Seller Services
Introduction
Headed up by our sales manager and experienced local estate agent, Richard Bizley, our sales team are proud of the professional yet personal and personable service they offer to all our clients.
This approach, allied with dedication and perseverance has already resulted in a number of sales being agreed in the few months since we opened our sales department, despite the current tough market and economic conditions; and, contrary to the pessimism portrayed daily in the media, we have achieved some very healthy prices for those properties and achieved sales on properties where other agents had previously failed to.
In our opinion, Exeter and its environs has retained a very resilient local property market, and its popularity as an area to live and invest in remains undiminished. ‘To quote Richard, ‘we’re not magicians’ but we can guarantee that we will put every effort into not only finding a willing and able buyer for your property but also in obtaining the best price possible, and this ethos has been borne out by our success so far in the short time we have been trading.
Our Service to You
- Market Appraisal
- We are happy to initially discuss your selling needs on the phone, in the office, by email or letter but at some stage we will need to visit the property you are thinking of selling in order to give you a considered assessment of its saleability and marketing price.
Our FREE No Obligation Market Appraisal is an opportunity for us to give you our considered opinion - based on experience and comparable market research - of the appeal of your property, what type of buyers it might attract and the price we would hope to achieve. We will also advise you on what enhancements could be made to the property to maximise its saleability and selling price and will be honest with you in regards to all those factors and recommendations. - Agency Options
- We hope and trust that you will be happy and confident about our market appraisal and favour us with your instructions to market your property accordingly.
With confidence in our own abilities, we hope that you will instruct us on a Sole Agency basis, with the added benefit that the eventual sale fee will be charged at a lower percentage of the selling price, but are more than happy to market your property on a Multiple Agency or Joint Agency basis as well. Indeed for some types of property and for some locations, particularly those further out of Exeter, a Joint Agency marketing campaign can bring benefits over Multiple Agency, with fee rates typically somewhere between sole and multiple agency rates, yet with 2 agents working for you who both benefit from their labours if a successful sale ensues.
We will be happy to discuss our standard fee rates for any of the above in more detail. - Marketing
- Upon receipt of formal instructions from you, we will commence full marketing of the property. This will include constant marketing on our own website, as well as via the national property portals Rightmove, Findaproperty, Zoopla, Primelocation, Globrix, Radar Homes and Property Live. Your property will also be advertised regularly in our weekly Express and Echo local newspaper advertisement, in the window of our prominently located city centre office and marketed to potential buyers already registered on our mailing list.
To capture those buyers scouting their preferred areas in person, we would also strongly recommend the addition of one of our smart and prominent for sale boards to your property. All these measures are undertaken as a matter of course at no cost to you and for the majority of instructions, we will market your property on a No Sale, No Fee basis (terms and conditions apply), although for specialist marketing and other related but non standard services, charges may apply, subject to prior mutual agreement.
Please note that HIPs (Home Information Packs) are no longer required when selling your property but we are legally required to market each property with the benefit of an Energy Performance Certificate. Fortunately, these have a long shelf life and are inexpensive (typically around £50/60) and we can arrange for one to be prepared on your behalf. - Accompanied Viewings
- Wherever and whenever possible, we prefer to accompany all potential buyers viewing your property and offer appointments throughout the working day up to early evening, and on Saturdays, to accommodate where possible. If we are unable to attend a viewing or if you would prefer to undertake viewing appointments yourself, we are happy to advise you on the best way to do this.
- Negotiating a Sale
- Our role is to obtain the best price for your property from the most able buyer and therefore once we receive an offer for your property – please note that we are duty bound to submit all offers to you, even made if at a potentially derisory level – we will seek to establish the credentials of that potential buyer and their ability to proceed with the purchase of your property upon submission of an acceptable offer, e.g. is their offer dependent on the sale of another property and, if so, how many other properties are involved in the transaction (the 'chain') and how strong are those sales, and how will the purchase be financed, e.g. cash, mortgage, etc.
At the same time as establishing their purchasing credentials, we will also seek to encourage them to increase their offer to the highest amount they are prepared to pay for your property and will advise you honestly if we feel the offer is fair and reasonable, or otherwise.
If agreement on a sale price and a provisional mutually acceptable transaction timescale is reached and we are confident that the potential buyer is in a good position to proceed with the purchase, we will recommend that you and the buyer instruct your solicitor or conveyancer – we are happy to recommend suitable professionals in this field if required – to act on your respective behalves in the transaction and will send Memorandums of Sale to all parties accordingly in order that the legal process of preparing the sales contract and obtaining searches and other property information can begin. - Progressing the Sale
- We do not just sit back and hope for the best once the sale has been agreed but ensure that we keep close tabs on the progress of the transaction by regularly speaking to all the parties involved in the immediate transaction to check that there are no hitches or concerns and, if applicable and necessary, by making contact with those further down or up the chain to ensure the same.
