Sell your home online - Video script

John Fitzsimons looks at how you can save money by selling your home yourself online

My dad’s an estate agent, so I probably won’t be too popular at home for advising you to sell your home yourself online. But it’s fair to say not everybody is happy with the service they receive from estate agents when selling a property. Often, the agent does nothing to help you sell, but then takes a nice chunk of the cash in commission.

However, you can cut out the middleman and sell your home yourself online.

Free versus fee

There are a wide range of sites where you can do this, including Tepilo, HomesOnSale, MyPropertyforSale and iSold. However, they will vary in terms of what you get from them, and whether you need to pay a fee. With Tepilo for example, there are no charges or commission at all, but you’ll have to sort out photos, floor plans and for sale boards yourself.

However, with iSold, you can get all of that, plus things like valuation guides for £999, while if you shell out an extra £300 you’ll also get a listing on Rightmove, virtual tours and help with open house days.

You’ll have to decide for yourself how much help you think you’ll need.

Get your negotiating hat on!

With the estate agent out of the picture, you’ll have to handle what they would normally do yourself. That means organising the viewings and taking prospective buyers round the property, which can be very time consuming. You’ll also want to work out just what the property’s unique selling points are in order to promote them.

Without an estate agent, you’ll also be responsible for the most important task of all – negotiating on price. Personally, this is what would put me off selling my home myself, but so long as you are confident in your negotiating skills it can save you money.

Extra costs

While cutting out the estate agent will save you some cash in terms of their commission, you will still need to stump up for legal fees and all the other costs associated with selling your property, so remember to include them in your budget.

For more tips on selling your home, join the Sell Your Home goal at lovemoney.com/goals.