Can I Sell My House Fast For Market Value?
Looking at how you can sell your house fast for market value, tips to help you secure a quick house sale, and how you can avoid hefty legal fees.
Alexandra Ventress ★ Digital Content Writer
Table of Contents
It’s no secret that when it comes to putting your home on the open market, getting the quickest sale for the best price possible is every seller’s end goal. But is it possible?
In this blog post, we will be looking at how to work out the market value of your property, wheat factors can affect market value, and answering the all-important question “can I sell my house fast for market value?”
How do I work out my market value?
When it comes to selling your property, knowing how much it is worth is one of the key parts of the journey. It lets you know how much your property is worth, how much you can make in the sale, and if you are buying another property, how much your budget will be.
So, it is only natural to want to know how you can work out the market value of your property.
There are plenty of free online valuation tools out there, that pull local market data, as well as the size, location, and condition of your property and can give you a rough valuation of your home. These are a good way of getting a rough idea of how much your property may be worth, but the real figure may be just more than or slightly less than this.
You can also invite three local estate agents round to your property to provide an in-person valuation. Although you may not hire them to sell your property, many estate agents will provide a free valuation so it is worth seeing if any in your area do. It is a good idea to get three different valuations as you will be able to get an average price from them.
It is also worth conducting your own market research into the area to find your own figures. Zoopla releases a house price index which will allow you to look at housing prices across the country to give you a rough idea of what to expect. Property portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla are also good for seeing how much similar houses in your area have sold for, which will also give you an indication of market value.
What factors will affect the value of my house?
There are many reasons why your house may or may not achieve full market value when you put it up for sale. Below we explore some of the factors that your sale price:
Location
When it comes to property, what are the three magic words that everyone knows?
That’s right, it’s location, location, location!
And as important as it is when you are buying a house, it is equally as important when you’re selling. Whilst each area across the UK will have different house prices, as a rule of thumb the North of England has cheaper property prices than the South. However, how much value your property holds will also depend on your whereabouts in the county you are as well. If your area has great schools, transport links, and lots of amenities, then it is likely to be valued higher than the areas which don’t.
Condition
It’s no secret that a property that is in good condition will sell for more than a property that is not. Should a survey reveal any information about the property that is unfavourable, then the value will certainly drop as buyers will not pay more for a property that needs work doing.
Flood Risk
Unfortunately, if you live in an area that has had severe flooding in the last three years or is located in a high-risk flood area, then its market value will be negatively affected for the next three years.
Property market
One of the biggest factors when it comes to achieving market value for your property is the condition of the market when you put it on to sell. The open market is like an ecosystem, if there are lots of buyers and not many sellers, then your value will go up, however, if there are lots of sellers and not many buyers then your value is likely to go down.
Before putting your home on the open market it is always wiser to check the conditions so you have the best idea about potential sale prices as possible.
Parking
Off-street parking is a surprising factor that can affect your house sale value for the better. With more and more households owning more than one car, off-street parking is a huge bonus. According to data from the House Buyer Bureau, it can add as much as 20% in some areas,
Value addition
Potential to add value is a vague term that is thrown around a lot by estate agents. It means that your property has areas where features could potentially be added to boost the value of your property. Examples of this would be a large garden where an extension could be added or converting an attic into an extra bedroom. If you have had planning permission approved in the past, this can be particularly attractive to potential buyers.
Presentation
First impressions matter! The general presentation of your property during house viewings can have a massive effect on your home. If your home is neat and tidy, inside and out, then you will find that this is often reflected in the house valuations you receive in return.
Bedrooms
Another good rule of thumb when it comes to the market value of your home is the more bedrooms it has, the more value it will be worth. If you sacrifice a bedroom to use as a home office or gym, you may find that you get a lower valuation.
What documents do I need to help my house sell quickly?
