When you’re ready to sell your house or flat, it’s understandable that you might want to find a buyer as quickly as possible. That’s why the below guide offers several tips that can help guide you in selling your home ideally within one month, at a price that is best for you.
Why many homeowners want to complete sales as quickly as possible
Despite some recent news reports suggesting that the housing market is improving in the UK, the average house or flat sold through an estate agent can still be expected to be up for sale for about four months at minimum. That is a relatively conservative estimate of how long it takes from initial listing through to finding a buyer and then ultimately signing the contracts for sale, which is known as exchanging contracts.
That means even with an improving market for homeowners looking to sell, they can expect to wait for several months and even longer before selling their house through an estate agent.
And the longer that a house sale takes to complete, the more the risk increases that the buyer might rescind their offer and walk away. This puts the buyer back at square one and restarts the clock on trying to sell. There’s also unfortunately no legal recourse in England and Wales if a buyer abandons their offer before any legally binding contracts for sale are signed, leaving homeowners with no choice to be start all over with trying to find another buyer.
This can be a very stressful outcome if you goal is to find a buyer as quickly as possible and then complete the sale. Some homeowners need a fast sale to get speedy access to a lot of cash, others want to secure a buyer on an accelerated schedule because they need to move for work, or have to relocate for reasons such as the coronavirus pandemic.
Six tips for selling your house or flat within one month
The bad news is that many homeowners routinely have to endure lengthy delays in the time between first listing their house or flat for sale and exchanging contracts and moving out. The good news is that there are some simple tips to follow to achieve a much faster sale.
- Pick the right time of year for selling
This isn’t an ideal tip for every situation, because some people might need a fast sale and have no choice but to try finding a buyer at times of year considered less busy in the property market. But if you do have flexibility on exactly when you sell your home, you might want to wait until the spring, which is considered a busier time for home sales than other seasons such as the middle of the summer or winter. Selling at a time when demand is on the rise can be a good way to quickly find a buyer.
- Sell your home at a property auction
A quicker way to sell your house compared to an estate agent is to contact a property auctioneer. They will list your home for sale and then schedule a specific day for auctioning it off to the highest bidder. Although this process can take more than a month from beginning to end, it’s not unheard of for some auctioneers to list and sell your house in just a few weeks. You’re also secure with the knowledge that the top winning bid on your home is considered a legally binding contract to purchase the property. And even though auction houses charge fees for their work, the good news for buyers is that you can typically pass these on to the winning bidder.
- Sell your home to a fast property buying company
As an alternative to selling your home at auction or through an estate agent, consider getting in touch with a fast property buying company. An example of this type of business is LDN properties who offer homeowners a fast house sale in London and throughout the UK. These companies are experts in moving the sale process along quickly, and you can expect a sale to be complete in just a few weeks if you sell to a fast home buyer.
- Lower the asking price on your house or flat
If you want a very speedy sae you might want to think about lowering your asking price. The cheaper the property, the more likely is it to garner interest from a greater number of prospective buyers. But this is only really a workable solution for those homeowners that can afford to lower their initial asking price. If maximising the profit from selling your house or flat is your top priority then this is not the ideal solution for your home sale.
- Shop around for the best possible estate agent
If you’re committed to selling your house or flat through an estate agent, do some work upfront to research the property sellers in your area. Ask them about the typical length of their sales from beginning to end, as well as any ideas they have for speeding up the process. Having an enthusiastic estate agent working on your behalf to help you quickly secure a buyer can be the difference between selling in a month or much longer.
Get a good solicitor and do as much legal paperwork in advance as possible
Once you have an offer on your home you’ll probably want to hire a solicitor, or conveyancer, to handle all the tricky legal paperwork. Find a great legal professional with a reputation for moving things along swiftly but skillfully. And do as much of the necessary legal paperwork in advance so that when it comes time to completing the sale your solicitor can make the sale happen on as fast a timeline as possible.