If issues do arise, we will do all we can to enable the swift resolution of those issues to the mutual satisfaction of all concerned to try and ensure that the sale progresses to exchange of contracts. The reality is that issues will and do frequently arise in property transactions, whether due to a poor survey, finance problems, difficulty obtaining required information, the loss of a link in the sales chain, etc.
However, in our experience, how these issues are handled can often be key to finding a workable resolution or not and whilst some issues are insurmountable, e.g. if a buyer unexpectedly loses their job and can no longer obtain their mortgage, most are not and yet, bizarrely, it can sometimes be the seemingly silliest and most surmountable issues that can wreak the most havoc.
It is certainly very true that moving home is a stressful experience and it can lead to otherwise sane people making silly decisions as result. One of our jobs therefore is to try and encourage all the parties to maintain a level of objectivity, even when issues arise, and we have the confidence and experience to deal with such matters firmly and proactively if necessary to try and ensure it is. - Exchange and Completion
- All being well, the sale will proceed to exchange of contracts, which is the point when the transaction becomes legally binding for both parties and is also normally when the Completion Date – the date on which the monies are transferred and properties legally change hands – is agreed.
Upon completion, which often takes place around lunchtime, you will need to have vacated the property, removed all your belongings and ideally left it clean and tidy by that time, in order that the new owners can move in.
We are happy to hold all the keys once you have physically left the property for the new owners to collect but rest assured, we will always check with your solicitor first to ensure that the purchase price has been paid in full before we release them. Should you require assistance with any aspect of your move, we will be happy to recommend removals firms, cleaners, maintenance contractors etc.’ - Why Choose Us?
- Experience & knowledge – Within our sales and lettings teams, we have over 50 years combined experience of buying, selling and letting property in and around Exeter.
Professional yet personal – We are confident in our abilities to provide you with an effective and professional service and our independence allows us the freedom to offer a flexible and tailored service to best suit your needs, whilst at the same time being personable and friendly.
Complete range of services – With residential sales and investment advice, residential and student letting and property management services, buy-to-let consultancy, acquisition services and project management services, all in-house, and access to a comprehensive range of associated service providers, there is little we cannot do for you.
Going the extra mile – Unlike some other professionals, we won’t bill you for every piece of advice or minor service we undertake for you and if we can give you value added advice or undertake a task ourselves within our contracted service that will save you money, we will do so.
Advice you can trust - As property owners and, for several of us, landlords ourselves, we try and advise you as we would advise ourselves and aim to treat your property and your buyers or tenants with the same respect as we would our own. We put our money where our mouths are, which is why we are confident in the advice we give and we want to build lasting working relationships with our clients – the high percentage of longstanding clients we have is testament to this.
Flexibility & adaptability – Whilst we have our basic published services, these are only intended as a guide and we are more than happy to tailor make a bespoke service to suit your requirements. - Complete range of property – We have already successfully sold all types of property in all types of locations and deal with residential and investment property sales in Exeter and within about a 20 mile radius of the city, although do deal with property further afield as well. Whether bottom end or top end of the price range, you will still receive the same level of service however, as all our clients properties are equally important, with what we achieve today determining what business comes our way tomorrow.
Looking after your interests – We know that the property you want to sell is possibly your most valuable asset and we never lose sight of that, hence we will always aim to get you the best buyer at the best possible price and advise you to the best of our ability, whilst adhering to all relevant legislation, working within the appropriate legal framework and maintaining a duty of care to all involved.
Testimonials – Why not see below and see what some of our existing clients think of us. - Testimonials
"Solo Estate Agency has the ‘unique experience and care’ to be able to match the buyer with the property - thus bringing about a very satisfactory conclusion to an otherwise stressful situation. Grateful Thanks." - Nicholas Carson
"Thank you for your very professional, optimistic manner in selling our flat. You will always come highly recommended. We wish you well in the future." - Sue, Bill and Siobhan
"Thank you for everything you have done in selling our property." - Vanessa, Otto and family.
"You have certainly earned your bacon on this one. Thanks very much indeed to you and Scott. We would recommend you to future sellers in the locality." - Rebecca East
“Solo are the most professional, helpful, hard working firm of estate agents I know of” - Andrew Jackson.
