Frequently Asked Questions

This is the proverbial ‘piece of string’ question. Across the UK, there is a national average of viewings it takes to sell a home. Regardless of the economy, the estate agent, or the strategy, the figure usually ends up at around 15 viewings per property.

How quickly these 15 viewings take place is much more likely to be down to the skill and strategy of your estate agent.

Once you’ve got an offer, the solicitors are the ones in charge of timescales. This is why taking your estate agent’s advice on the best one for your situation is so crucial. It can take as little as ten weeks from offer to completion. BUT it can often take a lot longer.

When selling a property, the fees can be anywhere from 0% to 3% of the achieved sale price. This changes from area to area. Before signing the contract, make sure that the fee is based on the achieved price, not the listing price (the price you put your house on the market for).

You’ll need your ID documents, first and foremost. Your title deeds are likely to be electronic these days.

If you have a leasehold property, you’ll need a copy of your lease. In this circumstance, or if you own a share of the freehold, you’ll need to request a management pack. Asking for this as soon as you’ve thought about selling is a top tip. Getting hold of these can delay whole chains, so it’s well worth doing early on.

Your solicitor, or conveyancer, will provide you with the property information form and the fittings & contents form. Get these filled out early on as well. That way, if there are any areas you need to research, you’ve got plenty of time and don’t end up causing delays later on.

The EPC is another important document, as we’ve already mentioned. Once the energy assessor has visited, the EPC gets uploaded to epcregister.com, so you don’t need a paper copy.

You might need warranty documents if your property is less than ten years old. You may also have to get indemnity insurance. This is often required for something called ‘chancel repair liability’ and costs about £10. Your solicitor will advise on this, however.

It’s an excellent question. A large percentage of sales fall through due to several reasons, but one of the biggest is poor sales progression and a lack of ongoing communication by the selling agent. We take a leaf out of everyone’s favourite sci-fi character, Dr Who, to ensure you and your buyer are continually updated with any news. We’ve adapted his arch-enemies’ mantra: ‘Exterminate, exterminate, exterminate!’ and put our own spin on it: ‘Communicate, communicate, communicate!’ When it comes to selling properties, our experience shows you can never over-communicate to keep everyone in the picture.

No good estate agent can guarantee you a specific amount, but they can support you in achieving the best possible price for your property in the market. The caveat for this is your goal figure must be realistic and achievable.

A bit like when you’re choosing estate agents, it can seem really tempting to choose a solicitor based on their fees. Unfortunately, it’s often a case of getting what you pay for. That’s not to say you need to hire the most expensive firm in the market. We know the good guys and the less great guys, so just ask. We are always happy to share our experiences to make sure you avoid any pitfalls.

With a bigger property often comes an increased monthly mortgage cost. Your council tax and other bills are likely to increase, too.

On top of these, a bigger place means more responsibility. This might mean a bigger garden to manage or more gutters to maintain. You might also need to spend out on new furniture to make the new space work for you. Don’t just doodle some sums on the back of a napkin! All great estate agents know equally great, independent financial advisers.

Get a professional in to chat it all through. They can help find you the best deals in the market on things like mortgages and insurances. The initial outlay for their time will often end up making you money as they can advise on ways to maximise your money with investments and pensions.

We will accompany all viewings as standard. And as a local estate agent, we will also regularly visit the property to check everything is ok with it. We can arrange for local tradespeople to carry out any maintenance and we work with trusted house clearance companies.

While an auction and cash buying companies may provide a faster route to a sale, it often means you could be missing out on thousands. As a trusted estate agent working as your support partner through this process, we will be on hand to guide you every step of the way. You’ll have access to our extensive network of local contacts, and our area knowledge and database of people looking to move means we’re very confident in achieving you the best possible price with the minimum of stress and disruption.

Although a fresh coat of paint never goes amiss, you might not need to spend as much as you think you do. Each property is different, but our general advice here would be to make the property as clean and obstruction-free as possible. We can recommend trusted local companies who handle house clearance, cleaning, maintenance and repairs. Gardens are increasingly in demand since the pandemic, so if your property has one, ensure the front and back areas are neat, tidy, and easy on the eye.