One of the best ways you can help to complete the sale quicker is by having all of your key documentation to hand. This will ensure delays are avoided to the best of your ability and can keep the sale progressing. Below we have a list of all of the key documentation you may need to hand in order to sell:
- HM Land Registry title documents
- Subsidence guarantees or warranties
- Documents proving you have had all necessary gas checks prior to selling
- Party wall agreements (if needed)
- Planning permission
- FENSA or CERTAS certificates for windows
- Electrical checks
- Building regulation completion certificates and builder’s guarantee certificates (for alterations and additions)
- Damp guarantees/warranties
Tips to help sell house fast
If you are looking to sell your house fast for full market value, it is important to consider the steps you can take to help achieve that all-important quick sale. One of the areas of your home that can have the most effect is staging your home.
Staging refers to setting up your home in a certain way, so that it is more appealing to buyers. Whilst it may not sound like a big deal, according to research from Homesandgardens.com, a home that has been staged will sell three times faster than a house that has not been staged. The same research also revealed that 70% of estate agents stated that staging your home can help to increase the offer value on a house by up to 10%.
One of the most cost-effective ways you can get your property ready for the house sale process and secure the price you want is with a deep clean. Whilst it may sound obvious, clean houses get better valuations than those that are not. The best way to ensure that you perform an efficient deep clean is to tackle your home room by room, leaving no sofa cushion unturned or surface unwiped.
Whilst it can work out to be a little more costly, don’t underestimate the power of professional cleaning on items like curtains and carpets.
Another aspect you should consider when preparing your house for a quick sale is decluttering. This goes hand in hand with our previous point and is not only a good way to achieve a fast sale and full market value, but it will also make moving easier. By deciding as you are deep cleaning which items you wish to keep in the move and which you shall put in storage or throw away, you will end up not taking as much with you when you move out.
Another key to getting full market value for your property is making sure any unfinished DIY jobs and repairs are finished and taken care of. Potential property buyers are not going to pay full market value for a property that requires extra work doing to it. Your potential home buyers are likely to lower their asking price each time they see a fault that needs fixing.
If you need to sell fast, then an element you can not afford to forget about when preparing for a house sale is kerb appeal. First impressions matter, so before you put your home on the open market, you’ll have to find time to dust off the gardening gloves. According to data from a survey done by HomeOwners Alliance, 68% of potential buyers considered kerb appeal to be an important factor when choosing their next home.
Whilst tackling the garden can feel like a mammoth task, there’s no need to go full gardeners world on it. Small changes such as planting new flowers, painting a fresh coat of paint onto your fences, cutting the grass, and cleaning your patio!
Whilst it may sound scary, an important part of home staging is ensuring that the property is neutralised. In order to neutralise your property, you simply need to remove any personal items from your home. This helps to give the property the same look that a showhome has, it turns it into a blank canvas where potential buyers can truly imagine themselves living.
Items that can be easily forgotten about when neutralising your home in preparation for home viewings include:
- Family photos
- Holiday souvenirs
- Children’s artwork
- Collectable items
- Trophies and certificates
Show homes sell so well because they allow people to truly envision themselves living there, so when it comes to preparing your home for viewing, you should aim for a similar look for your property.
If you want to sell quickly, there is one tip that you need to remember.
First. Impressions. Matter.
If your home is looking tired, dull, and like it has seen better days, the chances are your potential property buyers are going to be put off by this. Just because your house is feeling tired, doesn’t mean you have to pay a fortune on a facelift. There are plenty of low-budget ways you can help to freshen up your home. Painting any walls that are looking past it is a great way to make any room look brand new.
You don’t just have to freshen up your rooms in the physical sense, smells also play a big part in getting full market value for your property. The following smells and odours can put buyers off if they are present during viewings:
- Cooking
- Bins
- Blocked drains
- Damp
- Pets
- Smoking
Before having any potential buyers round for viewings, it is a good idea to invest in a couple of scented candles, reed diffusers, or room sprays to keep your home smelling fresh.
