A realistic assessment of the value of your property is an important first step. You will need the experience of a professional Estate Agent to discuss and assess its real value and to give valuable advice that will enable you get the best possible value for your property.

At Crestwell Property Consultants, having immersed experience in property development and more than a decade of selling we are able to provide such advice free and on a no-obligation basis.

We will meet you at your property at time that best suit your needs. Our appointment with you would typically take between 30-60 minutes and would include a detailed inspection of your property. At our meeting, we will discuss the specific needs relevant to your own situation, market forces and current demand, previous transactions in your street and activity levels with other properties similar to your own. This information will help us advise you on:
 

• A realistic and achievable potential value range applicable to your property
• Any building works  you could do to enhance this value, and
• A recommended marketing strategy that suits your particular objectives.

Any questions or concerns you have can also be addressed at this meeting.

To book a free valuation, please submit a request here.

Having established the value of your property and decided to go onto the market, you will need to choose an Agent to act for you.

In this website age, any estate agent can sell your property however not all estate agents have the in-depth knowledge and experience to provide you with the right advice that can maximise the value of your property.

At Crestwell, we work for you and committed to obtaining the highest value for your property. In 95% of cases we will get the asking price (and in some cases above the asking price) for you. Although we are obliged to pass on all offers to you we will advise when an offer is acceptable or otherwise.  We put the interest of vendor before our fees – see the recommendations from our vendors.

A successful agency will have a comprehensive marketing strategy and methods, professionally qualified & courteous staff and a realistic expectation of what the market can achieve.

With us, you'll always have access to a specialist manager dedicated to your sale and one contact point throughout the process. But, beyond that, we provide a significantly higher level of service that you would typically expect from a traditional estate agency.

Contact us to find out more about what we offer you.

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for a property is a legal requirement. We can arrange to have an EPC produced for you, quickly and without fuss – and at a very competitive rate!

Also, although Floor plans are not a legal requirement, it aids the buyers in assessing and deciding whether or not they want to view the property, thus eliminating unnecessary traffic to your property.

Contact us to learn more about these services.

The majority of buyers now use internet property portals to search for a home. Therefore the visual imagery used with these listings are the first taste of your home a potential purchaser is likely to experience and this will be hugely influence whether they contact us to arrange a viewing.

Preparing your home for photography and other visuals we develop (such as videos) is therefore one of the most important actions you can take to maximise your chances of attracting interest. This could involve some moving of furniture and basic de-cluttering.

With us, you don't have to – as we can do all this for you as part of the instruction process. Our consultant will allow enough time to work through your property on a room-by-room basis to carefully consider the best layout of furnishings, removal of personal items and the best aspects to capture. Room dimensions and details will be recorded and a plan of the property will also be drawn.

Estate Agents commit huge amounts of time and money towards marketing properties to prospective purchasers - with the prime aim of encouraging them to view the property.

We will discuss with you the most convenient times of the day & week to present your property and do our utmost work within these guideline when arranging viewings. Many considerations need to be made, including your normal weekly patterns, parking availability and traffic levels, children and pets, light levels and garden aspects.

We are available to conduct viewings with or without you. The choice is yours.

Any offer received will be put forward to you verbally at the first available opportunity, and in writing within twenty-four hours. You will need to make a response to any offer. If the initial offer is rejected and the purchaser decides to increase their offer, the process will simply be repeated.

We will make all best endeavours to qualify purchasers in advance of any viewings - but at the very latest, at offer time. By "qualify" we mean that we will formally check their status and ability to proceed with any offer they make.

In order for us to do this, we will ask for contact details of their broker or mortgage lender, and any estate agent dealing with their current property sale.

You will need to instruct a solicitor/conveyancer to act for you in the sale. It is only when this information has been provided and we have contacted the necessary parties for verification of your purchasers' situation that we will suggest whether it would be pertinent to stop showing your property to other prospective purchasers.

It is at this stage that we will try to make you aware of any chain implications and the likely timescale of any agreed transaction. Due to the nature of the buying process, it is important to note and understand that any information provided by us concerning the transaction chain is not guaranteed and could change at any time. However, regular liaison will be made with legal parties acting on both your and your buyer’s behalf to ensure we can keep you abreast of progress on a timely basis.

Sales progression or otherwise known as "deal chasing" is the real work that any good agent undertakes, however some agents leave this important service for others to do for them.

Holding a sale together up and down the chain can sometimes be straight forward and other times not so easy and needs constantly pushing to keep things progressing.

