How to sell your house quickly

Did you know that the typical amount of time it takes to sell a house in England and Wales is 8 to 12 weeks? There are several steps in the process, many of which can trigger delays. This means house sales can take even longer than this, which can be frustrating if you’re in a chain and waiting for your house to sell before you can buy your next property.

In this article, we outline the steps you’ll need to take when selling a home, when and why delays might occur, and what you can do to avoid these delays and speed up the process to sell your house fast.

Steps involved in selling your house

1. Be clear on intention to sell and reasons for selling

The first thing you need to do is be clear about your intention to sell. You will also need to have decided whether you are going into a chain and looking for your next house purchase, perhaps because of a wish to upsize or downsize, or because you need to relocate. If this is the case, or if you’ve already spotted your ideal next home and this is what’s triggered your desire to sell, you will need to be actively looking to buy at the same time as preparing your current house to sell. There's a lot to think about, so make sure you’re ready to sell before you start.

2. Contact estate agents and request valuation of the property

When seeking a valuation of your house, it’s a good idea to ask more than one agent to value it as valuations can vary considerably. During this process, you can also find out about estate agent fees, and you might enquire whether they have clients who might be looking for a property like yours, which could speed up the process of finding a buyer. Once you’ve compared valuations and agent costs, you’ll be ready to choose your estate agent. You can of course choose to use more than one agent to market your house at the same time, or none at all. There are also online services such as Yopa, who offer a free home valuation and can sell your home for you, from £999.

3. Calculate costs of sale

It’s a good idea to list the costs of selling your house, so you can be prepared as the process takes place. These might include legal fees, estate agent fees and moving costs. For example, when moving house solicitor fees can be incurred for procedures such as conveyancing and drafting of contracts, as well as liaising with the buyer’s solicitor.

4. Provide an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)

All properties for sale in England and Wales must have an EPC [https://www.gov.uk/buy-sell-your-home/energy-performance-certificates], which gives details of the property’s energy efficiency and is included with its marketing information. As a seller, you are responsible for providing this certificate. This document is a legal requirement so be prepared and have this ready for when you put your house on the market.

5. Put your house up for sale

Another job you can do ahead of time is to make sure your house is in its best condition and tidy throughout. As soon as you’re ready to put the house on the market, you'll need photographs of the inside and outside of the property for the marketing brochure and websites. Your estate agent can arrange for a photographer to visit, or you can do this yourself if you’re not using an agent or want the house to go on the market more quickly. As soon as your marketing information is ready, you can instruct your estate agent to advertise the property for sale.

6. Arrange viewings

The more attractive your property and the surrounding area are to buyers, the more likely it is that you will receive offers. The average number of viewings to sell a house is 10 [https://www.thepropertybuyingcompany.co.uk/news/post/what-average-number-viewings-sell-house] so this part of the process can be time-consuming. You should aim to keep your house clean and tidy for viewers, especially the kitchen and bathrooms. First impressions do count, so make sure the front aspect of the property is tidy and well maintained. You will already have done this for the marketing photographs, so it’s not difficult to keep up while the house is on the market. If you choose to be present for viewings, potential buyers might want to ask you what it’s like to live in the house and the area. You can pre-empt this by preparing some things you might say to make it sound like an attractive place to live. Bear in mind that potential buyers will want to see everything, including inside storage spaces and outbuildings.

7. Receive and consider offers

If you are using an estate agent, buyers will have to contact the agent to make an offer. Offers are then relayed to you, usually by phone and in writing. It's usual for an offer to come in below the asking price, so you might need to carefully consider your options once an offer, or multiple offers if you’re lucky, are received, and be prepared to negotiate for the price you want. If you’re dependent on selling your property to be able to move to your next house, your timescales might be quite tight and this can make consideration of offers feel quite pressured. Once you've agreed to accept an offer, it's then your responsibility as seller to have a legal contract of homeownership transfer prepared. Any offer, even once accepted, is not legally binding until contracts have been signed and exchanged. This means that receipt of an offer is no guarantee that the house sale will go through – the buyer or seller can still withdraw from the process at this stage, which is a common cause of delays with house sales.

8. Do I need a solicitor to sell a house?

At this point, you'll probably need to appoint a solicitor or a licensed conveyancer. The term conveyancing refers to the legal transfer of property ownership from the seller to the buyer. Conveyancing includes the exchange of contracts and completion, where documents are signed and accepted and the property legally changes hands. A solicitor or conveyancer is usually needed for this part of a house sale, as the contracts are legal documents and the transfer of ownership is a legal and somewhat complicated process.

