If you are selling a house in the UK, there are many factors that could affect the speed of a sale. Statistics show that in the UK the average time is around 18 weeks, from when the property is first on the market, to the point where the buyers move into the house. However, there is a great deal of variation; for example, the property’s condition, location and price, as well as the point it is going on the market, can all impact how long it will take to sell your house.
How Quickly Can You Sell A House?
Experts suggest that selling a house takes roughly six months including the property search (2 months), drawing up the first contract and closing the sale (2-3 months), and finalising the move (1 month); however, this process and its various stages will vary greatly between transactions.
This year, data is showing that house sales are taking approximately 18 weeks on average and it seems that process times may have reduced with the property search taking 6-12 weeks, 2-4 weeks for a mortgage offer to be received and approximately 16 weeks for conveyancing. The final step, of completion, receiving the keys and moving, takes around 2-4 weeks.
What Is the Quickest Way To Sell A House?
If you are looking to sell your house quickly, there are certain ways to speed up the process.
Lower your asking price
When selling your home, you probably want to get as much profit as possible. However, if you set your asking price too high, you are unlikely to get much interest. If you lower the asking price slightly, so that the price is slightly more competitive compared to similar properties in the area, you are likely to get more interest from potential homebuyers. This does not necessarily mean that it will end up going for the lower price; if you are able to generate a lot of interest, it may be that you receive multiple offers which may ultimately bump the negotiated price to the original asking price.
Work with multiple estate agents
Working with estate agents can often be a slow process, especially if the estate agent themselves are inefficient. You become dependent on the proactivity of the estate agent meaning that they are in control of who sees the property listing, when and how efficiently any viewings are organised. However, when you work with multiple estate agents, you maximise the visibility of your property as the listing will be seen by different audiences. The more viewers your property has, the more likely it will be that someone will make an offer soon. It could also push the sale price higher if there is lots of interest from multiple potential buyers.
Sell to a cash buyer
If you sell to a cash buyer, it means that they are not waiting for financing and do not have the risk of financing falling through and slowing, or ceasing, the transaction. However, not everyone will have enough money to buy a house outright in cash. If speed is what you are after, you can also sell with a house buying company that specialises in cash purchases. Although this is a guaranteed fast way to sell, you will sacrifice the market value of your property, probably only getting between 70-85% of what your property is worth. Not only that, but it is an unregulated sector so you will need to do your homework to make sure you are working with a legitimate company.
Sell the property at auction
Selling your property at auction could be a good method for a fast sale and can be useful for difficult or unwanted properties such as probate properties. There are usually clear dates for both sale and completion, making it a good option if you are looking to plan ahead. Auctions usually come with a high success rate, around 76% chance of sale on the day. However, even though it can be a quick way to sell, you are only likely to get about 80-90% of the open market value although this will vary.