Options for selling your house quickly
When it comes to selling your house quickly, you have three main options. You can sell through a property auction, a cash buying company, or through an online estate agency, like ourselves. As with any method of selling, each of these sale routes comes with pros and cons, which we have broken down below:
Property Auction
If you are looking to sell a property for full market value then a auction property sale may be a route you wish to explore. Whilst not necessarily known for providing you with a fast sale, property auctions can connect you with serious buyers. This is because once the hammer goes down on a bid at a property auction, the deal is legally binding. That means buyers are often sure of the property they are purchasing and will be unable to pull out without serious financial penalties.
An auction property sale works by sellers agreeing on a minimum reserve price for your property, and if a buyer meets the reserve price then it sells to them.
A best-case auction scenario is that multiple buyers are interested in the property and will be outbidding each other, raising your total profit and allowing you to get slightly more than your market value.
However, as we have already mentioned, a property auction is not always the best route if you are looking for a fast house sale. The main issue is that auctions involve a lot of waiting. There are marketing, viewing, and valuations involved in the selling process and these can take up to a month to complete before the auction date even rolls around. And if it is a month with particularly high interest, you may find yourself having to wait for the next month to roll around before you can sell, adding further time to your wait.
After the auction is completed and the hammer has fallen, you will still have to wait a month for the paperwork to go through, which adds more time to what is already a lengthy process.
On top of this, selling at an auction is not without cost. Auctioneers charge fees to cover the cost of marketing and selling your home which can once again eat away at your final profit and take away from your market value.
Cash Buying Company
Fast property buying companies offer a great alternative to putting your property on the open market. They specialise in fast home sales and will often buy any house in any location. They will usually offer you a free cash offer and can buy your property in a timescale that suits you, whether that’s months or days away.
A cash sale from a home buying company is one of the best ways to get a guaranteed sale in a timescale that suits you. The way most quick house sale companies work is the seller will fill in their postcode online and get a rough valuation of their property. They will then be called by an agent at the company who will be able to give them a more concrete offer. An in-person valuation is conducted to confirm the price and then the house is sold within the agreed timeline.
A genuine cash buyer will have the cash fund readily available without needing a loan or mortgage to be able to purchase your property.
Before you accept that cash offer, it is a good idea to make sure that the cash buyer you are selling with is registered with at least one regulatory board, such as the National Association of Property Buyers or The Property Ombudsman. This will ensure that you are selling with the best of the best and offers extra security to you as the seller.
However, if full market value is what you’re after, then a cash buyer may not be the route for you. Cash house buyers will buy your house at below market value in return for offering you a quick and hassle-free sale. Each cash buyer is different, though as a rule of thumb, most companies will take around 10-20% below.
Online Estate Agents
Another route you can take in order to secure a quick sale for full market value is online estate agents. An online estate agent will be able to sell your property for as close to full market value as possible, as well as taking the stress of selling out of your hands.
An online estate agent will be able to offer you support throughout the house-selling journey, as well as marketing the property, organising viewings, and helping you with negotiations. And if you are looking for a fast sale, there are even companies that can help get you sold in as little as 28 days!
Now you have heard all your main selling options, you still find yourself wondering “can I sell my house fast for market value?” Well, look no further as we have the answer that you are looking for!
How can I sell my house fast for market value?
Here at The Property Selling company, we believe that selling a house should be three things: fast, effortless, and free.
We offer you a full online estate agent service, without the fees – because it’s our mission to change the way you sell houses. Gone are the day of estate agent fees eating away at your total profit.
We will be working alongside you every step of the house-selling process, covering everything, so you won’t have to. The days of expensive solicitor fees and legal work are over, and our team of property experts will continue to be there, even after the process is complete.
We will market your property on popular property portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla, organise viewings, cover legal fees, and negotiate better deals all for free!
If you are ready to sell your home in as little as 28 days, then get in touch today and fill out one of our fast, free, no-obligation forms for your house valuation today!
