Guide to Selling Property

Prepare your home for market

First impressions count and so you want to make sure that your home catches the eyes of buyers in photographs and on viewings for all the right reasons.

The presentation of your property is very important, especially giving a good first impression so you should aim to present your property in the best possible way.

Some things you should consider addressing are tidying up the garden, making sure the external walls and front door are painted, and decluttering rooms to make them appear larger.

Buyers need to be able to visualise themselves in your home, so make sure your home is presented in the best possible way so that they can do that.

It’s best to do any large jobs before inviting Estate Agent’s out to your home, however we will be able to see the value of your home through smaller jobs such as paint touch ups.

Having your Home Valued

Before you sell your home it’s very important to get an accurate Market Appraisal. You need to know what your property is worth in the current market. We use a combination of our expert local knowledge, market data including what has sold recently in your area and current marketing trends to provide you with an accurate Marketing Figure to achieve the best price possible in a realistic timescale.

Beware! Some agents may deliberately overvalue in order to impress you to secure your instruction, so don’t fall into the trap of simply choosing the agent with the highest valuation, or the lowest fee.

Choosing an Estate Agent

When choosing an estate agent to sell your property, it is important to consider a number of factors. These include local reputation, the experience and training of staff, the location and presentation of the local branch, what marketing your property will receive, and branch network coverage. These factors are all critical to obtaining the maximum exposure and price for your property. Once you choose an agent to market your property, you will then sign a contract, legally binding the agent to the sale of your property.

Andrew Craig has over 30 years experience in selling property across Tyne And Wear, and are widely recognised as one of the leading Estate Agencies in the North East of England.

Review your Finances

Before marketing your property you might want to take a good look at your finances as knowing how much you could expect to sell your property for is only part of the process as there will be fees and other costs to selling and buying, some of which may need to be paid up front.

Our Mortgages Now advisors can help you cost yout move, so you have no hidden surprises. You may even be able to look for homes more expensive than you first thought possible

Instruct your Conveyancing

Conveyancing is the legal process that sees the transfer of a property from one person to another, this is carried out by a solicitor or conveyancer appointed to act on your behalf.

We find that it is better to instruct your conveyancer rather than wait until you have an acceptable offer on a new home. In this way by being legally prepared, the process can be completed faster than if you waited.

As part of the Andrew Craig service, we can arrange for your Conveyancing to be done in house. One of the main benefits of using Andrew Craig conveyancing is that we work on a no sale, no legal fee basis which means you will be financially protected should anything go wrong. Our legal fee is also fixed and therefore helps you to budget. As it's all done under one roof which enables us to track the progress of your file and we can advise you accordingly.

Marketing your Property

Once you’ve instructed your Estate Agent, it’s time to get the property seen by prospective buyers.

Your Estate Agent will take high quality photographs of your property and write a comprehensive description of your property, highlighting any individual features that your home may have.

At Andrew Craig we work hard to make sure that your property is seen by as many potential buyers as possible. We make sure that your property details are perfect, and then we market your property in as many ways as possible.

As well as the listing our properties on our website and the major property portals, we have a dedicated Marketing Team who utilise things such as social media to promote properties on the market, to get your property as much attention as we can. We also have a database of people searching for their next opportunity who will be emailed your property as soon as it comes to the market.

Dealing with Buyers

We can either take care of viewings, or some sellers prefer to do them themselves. We also offer Live Stream viewings which we can take care of for you before offering people physical viewings, to make sure that everyone we bring into your property is a serious buyer. Take on board the feedback that you receive, if all the feedback points towards a particular issue – do something about it.

We contact viewers to discuss whether they want to make an offer, and will provide you with feedback of the viewing. We will take care of offers and negotiations on your behalf and we aim to negotiate the best price from the right buyer.

Once an offer has been received, we will inform you both verbally and in writing, and you will then decide whether to accept the offer or not. This may depend on any conditions of the offer, and the buyer's ability to proceed.

Sold!

Once a sale has been agreed your property will be marked Sold Subject to Contract and we will need to instruct your conveyancing solicitor to handle the legal side. We will then write a memorandum of sale which will detail all of the relevant terms of the transaction.

Your sale will then go through Sales Progression undertaken by our staff, who will keep you informed every step of the way.

Preparing to Move

Exchange of contracts takes place after the non-refundable deposit (usually 10% of the purchase price) is transferred from the buyer's solicitor to your solicitor, and all the legal work has been carried out. Contracts are then signed and exchanged. From this point both parties are legally bound to go through with the transaction. Your completion date will normally be set at this stage.

Completion day can be stressful for all concerned, especially if you’re part of a chain, but as the final step in selling in your property it means that the worst is over and you can take some time to celebrate. Completion happens when the rest of the funds have been transferred from your buyer's solicitor's bank account to your solicitor's account. Your keys will then be released to your buyer!