9. How long does conveyancing take?

The usual amount of time between exchanging contracts and completion is around two weeks, and solicitors will probably set this as a deadline for completion. To avoid delays with securing a solicitor for conveyancing if you are using one, you can make enquiries with them earlier on, although you can't appoint one until you have a buyer as the buyer needs to provide their details for the drafting of the contract for the legal exchange.

10. Agreeing on the sale

The buyer and seller will at this point agree to the sale, usually via their solicitors, and a Memorandum of Sale will be prepared, agreeing to proceed subject to contract. The sale is still not guaranteed, and the seller or buyer can still withdraw from the sale without penalty. In principle, though, both parties are agreeing that the sale will go ahead as long as the results of the buyer’s house survey are satisfactory and there are no hitches with mortgages or issues in other parts of any chains that are involved.

11. Buyer’s house survey and mortgage valuation

Here, you'll need to wait while the buyer arranges a survey of the house to check for any potential structural problems with damp, rotting timbers or subsidence, for example. The buyer’s mortgage lender, if they are using a mortgage to buy, will also arrange a house valuation at this point to confirm the value of the property.

12. Final checks and preparing contracts for signing

The following events will usually be handled by solicitors of the buyer and the seller if you're using one. The seller’s solicitor will use the property’s title deeds and further information about the property to draw up a contract of sale. This will be sent to the buyer’s solicitor, who will confirm property details and will probably enquire further about boundaries, alterations and the like. The buyer’s solicitor will also search the land registry to check for planning history and potential developments in the immediate area. This can become time-consuming if there is any discrepancy between the information they have been given by your solicitor and what they find during their search, so try and provide all relevant information at the outset.

13. Signing the contract and agreeing on a completion date

Once checks have been completed, it will be time to sign the contract and set a completion. The sale is still not legally binding yet and parties can still withdraw, but once a completion date is set it is a good time to start provisionally planning for the actual move. You'll need to have moved out on or ahead of this date.

14. Exchanging contracts

When both parties’ contracts have been signed and everyone is happy it will be time to exchange. This is a literal exchange of signed contracts between buyer and seller (or the solicitors acting on their behalf). This, along with a deposit from the buyer, is the part of the process where the house purchase is legally binding and will go ahead. You'll now have a set move date so you can confirm removals and notify service providers and utility companies of your leaving date.

15. Completion

Completion is the final part of the house sale process, where the house is considered sold and final payments are made. This is the date when the buyer receives the key to their new property.

How quick can a house sale go through?

Many parts of a house sale can be subject to delay, but there are some things you can do as a seller to sell your house more quickly.

• Be prepared: Try to get ahead as much as you can. For example, clean and tidy up and make any necessary improvements as you can in advance. This will save you time preparing the house for marketing. You can also do your research on estate agents before needing them, and you can find a suitable solicitor ahead of time, although you won’t be able to instruct them until you have a buyer. Complete any paperwork as soon as you are able.


• Sell chain-free: Being in a chain can really slow things down. As a seller, if you don’t have a house ready to move into you might need to stall the sale. Buyers who are in a chain might need to wait for the successful sale of their current property before being able to commit to buying yours. If you can rent after selling, or stay with family or friends in the short-term, it might be easier for you to move out quickly, speeding up the sale. Equally, if you find a buyer who is not in a chain you will probably find they can buy more quickly.


• Sell your house for cash: You might receive an offer from a cash buyer. This is considerably quicker and more straightforward than selling to someone reliant on a mortgage as they won’t have to go through all the checks with their lender and there will be no need for a mortgage valuation. Cutting out some of the steps in this way can make things quicker, although, of course, it depends on having a buyer able to pay cash. Some companies will cash-buy properties quickly, but if you choose to sell to one of these you won’t receive the full value of the house.


• Make your property attractive to buyers: When preparing your house for sale, try and see it as if you were interested as a buyer. What improvements could you make to enhance the attractiveness of your home and entice buyers?


• Use more than one estate agent: If you market your house with two or more agents, it might reach more potential buyers. Using more than one agent will also mean they will compete for the sale so their advertising of your property might well be more aggressive – and effective.


• Sell privately: Alternatively, you don’t have to use an estate agent at all. Social media is a great platform for networking and advertising online yourself might be successful in attracting a buyer and cutting out the time needed to employ an agent and have marketing materials prepared.


• Use a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to speed up conveyancing: It is possible to sell a house without legal help, but the conveyancing process is complicated and solicitors and conveyancers know what they are doing.

Moving house is a big life event and it can become incredibly stressful if there are delays. We hope that you will find the advice here useful in helping to sell your home quickly and being ready to move on with the minimum amount of fuss.