If you are considering selling your property in London, the good news is that the market is continuing to recover. From August 2022 to March 2024, the average house price in London fell from £543,009 to £507,562, as a result of high interest rates.
In August 2024, the Bank of England cut the base rate from 5.25% to 5%, the lowest rate in 15 months and the first drop since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
This interest rate cut has been a catalyst for an increase in buyer demand and rising house prices in London, where the average house price has bounced back to £531,212 (data from Land Registry).
With forecasts of a further cut in upcoming months, these are positive indications for sellers who are looking to put their property on the market in areas such as Barking, Redbridge and Romford.
If you are now in a position to sell, you’ll need to go about finding the right estate agent for you. Fees will be one of your considerations – and selling with an online agent could be cheaper in terms of fees. However, there are other things you should factor into your decision, such as the level of service you need, the price you want to achieve and how quickly you want to sell.
Buying and selling at the same time?
Here are 10 things that could go wrong, and often do go wrong, and what, if anything, you can do to avoid them.
Buying and selling at the same time?
Here are 10 things that could go wrong, and often do go wrong, and what, if anything, you can do to avoid them.
To help you understand the pros and cons of selling your house online, we answer a few questions buyers typically ask us about the process.
Online estate agents are what you’d expect – agents without a physical high street presence. Instead, they tend to use call centres or website chat functions to keep their costs down. Some employ local staff who can conduct viewings, take photographs and value your property – they are known as hybrid agents. Online only agents will rely on you to carry out these tasks.
Do plenty of research into the online agent out there and how they compare. Established companies include Purple Bricks, Yopa, Easyproperty, Doorsteps.co.uk and Strike, but there are many more with new names added all the time.
Look carefully at their fee structure and understand what is included and what isn’t. The Homeowners Alliance and Which? Both have comparison tables, which you might find helpful. Think about your personal circumstances and lifestyle. Using an online agent will take up more of your time in conducting viewings, negotiating with buyers and keeping things moving along at the conveyancing stage.
To help you to make the best decision for your circumstances, these are some questions to consider:
Want to feel prepared before you sell? Find out how to find a buyer for my house and how to sell my house quickly.
Before you choose between an online estate agent and a traditional high street estate agent, weigh up the pros and cons:
The main advantage of using an online estate agent for selling your home is that the fees will generally be cheaper than using traditional high street agents. There is usually a fixed fee rather than a percentage of sale, so if you are selling a high value property, you can save more in estate agent fees with an online agent. The costs of selling a home can soon stack up, with legal fees and other costs, so saving money on agent fees might be a priority.
If you choose an online estate agent, you will usually have the choice to use more than one agent. Multiple listing can help to achieve a faster sale, but you may need to pay fees for each agent you list with.
With online estate agents, you tend to have more flexibility about which services you require. Instead of paying for the full service, you can often select which elements of the agency services you use. For example, you could choose whether to do viewings yourself, whether you require a buyer vetting service etc.
When you choose an online estate agent, there will probably be a lot of work involved on your part. While traditional estate agents do pretty much all the work in the sale process, the services provided by an online agent are limited. Communicating with conveyancers, conducting viewings and other time-consuming tasks will fall to you.
Many online estate agents require an upfront fee before they start marketing your property. If your house is not sold by the online agent, you won’t get your fees back.
Without the expertise and experience of a local estate agent, you might not achieve as a high a price for the property sale. Also, online estate agents with a fixed rate do not have the same incentive to drive a higher sale price as an estate agency receiving a percentage of the sale.
In addition to the fixed fee you agree to pay an online estate agent, there may be extra fees for services that you might not be expecting. For example, they may charge a fee to list your property on marketing portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla. They may also charge for viewings with potential buyers and arranging an Energy Performance Certificate.
Check reviews carefully and ask friends, family and colleagues, who’ve sold recently for their experiences. Find out how easy it is to contact the agent; how long properties take to sell and if sellers were happy with their final sale price.
