4. Offers, Exchange and Completion

Agreeing on a final price can be a tricky process of negotiation. Make sure that you have established the lowest price that you will go to and what elements of the house you are prepared to concede on. Look at your house from the buyers point of view; what are they going to try and negotiate on?

Keep the purchaser well informed of where they stand, if you are going away then let them know. Always try to have a quiet and confident approach to the sale. Do not pester the purchaser. However, if there are other people interested make sure that they are aware of this. In this current market the purchaser will do everything they can to knock you down on price, if you believe that your final price is right then stick to your guns. If you have an offer that is £10,000 below your asking price then drop £5,000 off the price to allow yourself one more move in price before agreeing. It is always worth keeping a few incentives that you might include such as white goods. Even if you were going to leave them or they are integrated, they offer good bargaining points.  

It is worth remembering that a lot of offers are subject to survey and subject to contract. Make sure that you understand what they are asking for in subject to contract - if they want to change the usage or apply for planning permission make sure they have done their proper research. If this is an unlikely ask then it is wasting your time and theirs.

When you have agreed on a price it will then be time to get in a conveyancer. Make sure that you get a licensed one registered with the Council or Licensed Conveyancers. Also understand what is included in the price and what extras you might need to pay. A survey of the house will also need to be carried out if they don't want to use yours. Once this ball is rolling you have greater security that you are able to sell your house as money is starting to be spent on the transaction. You will need to swap solicitors details with the other side so that they can deal directly with each other.

Once the buyers have their mortgage offer you are ready to proceed. Their solicity will need all of the legal information required and you will then be in a position to exchange contracts. You will then need to set a completion date - this is the day that the ownership of the property passes over to the purchaser. You should make sure that this is a date you can keep to because if you remain in the property after the date of completion the purchaser has the right to charge you interest for every day you are late.