They’re everywhere - in your neighbour’s garden, lining your friend’s street, in the apartment block on your summer holiday abroad.

No matter where you are, you just can’t avoid the For Sale or To Let sign. Every estate agent worldwide uses them.

Why?

Because they work.

Even if you’ve opted for a private house sale, research has shown that displaying a For Sale sign can double the chances of selling your house.

Although over 70 per cent of people now use the internet to search for their next home, many deals are ‘drive-buys’.

Whilst for those choosing to sell their house online the internet can globally spread the word to millions, it’s vital not to miss out on the local market. It’s estimated that up to 48% of property enquiries come from people seeing a For Sale or To Let sign.

House-hunters deciding on the area they want to live in will inevitably drive around to get a feel for the neighbourhood. If they like what they see, they’ll more than likely stop at properties displaying a For Sale sign and jot down the contact details in order to make an appointment, or at least find out more details about the house.

No matter how fantastic your property is or how low you’ve set the price, you’re never going to be in the running if the drive-buys don’t know your cherished property is for sale.

Even for those who have decided to sell a house privately, for the sake of a few quid it makes sense to order a sign so as not to miss out on a possible drive-buy sale.

Mouse Move will deliver a professional, eye-catching For Sale or To Let board for just £30 plus postage. Each double-sided sign is personalised with the contact number of your choice and a unique property ID for easy reference on mouse-move.com

Nearly one in five British homeowners are currently planning on selling their house and moving, says a new report from Zurich Insurance.

Rising interest rates and thus more expensive mortgages costs, plus the desire to downscale in later life are two of the major factors influencing this trend.

The study also revealed that the average Briton will own five properties during their lifetime and moves an average of 125 miles each time to find their next perfect location.

It’s already been proven that selling your house privately is often quicker than using an estate agent, but follow these top ten tips and you might  find it sells even quicker…

1.  When people contact you to make an enquiry, make sure you always get their contact details
2. Try to get them to come and view as soon as possible so they don’t lose interest
3. Try to make viewings on the same day, at 20-30 minute intervals so that potential buyers see other interested parties
4. Make sure your house is spotlessly clean and tidy when people are coming to view
5. Make sure it’s brightly lit
6. If you can, palm off the kids and pets to family or friends.
7. Allow viewers some time to look around by themselves
8. Invite them to return if they’d like to see the house again
9. Ask questions about the them, their kids, their work, where they live. You can use the information to emphasise the features that would specifically appeal
10. If someone seems ready to make an offer, ask them the question, ‘Would you like to make an offer?’ More often than not the prospective buyer feels like he or she needs an ‘invitation’ to start the business ball rolling. If they do make an offer, make sure you get it in writing.

It’s nice to see that property from Keighley to the Costas is continuing to roll in to Mouse Move. It’s amazing to see so many people choosing to go the way of private property sales in the UK, whether they want to sell a house online in Keighley, or the private sale of a villa in Estepona.

I think one of the things that is attracting so many UK homeowners and overseas property owners is the fact that all properties for sale online at our FSBO site www.mouse-move.com are also automatically advertised on HotProperty.co.uk and thus are getting incredible online exposure. Have a look at the following links for examples:

Sell my villa in Estepona online

Sell my house  in Keighley online

Sell my finca in Alicante online

Sell my apartment in Tenerife online

Keep those private property sales coming!
 

This post headline could read, can I sell my house in Doncaster online, or can I rent out my apartment in Benidorm online. I’ve been getting a lot of emails from all over the place about the how’s and whereto’s of selling a house privately online.

It seems that a lot of people are finding out about the benefits of selling a house privately (private property sales sites are the quickest way to sell your house) and discovering the reasons why not to use an estate agent (mistrust, high commissions), but they want practical advice, the nuts and bolts if you like, of how to advertise their property online.

I’m quite happy to receive these emails (and letters), but pretty much all of their queries can be answered on our website www.mouse-move.com

Having said that, keep the correspondence coming; in this cyber-age, it’s still nice to communicate one-to-one, and remember, there’s no such thing as a silly question - only a silly answer.

Fire away to davidwood@mouse-move.com and Helen, the team and I will do our best to give you all the information you need.