Online agents often charge a fixed fee compared to the percentage-based commissions of traditional firms. These can look attractive, with some agents quoting less than £1,000 to sell your home online. High street agents tend to charge around 1.5%, meaning £7,500 on an average £500,000 north London property.
There may not be one, however, you need to understand how the fee is charged and what is included. The cheaper agents may ask for payment upfront, regardless of whether your home sells. Some online estate agents offer their services on a no sale, no fee basis, but tend to charge more.
As a bare minimum, your home needs to be listed on the main property portals; Zoopla, Rightmove and possibly On the Market. This is where your buyers will be looking. If you want an agent that conducts viewing for you, check if this is included in the fees. Some agents will quote a low entry fee with add-ons, such as over-priced energy performance certificates, so make sure you aren’t being charged for more than you need.
Want to feel prepared before you sell? Explore our tips for selling your house and why is my house not selling.
While hybrids will send their local expert to do a valuation in the normal way, online only firms will most likely base the valuation on area data. In both cases, they may not have the same level of knowledge of the local market as high street agents, so make sure you do your own research. Look at homes available on the portals and recent sales prices. You could also get valuations from local agents to be sure the online quote is realistic.
Online agents will list your property on their own website and the property portals, if included in your package. Some will offer you a sale board. Hybrids will send their expert to take photographs and create a floorplan, before writing up your home’s details – others may expect you to do some or all of this. Some online agents offer virtual open houses, so you should ask for a full list of what is included in their marketing.
It used to be part of the deal that you’d do your own viewings if selling online, so make sure you’re happy with this. Hybrid agents, however, tend to use their local property experts. You may be offered a set number of viewings, or charged extra to add this service on.
However the viewings happen, your agent should get feedback from all prospective buyers – make sure this is included.
Traditional agents will negotiate on your behalf. They will find out about your buyers’ circumstances – whether they have a property to sell, need a mortgage etc – and give advice when offers are received. Find out if your online agent will do this – some may use third parties. This may not be an issue if you’re comfortable handling the negotiations yourself, but you need to be clear about it from the start.
Being part of a property chain can get stressful. A good estate agent will keep on top of the process and help to smooth things along, liaising with both sets of solicitors and agents in the chain. A basic online service probably won’t include this support, so again, you need to be prepared to step in here.
These legal parts of the sale are handled by your conveyancer – so whether you choose an online or traditional agent shouldn’t matter. However, traditional estate agents will often handle the communications with conveyancers on the home seller’s behalf.
Technically, yes, if you really understand the process, have time on your hands, are skilled in digital marketing and have a desirable property in a high demand area. This process is known as sale by owner. The big issue is that you won’t be able to list your property on the portals as a private seller. You’ll need to sign up for at least the most basic online package for that.
If you’re looking to sell in east London and are weighing up the pros of cons of using a high street agent or online company, we’d be happy to help. Contact us to find out more about our services and for an accurate appraisal of your home, based on our local knowledge.
Selling your house can be a complicated process, but breaking it down can make it less intimidating. That’s why we have compiled this step-by-step guide to the process of selling a house in east London. Whether you’re selling for the first time, are buying at the same time, or just aren’t sure what the current advice is in 2026, read on for tips on how to sell your house. We’ll talk you through everything from mortgage matters to professional photography. We also answer your frequently asked questions about the selling process. Find out more.
When you inherit a property, there will be decisions to make regarding whether to sell the property, live in it yourself or rent it out, and there will be legal processes to follow.
If you are wondering what the next steps are then this guide explains how the probate process works, what tax obligations you may have and which documents you will need if you decide to sell the property.
We also cover the different options you have for selling an inherited property and answer some of the most common questions about inheriting a property.
If you are looking for a fast house sale, there are several ways that you can improve the chances of a quick sale. Choosing an experienced local estate agent will help to speed up the sale but you can also get your paperwork prepared and make sure that your property is presented well to attract more viewings and prospective buyers.
Read our tips on how to sell a house quickly in East London for a full guide on the actions you can take to help to achieve a faster property sale.