All Avenue agents are trained to be proactive, constantly "chasing" all parties concerned, resolving any issues that can often result in the chain breaking. They will check that a mortgage offer is in place or a valuation has been undertaken and ensure that good communication is kept to so that you are aware at all times of the progress. Your personal agent will actively work on your sale and will contact you at least once a week.

Once you have accepted an offer the legal process starts to arrange for contracts to be drawn up and agreed, to confirm payment is made for your property, and that legal title is properly transferred to your buyer.

To support these activities you (and your buyer) will need to instruct a solicitor or conveyancer to do this work on your behalf.

The choice of who will act for you is entirely at your discretion but to help you with this, we promote a range of different and very competitive conveyancing options. Please contact us for further information.

In summary, the overall legal process to exchange and complete contracts with your buyer generally takes the following steps:

1. Terms are agreed between Seller and Buyer and both parties instruct their conveyancer to work for them.
2. The Seller’s conveyancer obtains the Seller’s title deed and prepares the draft Contract for the Buyer’s conveyancer to approve
3. The Seller’s conveyancer send to the Buyers conveyancer the draft Contract together with rest of the documentation needed to form the overall contractual package.
4. The Buyer’s conveyancer reviews the detailed terms of the Contract, does the Searches and reviews the results, confirms that there is a Mortgage Offer in place, and also checks the readiness of any dependent sale (in the same chain) to proceed.
5. Contracts are then signed and exchanged at which time a Completion Date is agreed between both parties.
6. The Transfer Deed is prepared by the Buyer’s conveyancer and approved by the Seller’s conveyancer, and then signed in readiness for the Completion Date.
7. The Buyer’s conveyancer obtains the funds for the purchase from the Buyer – either directly, or through the sale of his/her previous property – and the lender (if there is a Mortgage)
8. On the Completion Date the Buyer’s conveyancer sends the required funds to the Seller’s conveyancer (on behalf of the Seller). When receipt of these funds is confirmed by the Sellers conveyancer, the purchase is deemed compete and the Buyer can take legal occupation.
9. The Buyer’s conveyancer pays any Stamp Duty due, and registers the Buyer as the new owner of the property at the Land Registry

Our advice: The time it takes to progress through this stage is dependent on various factors – but the entire process could take at least 6-8 weeks. However, to speed up the process from your end, we recommend you instruct legal representation prior to finding a buyer as there are various things they can do well in advance and hence save time later. This includes calling for your title deeds office copy entries and various other documents – all of which can take some time to get hold of. It’s worth completing various documents in advance – such as the “Sellers Property Information Form” and “Fixture Fittings and Contents” declaration – as these will also help speed up things later.

In parallel to the legal process, one or more surveys may be commissioned on your property. If the Buyer requires a Mortgage their lender will make arrangements for a very basic survey (known as a Valuation) to provide assurances that it is worth the price being offered for it. In addition to this, the Buyer may also commission a more comprehensive survey – which will assess in more detail the condition of the property and make appropriate recommendations.

1. A freshly painted front door is a good place to start.
2. You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. A confident buyer sweeps into a room.
3. Keep things tidy! A messy property will leave a bad impression and may lead to a property being discounted from a buyer’s final choice.
4. In winter, have lights on during the day time. They can add enchantment... or disenchantment, if light bulbs are missing. Now there’s a big difference between getting a feel of a place and having to feel your way around, which is why lighting in a room is important.
5. In summer, natural light can liven a place up and give a feeling of freshness and cleanliness. So, draw back those curtains and open those windows. If you don’t have curtains and it’s still dark, check your windows; they may be in need of a good clean there’s always a first time!
6. Air in, damp smells out; make use of ‘plug-ins’ or scented candles. In vacant properties, where possible leave some furniture behind to give the place a lived-in feeling. If a buyer sits down in a property, it's likely they feel at home, possibly even thinking of putting in an offer. For this reason, make sure there’s space round sofas and armchairs so viewers don’t have to step over coffee tables and magazines to get to them.
7. Peeling paint on a window, or a garden gate hanging off its hinges suggests that work needs to be done on the property. This could be used to re-negotiate the price, so make sure everything is in order.
8. If you have a garden, check outside the house is as neat and tidy as the inside. In winter, if you have a fireplace, have a fire blazing. Hearths can move hearts. To a nervous first-time buyer, a damp stain caused by a minor past leakage suggests an impending flood - get it fixed.
9. Be flexible with viewings we accompany all applicants except by arrangement so a set of keys gives us the opportunity to bring as many people as possible or arrange open days