How to sell your house in 15 steps

What are the steps to selling a house?

There’s a lot to consider when selling your home, especially if you’re buying a new house at the same time. The decisions you make during the house sale process can end up saving or costing you money, so planning is key. From preparation to completion, we’ll take you through the stages of selling a house.

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2. Work out the costs of selling your home

One of the most important initial steps to selling a house is figuring out your finances. Buying a house costs money – but it can be expensive to sell property too. You’ll need to factor in the costs of selling your home to work out if you can afford to make the move. Selling costs could include estate agent’s commission (if you use an estate agent), solicitor’s fees, getting an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and removal costs, not to mention home improvements if you want to spruce up your house before putting it on the market.

If you’re buying a new property you’ll also have to factor in the costs of doing that, including home surveys, legal fees and stamp duty.

4. Getting ready to sell your home

Once you’ve decided to sell, your aim should be a quick sale at the best possible price. A way of helping achieve this is to improve your property’s ‘kerb appeal’. Even small improvements can make a big difference.

Our top tips for making your home more attractive to potential buyers include:

• Mow the lawn, weed the beds, clean windows and fix any broken fences, sheds or gates
• Give the front door a new lick of paint
• Add a splash of colour with hanging baskets or potted plants

• Tidy up and get rid of clutter in the house, garage and garden
• Fix the little jobs, like a dripping tap, saggy guttering, peeling wallpaper or dirty grouting
• Consider repainting your rooms – a fresh coat of light-coloured paint is a great way to introduce light
• Give your home a thorough spring clean and deep clean the bathroom and kitchen
• If you don’t want the expense of a total kitchen makeover, simply replacing handles and knobs can instantly spruce up tired-looking units
• Stage each room for its original purpose – if you’ve been using the dining room as a makeshift playroom, clear away the toys so it looks like a dining room again

6. Decide on the best way to sell your house

You can sell your home privately yourself, through a local high-street agent, or via an online estate agent.

Selling your house privately

If you’re prepared to do the legwork, selling your house privately could save you thousands in estate agent’s fees. It could be a good idea if you’re selling to someone you know or if the market is buoyant and you’re confident of a quick sale.

There are several websites for private sellers, but it’s an involved process and you’ll need to do a lot of the work yourself - from advertising your property and organising house viewings, to making sure all the documents relating to your home are in order. Another downside to selling privately is that you can’t advertise on national real estate sites, like Rightmove and Zoopla.

Selling with a local estate agent

This is still the most common way of selling property in the UK. The benefit of using a high street estate agent is that a good one will have local knowledge and successful experience of selling properties in your area. In most cases they’ll offer a full service - from advertising and accompanied viewings to arranging the Energy Performance Certificate.

But an estate agent’s commission can make a significant dent in your house-selling budget. On average, fees can range between 1% and 2% for a sole agency (when you sell your house through just one agent), to as much as 3% if you sell through more than one estate agency.

Many sellers opt for local agents who charge a ‘no sale no fee’ commission, which means you won’t lose money if the house doesn’t sell. Fees are negotiable so don’t be afraid to try to haggle. Just be aware that if you use an estate agent, potential buyers must make any offers through them - they can’t cut out the middleman and deal with you directly. If you accept an offer, the estate agent is legally obliged to pass on any other offers right up until the exchange of contracts.

Selling using an online estate agent

Another option is selling via an online estate agent. This could be cheaper than using a high-street agency because online agents usually charge one-off fees rather than a percentage of the selling price. However, online estate agents may offer fewer services than the high-street version. For example, you may still have to do the viewings yourself. You might also have to pay the fee upfront.

It’s worth weighing up the pros and cons of each method before you decide which is the best way to sell your home.

Selling a property at auction

If you want to sell your house quickly, you might consider selling at auction. Property auctions are particularly popular with buy-to-let investors and those looking for major renovation projects.
There are a few different types of property auction but in general they all offer a much quicker house selling process:

• In an unconditional property auction, contracts are exchanged immediately, and the buyer puts down a 10% deposit right away. The buyer and seller then have around 28 days to complete the sale.
• In a conditional property auction, the buyer pays a reservation fee to the auction house for the exclusive right to buy the property, typically for 28 days. Contracts should be exchanged in that time, with a further 28 days normally allowed to complete the sale.
• In a traditional property auction, bids are only accepted during the auction. When there are no higher bids coming in, the hammer falls and, assuming the reserve price has been met, the property is sold.

In a modern property auction, properties are advertised and open to bids for a longer period – typically several weeks. There’s no firm cut-off point, so if bids keep coming in, the auction may continue. 
Bear in mind that whatever method you choose, you’ll need to pay the auction house an entry fee, which can range from a few hundred to thousands of pounds, even if the property doesn’t sell. On top of this, you’ll be charged a commission, which is typically around 2.5% plus VAT. And you’ll have to pay a solicitor for preparing the auction legal pack, which they do prior to the auction.

8. Get your documents in order

Having all your documents organised early in the process can help things go smoothly later on. You’ll need to sort out:

• An Energy Performance Certificate - you can arrange this through your estate agent if you're using one
• Your home insurance documents
• Any planning permission certificates for work you’ve had done.

10. Arranging property viewings

Once your property is on the market, it’s time for the all-important house viewings. Whether the estate agent conducts the viewings or you choose to do them yourself, you’ll want to make sure your home looks its best.

Tips for viewing days:

• Tidy up and declutter all surfaces around your home
• Make sure the house is clean and fresh-smelling – particularly important if you have pets
• If it’s a cold day, light the fire or put the heating on to give the house a warm and welcoming feel
• Move your car from the driveway – it gives visitors a better view of the property when they first drive up, as well as somewhere to park.

12. Accept or negotiate an offer on your home

You’ll ideally be looking for an offer as near to the asking price as possible. But most buyers will want to negotiate by offering less. Your estate agent should be able to advise you but, ultimately, it’s up to you whether to accept an offer, refuse or negotiate.

If you decide to negotiate, consider:

• What’s the buyer’s situation – cash buyer, chain, etc?
• How likely is it they’ll increase their offer and by how much?
• Are there any other potential buyers interested?
• How quickly do you need to sell?
• How long has your home been on the market?
• Are other properties in your area struggling to sell?

Negotiating can be nerve-wracking but if you can hold out, you could get an offer you’re happy with. There’s also the chance your buyer will walk away. Consider what’s right for you and whether it’s a fair offer or not.

14. Drafting and exchanging contracts

Once you accept an offer for your home, the next stage is for contracts to be drafted. There may be more negotiations at this point – for example, the buyer may ask to review the price after they’ve had a survey carried out. You’ll also need to decide what fixtures and fittings are to be included in the sale, and the length of time between contracts being exchanged and the sale being completed.

Until contracts are exchanged (or, in Scotland, the process of concluding the missives is completed), either party can pull out of the sale if they want to.

But once contracts are exchanged, the sale becomes legally binding. If the buyer pulls out, they’ll lose their deposit, and if you pull out, you’ll need to return their deposit with interest.

If you’re buying another property, now’s the time to get buildings insurance in place for your new home. You can move out at any time, right up until completion day.