Ways to speed up a house sale

There are a lot of hoops to jump through when it comes to selling a house. Whether you’re selling for the first time with no idea what to expect or have been through the process before and know what slows things down, it is possible to speed up a house sale.

 It’s not just a matter of finding the right buyer quickly. Even if someone is desperate to buy your home, there are still many steps to take before you get to hand over the keys. So if you’re looking for ways to speed up the sale of your house in Hull, here are some real-world tips that will help.

Understand the terminology

There is likely to be terminology unfamiliar to you when selling your home for the first time. It’s even worth those who have bought or sold a property before brushing up on some of the terms. Knowing what the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is, or learning all about a Mortgage Indemnity Guarantee, is a good way to ensure you don’t get lost when organising your sale.

Get a conveyancer early

If you want to speed up the sale of your house, then getting your conveyancer involved as early as possible is always a good idea. There’s a common misconception that only buyers need a conveyancing solicitor, but that’s certainly not the case. Selling property comes with a wide range of legal obligations — including all the contracts that need to be drafted and the large sums of money that must be transferred. So get your Hull-based conveyancer involved early and your house sale will speed up.

Organise the paperwork

If you hoped there would be less admin when selling your home than when you bought it, think again. There will always be plenty of forms to fill out, contracts to sign, and evidence of earnings and identity to show. While that can be stressful, the key to speeding up your house sale is to get as much of it done as early as possible. The more you can get your paperwork in order in advance, the less waiting around there’ll be for you and the buyer.

Use your estate agent

Estate agents don’t get paid until they’ve sold your house, so they have a vested interest in speeding up the process too. Check with your estate agent whether they have members of their team whose responsibility is to monitor and report on sales progression. If so, that alone can help with speed because they will be communicating regularly with buyers, you, and both sets of legal representatives.

Establish an end date

If you work with the buyer and their representatives to set a realistic date for completion, that gives everyone involved a deadline they can work towards together. An end date can help motivate and structure the property transfer process. Of course, your target end date doesn’t have to be set in stone, and delays can always spring up. But having that deadline in mind can certainly help when it comes to motivating everybody involved.

Remove the listing

If you get an offer you’re happy to accept, instruct your Hull estate agent to take your property off the market as quickly as possible. If you don’t, you could get interested buyers approaching you right up until the day of completion. Of course, for those who aren’t in such a hurry to sell, leaving the property on the market for a little longer could mean a higher offer. This is known as gazumping, and it’s on the rise in the UK. It can be frustrating for buyers, but it could mean sellers make extra money.

Speeding up a house sale

It’s important to stay realistic about time scales when selling a house. It’s a big decision for everyone involved, and the cash sums can be high indeed. For most buyers, especially those buying for the first time, it will likely be the single biggest purchase they’ve ever made. Rushing is rarely an option, but you can make things more streamlined.

Get as prepared in advance as possible, such as rounding up your paperwork and hiring the right local people and you could save months of waiting around. For those who want their house sale to go through quickly, the more organised and efficient you can be, the faster you’ll see the money for your house sale transferred to your bank account.