We all know what the traditional method of selling your home is. Hiring an estate agent, having your home valued, paying whatever fees it is they’re charging and putting your home on the market. Then of course there is the rigmarole of viewings, offers, waiting for the right offer to come along, and the laborious process of actually moving out of your home. There are many reasons why it’s been said that buying or selling a home is one of the most stressful parts of modern life, and it’s clear to see why. However, did you know about these five alternative methods for selling your home, that believe it or not, actually do exist? If you’re completely over the traditional way of moving on, these options might be of some interest to you.
Believe it or not, this massively popular and revolutionary social media platform can now be used to buy and sell houses. Now, it’s not going to act as your estate agent and it’s not taken off in the UK yet, but not too long ago a homeowner in East London became the first person in the UK to try and sell her home with a viewing on Facebook Live.
Okay so it might sound crazy, and maybe it is, but there’s more to it. She provided viewers with a virtual tour of her home, and there was a comments section beneath the live stream where viewers could then ask any relevant questions they had about the property. She then encouraged offers to be made through direct message on Messenger.
So technically, if homeowners wanted to, the same way they advertise cars and personal belongings for sale, there’s nothing to say they couldn’t advertise the sale of their home on social media, is there? It’s one of the more “out there” methods, and there are a lot of questions about safety and security, but it is in fact, possible.
Gumtree
Gumtree is becoming increasingly more popular, with it currently having over 1,000 property listings. It’s the UK’s number one free classified ads website, and a lot of these people want to sell their homes without employing an estate agent in the initial stages and having to pay further fees.
All sellers need to do is to simply upload a few high-quality images of their home, include a description below, and then sit back and wait for the interest to come in. Gumtree attracts an average of sixteen million visitors each month, so the chances of reaching a wider audience is huge.
However, chances are after the initial stages that you will have to employ someone to help you out, and even selling privately will cost you a fee.
Quick Sale Companies
Quick sale companies are becoming increasingly popular as time goes on. This method, similarly to Gumtree, does aim to cut out the middleman, but whereas when you sell privately you’ll still have to pay some fees, if you go through a quick sale company, chances are you won’t have to at any point. For example, companies that claim we buy any house from readysteadysell.co.uk, will not only value for your home for free, but they’ll buy any home whatsoever for cash. A lot of the time when people are looking for alternative home-sale methods and fast ones at that, they’ve found themselves in some sort of sticky situation that they’re wanting to get out of quickly, and quick sale companies provide a cheap and helpful service in doing this.
eBay
Chances are you’ll associate eBay with the buying and selling of vintage records and second-hand clothing – but it’s come a long way since it’s early days. It’s far less used than Gumtree, however it is still possible to sell your home using eBay.
If users do want to list a property on eBay, they’ll be required to pay an up-front charge of £35, which isn’t really that bad in comparison to estate agent fees. Similarly to Gumtree, all you need to do is file an advertisement including a written description, photographs and a reserve price on the property.
House Swap
Remember that old television programme “Wife Swap”? Well if you do, it’s sort of a bit like that. Easy House Exchange and Preloved are websites that give you the option of literally “swapping” your home with someone, as long as you match each other’s requirements. This is a good one for those interested in relocating, and if one property is more expensive than the other, the homeowners themselves can agree the difference. It’s different, but it works for some people!