A recent survey by Alliance & Leicester has shown that selling your house privately with an FSBO website such as Mouse-Move actually leads to a quicker sale than with an estate agent.

Of the 2,384 people polled, Alliance & Leicester found that sellers who sell a house privately make a sale in an average of two months or less while those using the more conventional (estate agency) route to sell their UK property were taking over three months.

In addition, the number of people interviewed who had used a private property sale site had risen from 5% last year to 8% this year, a sure sign that the FSBO trend is definitely on the up, as confirmed by Stephen Leonard, Alliance & Leicester’s director of mortgages:

 ”Research suggests that DIY methods such as using the internet to sell a home are becoming more popular.”

Long live the revolution!!

There are many factors that can effect the speed at which you sell your property. But without a doubt, the most important is making sure the price is right. Deciding on the right value is the key to selling a house privately.

Nowadays the property market is more competitive than ever before, hence the price is the determining factor. Other factors that add to the speed at which a house for sale by owner sells are the condition of the property and any terms and conditions attached to the sale. However, nothing is quite so important as getting the price right.

So how do you make sure you’ve got it right?

First of all, keep an eye on the price of similar properties for sale in your area. Look in estate agents windows and keep track of what is selling quickly and at what price.

Secondly, make use of the fantastic UpMyStreet website to find out what price properties are selling for in your neighbourhood.

In addition to that, you need to have the property for sale in prime condition. Fix everything that needs fixing leaving no stone unturned. You don’t want to give any reasons for the buyer to knock you down in price. The condition of a property will play a huge part in a buyer deciding to purchase your property or somebody else’s. And remember, first impressions count so make it a damn good one.

The human obstacles that get in the way of fair pricing are the three deadly sins of pride, greed and ignorance. Overcome these natural tendencies and you’re going a long way to pricing the property fairly and thus making the difference between making a quick sale and twiddling your thumbs whilst all around you sign contracts and move on.

Make sure the price is right - and fair - and you’ll sell your home quickly.

Advertise on the right, high profile private property sale site, such as Mouse-Move and it’s as good as sold.

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Another worrying point about the dubious practise of estate agents was highlighted by tickeverybox.com recently.

They warn that estate agents are ‘extremely well positioned to receive kickbacks for recommending financial services, solicitors, surveyors and now, home information pack providers.‘ These commissions paid to agents can be quite substantial and detract from what should be their main objective ie to secure a sale for their client.

Tickeverybox.com remind sellers of agent’s duties…

1. to report every offer that is made to the vendor
2. never fabricate or provide misleading information about other offers that may/may not have been made
3. not insist that an offer is accepted only on the condition of a buyer signing up to its own (or recommended) financial, legal or technical services.

Unfortunately, some agents tend to forget these duties when the lure of extra financial gain rears its head.

If a client suspects this is the case there are several paths they can follow to file a complaint.

Contact the following if you feel you’ve been duped:

• RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors)
• NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents)
• The Ombudsman for estate agents
• Local Trading Standards Office of Fair Trading

Interesting feature in the current edition of Overseas Property Professional magazine, that emphasises the current revolution building steam in the property world. 

Journalist, Alex Evans takes a look at the rise and rise of Private sale web sites.
The feature starts:

‘With public perception of estate agents at an all-time low, just how serious a threat to your livelihood are private sale portals?’

It goes on to say;

‘The Ombudsman for Estate Agents recieved more than 8,000 enquiries from customers last year, compared with 6,021 in 2005. A poll by YouGov on behalf of ITV1’s consumer affairs programme, Tonight with Trevor MacDonald, found that 64% of survey respondents don’t trust estate agents. More than two-fifths (43%) believed agents were over-paid. “You’re charged on the basis of the value of your house rather than the amount of work taken to sell it. It’s essentially like a beggar demanding 3% of what’s in your wallet,” says Nick Wright of Wow Property.

‘The Tonight poll also highlighted the rise in popularity of private sales websites… ‘A study from Halifax Estate Agents found that the number of people who felt they needed to look around a property has more than halved…‘It also found that 80% of buyers use portals to research homes before calling an agent, so decisions have already been made before the agent steps in.’