Consumer Association Research indicated that the overwhelming majority of sellers did not trust their estate agent. Around 30% of offers never make it through to a sale. Offers are made ‘subject to contract’ which means that both sides can just walk away from the deal. As a result many ‘selling chains’ collapse. We know of one buyer who was in two chains to ensure that they were in one that might hold together.

Yes! This means that one of the chains was certain to collapse. We felt like many other homeowners in 2008 that the Property market was broken. There had to be a better way and so our new business Get Set 2 Move was born. This business turns the normal home sales process on its head. With a new idea you have to test it, to prove to yourself that it works. We decided to test it on ourselves…

So we sold our own home.

This is what happened…

1. Get Set 2 Move appointed a firm of solicitors at the start to represent house sellers, produce a top quality Home Information Pack and provide contract ready documents. A different firm of solicitors was appointed at the start to represent buyers. They examine all the paperwork, raise enquiries and get answers. They produce a report on their findings for all interested potential buyers. A ‘whole market’ mortgage broker is available on site, to arrange a pre-contract survey and a mortgage offer before you bid.

2. Information is available to all interested buyers provided that they agree to pay a fixed-fee ‘buyers premium’ that covers legal and survey fees. They don’t pay for any of this unless their offer is successful. The same solicitor then completes the conveyance of the property for the buyer.

3. The property was marketed nationally on Rightmove and locally with a ‘For Sale’ board. Never underestimate Sign-power, it taps into local networks and the news spreads. People would stop outside our house and write down the 0845 number off the sign. Get set 2 move qualifies the calls so nobody needs to know your phone number. Viewing weekends are organised to bring together as many potential buyers as possible on the same day. That way sellers don’t spend hours tidying up before each viewing.

4. Key to our success was setting the right price. We don’t think you can set a guide price by just looking at what other houses in the street have sold for. We’ve broken the ‘ceiling price’ for a street many times. It’s Location, Location, but after that its Property features and Presentation. We put our house on Rightmove at the right price and within three days had a cash buyer as well as other interested parties. We haggled on price in a ‘text war’ down to the last £50, achieving very close to the guide price, but most importantly we did not exclude other interested buyers.

5. Many estate agents, once they have a potential buyer, won’t even discuss your property with anyone else. They try to steer new enquiries towards other houses they have on their books. Instead we believe in encouraging as many people as possible to make offers. As all the legal title advice and survey information is available to everyone at the start, buyers don’t incur costs until they exchange contracts. To make this fair to sellers as well as buyers we don’t take the house off the market until contracts are exchanged. If there is more than one bidder, then the property goes to the highest bidder in a fair and transparent web based auction at www.GetSet2move.com . The auction is then binding on both seller and buyer.

6. In the new property market, sellers should be prepared to sell with no onward chain. In other words if you get a good offer be prepared to move out and rent. That way you gain the same advantage when you buy. This process is so fast you don’t need to create linked chains of sellers and buyers. We didn’t get through all the stages in our house sale as in four weeks, from agreed offer to completion we had sold our house to someone who had already sold their house. We moved out and are now buying our next house. We got a great deal on ‘Removal & Storage’, which was actually cheaper than moving direct on the same day. That’s always a nightmare anyway and this gave us the flexibility to set the completion date for our purchase after the completion of our sale. That way we could bank the money from our sale, then use the cash to pay for our purchase.

As this process is available through the internet, the normal fee to sellers taking our Silver service is just half a percent. However if you are one of the next eight sellers to sign up, Get Set 2 Move will sell your house with no agency fee at all. The next forty to sign up will be charged a fee of just one quarter of a percent (£500 on a £200,000 home). If you like the idea of a fixed fee DIY service, Get Set 2 Move will advertise your property on Rightmove and a For Sale board for just £250 +VAT (call screening included). Just pay the difference if you want to upgrade later to the Silver service.

Get Set 2 Move’s new Estate Agency and Auctioneering service goes live this summer in England & Wales.

If you want to take advantage of the opening offers or you know someone who does then get in touch.

More information at www.getset2move.com

© Get Set 2 Move 2009

Contact:-

Ray Calverley

Managing Director Get Set 2 Move Ltd.

Tel. 01275 462601 Mob. 07840 177288

The auction is conducted in real time by a live auctioneer, it has a posted start time and like a real auction it goes on until bidding stops.  Then the Auctioneer displays the classic three final calls Going Once, Going Twice, at any point a rival bidder can still restart the bidding, until the moment when the final call of ‘SOLD’ is displayed.  

Finally… Yes we do ‘strike the hammer on the desk’ when the Sold Notice is diplayed on the bidding console.  From this time a legally binding contract between seller and successful bidder exists.  A full log of all bids and auctioneer notices is retained for audit purposes.  Bidder identity is not displayed.  

The Bidder has to pay the Buyers premium of around £1,000 by credit/debit card online within two hours and contact the nominated  buyers solicitor who will handle the rest of the Exchange and Completion of the Sale contract.  Standard legal fees are paid from the Buyers premium by the auctioneer.  Disbursements (expenses incurred) and Stamp duty are not covered.  I’ll write some more about the buyers premium in my next blog.