Traditional Estate Agent route - expensive and VERY slow

Online Estate Agent - less expensive but still slow

Property auction - fast but price not guaranteed to reach reserve, still have to pay auction house fees and VAT

Sell to a buyer who specializes in purchasing property for cash - slightly below market value but VERY fast

DIY private house sale - a fast option that could save you ?000s

So, how do you go about selling your house privately?

This might sound like a scary alternative but with the advent of the Internet it really is a viable alternative to the snail-like High Street option and is gathering popularity amongst house-sellers fed up of being charged ?000s for selling their properties. We often forget that Estate Agents are unregulated salesmen with no professional valuation training other than an inside knowledge of what other properties on their books have sold for. The only true professionals involved in the house buying and selling process are the surveyor and conveyancing solicitor.

There are just 4 easy steps to making a private house sale:

PRICING. There are websites available where you can check the actual selling prices of properties in your area (rather than the over-inflated estimates dreamt up by untrained agents). These will give you a much more accurate idea of what your property is worth. Depending on how quickly you wish to sell should influence how much above or below this figure you are willing to set your price at. Bear in mind that a potential buyer may wish to negotiate you down on the advertised price so don't pitch it at your absolute minimum, as this will leave you no room for manoeuvre.

ADVERTISING. Online advertising fees are much more reasonable than those of commission-based Estate Agents and websites that advertise your property have clear itemised lists of added extras you can purchase if you so desire but these are not always necessary.

HIP. Any property sold on the open market must have a Home Information Pack, which will cost around ?350 and can be commissioned independently.

DETAILS. All you need is a digital camera and a reasonable eye for a good photo. You need around 6-10 decent pictures of the front of the house, garden and key rooms plus accurate internal measurements. For a small additional cost, online property advertising sites will also provide a customised For Sale sign, as these are great for generating interest from local buyers. You can get your property details online in a fraction of the time it takes an Estate Agent to start advertising.

If you really don't feel up to trying this alternative why not consider a quick cash sale to a company that specializes in this market. They can complete within 4 weeks of your initial enquiry and provide the peace of mind of a guaranteed property sale (no pulling out at the last moment and no broken chains). When you consider that Estate Agents over-value properties by between 5%-15% and you may have to reduce your price to slightly below the surveyors valuation to secure a quick sale this option doesn't sound quite as bad as you might first imagine. If you also factor in the benefits of a free valuation by an independent surveyor, free legal fees and no requirement for a Home Information Pack plus completion in around 4 weeks Sell-My-House-Fast could be THE quick and economical solution to your current financial difficulties.