The housing market moves in mysterious ways and currently agents are suffering more than canny sellers.

In our experience, more and more properties are being sold privately as buyers, anxious not to overspend in a falling market, look to secure bargains.

There is no shortage of stock out there and buyers seem to realise that if the seller can avoid an agency fee, then they can potentially reap those savings for themselves.

Many vendors, keen to sell but wary of over-exposing their property are displaying private ‘for sale’ boards outside their homes and marketing privately online in a low-stakes, low-risk attempt to drum up some interest. We all like to feel we’re getting a bargain, especially when times are tough (hence the increased success of discount supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl as opposed to Tesco and Sainsbury’s). The housing market is no different and people always have to move. The difference now is that purchasers can choose where they shop. Why buy retail when you can buy wholesale?

Maria Kyriacos, who recently bought two flats to let privately says, “It’s a buyer’s market out there right now and buying privately is a whole lot easier than going through an agent. There’s no one phoning to harass you every five minutes and I’d rather the whole amount went to the seller, not an estate agent that’s barely lifted a finger for his commission.”

One private seller, Jackie Thomas said, “My husband and I recently sold our house privately. We had to move, we didn’t have a choice. We signed on with an agent to begin with but they were useless. Every week they would say, “Oh, it’s just been a bad week, things will pick up next week.” After two months with no viewings I’d had enough. Even if things did pick up I felt like I was being conned, why should I give them 1% of the sale? We decided to try and sell privately on the internet and suddenly we had three offers.”

For now, estate agents appear to have fallen desperately out of fashion as more and more sellers ask, “Why should I pay for something I can do myself?”

This article is written by Tim Jackson of Secure a Sale
www.secureasale.co.uk

Popularity: 29% [?]