
If you’re advertising your property across lots of different social media channels you will have to create multiple listings which is time consuming.
It’s likely that less potential buyers will see your advert without using the big property portals, which private sellers are blocked from.
Without a good grasp of technology, you could struggle to create and advertise your own property listing and keep on top of the enquiries about your home. Speedy responses are essential to avoid losing buyers.
Most buyers will want to haggle over the asking price so you need to be a confident negotiator, something not all sellers may be comfortable with.
Paula Higgins, chief executive of HomeOwners Alliance, said DIY sellers risk missing out estate agents’ expertise.
“Only when you go through the sales process will you find that just listing a property on a portal may not be enough,” she said. “This is even more so when the market is subdued.
“Local estate agents will have a list of serious buyers looking in the area,” she said. “On receipt of your instruction, they will contact them before the listing pops up on a portal and when a sale has been agreed they will chase all parties to help get the sale over the line.”
