The notion of moving on from a family home or premises can trigger all sorts of inspiring ideas for home making, travel or legacy creation. Whether selling your home to downsize to the country, or considering releasing the value built up in a business premises, the process can often be as daunting as it is rewarding, for uninitiated. This becomes especially true if the property has potential for refurbishing, extension or complete redevelopment, as the stakes increase in tandem with the jargon, professionals and opinion givers.
- Ally – your ally should be a friend or professional who has been through the process before, ideally quite recently. This person should really have no motivation in the process, even your children or siblings. They should be there to help see different perspective, without emotion, so an alternative personality to you is great.
- Accountant – there is always a good chance that healthy equity has been built up, and possible Capital Gains Tax aside, there is often an opportunity, whether it be timing, or the sales structure, that can be adjusted to suit your personal circumstances. You should be aware of this before you embark on sales activity, to ensure any offers invite consider your requirements. Priced realistically, you can easily set your own terms for sale.
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Architect or Designer – often long standing family homes or even business premises have clear potential for alterations, which of course creates value. Rather than take a motivated parties word for this value, or potential, it is always wise to seek professional perspective yourself.
It could be a simple refurb, or you could be redeveloping garages into eight flats. Either way, the cost of doing so as well as the value created, will help you set realistic targets for the sale price, and show any interested parties you know the basics. You may even feel inspired to carry out alterations yourself, although this requires greater consideration of your ability and external advice.
- Solicitor – you will always need a solicitor, even if you have a property lawyer as a best friend. The solicitor increasingly plays a more vital role in seeing transactions over the line, and their assertiveness and efficiency will feature heavily in the end result. You want them to be proactive, but not busy bodies. Do not wait until you have an offer to review your sale with a solicitor, it is worth the upfront investment.
- Representative or Advisor – most people look at an estate agent as their go-to at this point, which is fine, providing you ask the right questions and don’t simply take the glossy brochure as the deciding factor. Ask to meet the day-to-day agents who will show your property, not just the Sales Manager, and ask them technical question gathered from your conversations with person #3. Nowadays several hybrid platforms also exist, such as Purplebricks or TrustedLand, which means you can take more control of the process yourself if you feel comfortable.
Preparing to meet some of the entities above, and empowering yourself with the right questions needs some prep. Appointing a lazy or adversely motivated person for any of the above could cost more than just time, conversely when you get it right, those people are often worth their weight in gold.
As a final note, if your gut says someone is not right person to represent you, then listen to that feeling. This is often more powerful than all the people mentioned above, and who is tell your gut it's not right when it has gotten you this far.
About the author
Alex Harrington-Griffin is a land & planning professional and Founder of TrustedLand, the UK’s first hybrid land selling platform.
About the Author / Gareth Hargreaves
Gareth looks after all editorial content on 50connect. He is the Swiss Army knife of content ideas and production.
