If I was about to try and sell my home in 2024, given the tricky conditions, I would be allowing up to 12 months for the whole process, and hope to do it in six. If your deal falls through, you’re back to square one.
Roughly speaking (and excluding talking to an independent mortgage broker first, which goes without saying) these are the 8 Steps I would take to maximise chances of a quicker sale (in this order)
1. I’d choose my conveyancer first. I’d ring around recommended firms and ask “what do I need to do to sell my home in a “contract ready” state? I’d then instruct the chosen firm to get me “contract ready” and be prepared for a lot of form-filling.
2. I’d then do local research to see if any agents had standout recommendations and a long local track record. I’d approach as many agents as I could find that don’t require a long sole agency lock in contract, and state “I need to sell my home as soon as I can. I have already chosen my conveyancer and I’m already “contract ready” and have all the material info a buyer could need.
3. I’d purchase a Property Search Pack for two reasons: Firstly I’d want to know up front if there were any problems that might hold up my sale. Secondly, I’d want to offer it to the buyer making an acceptable offer, to help them speed up the transaction.
4. I’d pick my agent as though my future depended on it, because it does. I’d motivate my agent by paying the fee they asked (so they are motivated to prioritise the sale of my home over all the false-economist sellers who demotivated them by demanding a fee discount)
5. I’d insist that my launch marketing price was set to be the most attractively priced home of its type in the area.
6. I would tidy my home to within an inch of it’s life, clean it, declutter it, de-smell it, touch-up paint where needed, and whatever my agent advised as worthwhile work to improve it’s saleability. I’d also see if their was an easy opportunity to upgrade the EPC rating, and if easy, I’d do it and get a fresh EPC certificate.
7. I’d insist on professional photography (and floorplans) to a level where my home presented better than all comparable local homes.
8. I’d make certain my agent knew that I wanted competing, funded, proceedable buyers and would be prepared to lower the initial launch marketing price as necessary to achieve this.
When competing offers arrive, I’d look for the most serious, proceedable and certain offer with the highest level of commitment (even if it wasn’t the highest offer) and I’d accept it. I’d seek an agreed target exchange date within typically 4 weeks, if all parties agreed that was achievable, given the fact that the property is being sold “contract ready”.
Recap (TLDR): After talking to your broker:
1. Select Conveyancer to get you “contract ready”
2. Begin researching and meeting agents (but do not pick yet)
3. Order Property Search Pack (know about any issues up front)
4. Select agent as if future depends on it
5. Set initial launch marketing price aggressively low for pre-marketing.
6. Prep home to highest possible standard, inc epc upgrade if feasible.
7. Pro photography and floor plans.
8. Agree Launch plan with agent to guarantee competing buyers.
If you want help with any of this, you can book a private video call with me, get in touch with my conveyancing partners, mortgage partners or get your search pack all from my website https://mhwc.co.uk
Good luck!