I’m thinking of approaching neighbours as I know one of them tried to buy it previously. Is it a case of just getting each others solicitor’s to talk to each other?

Is there anything else I should be aware of?

Is it a case of just getting each others solicitor’s to talk to each other?

Yep.

Is there anything else I should be aware of?

Only accept offers ‘subject to contract’, other than that, let the solicitors get on with it.

I’ve sold a house privately to a colleague of the then wife’s, it was a doddle.

I’ve often thought about selling my house privately.

What exactly does an estate agent do, other than a valuation & getting your property advertised to a wider audience? (& taking x% of the sale price)

Everything else seems to be done by a solicitor.

I’ve always thought it can’t be that easy to privately sell, or everyone would be doing it …

I’ve sold a house privately to a colleague of the then wife’s, it was a doddle.

We have sold in the past without an agent, as long as you have a good solicitor & you know the price you want, try it.

Agreed, estate agents are not necessary.
We sold our previous house by just sticking up a for sale board and capitalising on the fact that others in the street were being advertised by agents, thus bringing prospective buyers past the door.

If you were buying and saw two identical houses, one through an agent and one direct, which do you think you’d get a better deal on?

Cut out the leaches and split the savings.

I’ve often wondered why we haven’t seen a low cost national sales website really take off in Ebay-esque proportions (or have I missed it?). eg £10 or even free to advertise your house for as long as you want/need, revenue from trade ads.

A good agent will know and understand the market in your local area, market your house effectively and in the right places, do viewings, do their utmost to get you the best price for your house. On the other hand in the age of ‘tinternet they don’t do anything that in theory – if you have the time, energy and inclination, you couldn’t do yourself in combination with your solicitor.

Edit – there are plenty of DiY sites around now Ms Beeny’s TEPILO springs to mind….

You pay an Estate Agent to market your house, which will hopefully lead to an offer. You pay a solicitor to administer your house sale from the point that an offer is made and accepted.

I’m not saying a good estate agent isn’t worth the money (they seem to be rare though), but if you’ve got an accepted offer already you don’t need one.

I’m thinking as my neighbours previously attempted to buy the house they may be interested in taking up our offer. If that bears no fruit then I’ll use the leaches.

We’ve had 3 estate agents do a valuation so we’d approach the price based on what they’d valued it at but obviously would consider a different price as the fees aren’t included

As above the purpose of the estate agent is to find a buyer – if you have one you don’t need an agent. They tend to stay involved through to completion to ‘help’ move it along although that is more to do with them ensuring it completes to get their fee. They don’t really add much as if your on the ball you will be doing all the chasing yourself.

I sold my last house direct through work. Agreed my sale via emails following a viewing (again agreed on emails). I had some stuff ready to justify my price, similar sales / agents valuation etc.

Once it went to lawyers it all went very well.

I have also wondered why there is not a national free/cheap website for this. I have often thought about starting one up.

When I sell my place I’ll just set up a website with pictures and details and put the web address on for sale board outside.

Isn’t ‘Your Move’ the cheap and cheerful solution?

I have letters from estate agents with their valuations on.