How to Sell Up and Get Out of the UK Fast

It seems that inflation is no longer just a discussion topic on financial forums or something driving increasing numbers of international asset managers away from UK based investments, it’s a dawning reality!  The quantitative easing policy is driving the pound’s value ever lower and ever closer to parity with the euro – (to the point at which I’m unsure I’ll be able to afford to go on the Eurostar for a weekend to Paris in December as planned!)

This is probably going to prove to be the final straw for many Britons who are utterly sick of the state their nation’s economy is in, sick of the fact that the only decision politicians now have to make is whether it’s better to slash spending, hike taxes or both, and sick of the impending grey skies of winter to just compound what is already an incredibly depressing state of affairs in the UK.

With the news today that immigrant squatter camps in Calais are being cleared with many of the inhabitants dead set on reaching the UK, us resident Brits often scratch our heads and wonder just what lies these poor people have heard about this ‘great’ Britain of ours to make them want to come here!  So anyway, that aside, I have decided to produce a report just for you if you want to know how to sell up and get out of the UK fast.

According to the Economist (and they are rarely wrong when it comes to the British property market): “In Britain house prices remain 170% higher than they were in 1997, but average earnings have risen by only 55% in the same period.”  Without me needing to elucidate further I think there is sufficient evidence written there that property prices in the UK have yet further to fall.  But for someone hell bent on escape overseas that’s not helpful data.  What is helpful is the fact that everyone is still trying to talk up the market – convince us that there is life left in it.  What is also helpful is that apparently so many people are scared of selling – they fear losing money and/or being unable to find somewhere to move to and/or of getting another mortgage themselves – that there is supposedly a lack of property on the market.  So you need to take this information and use it to your advantage.

It is possible to sell property – you just have to sell it at the right price and market it incredibly well.  And here are ways you can do that: -

Selling Your House Successfully Through an Estate Agent

Hmmm, I’m reluctant to recommend this method as estate agents still charge too much and still do little for their money IMHO.  However, I am willing to suspend my disbelief momentarily and tell you that apparently you can find good agents who will work hard for you.  So, you need to find a good agent! 

This means: -
a) Looking at the ‘For Sale’ signs that are up and about in your town or locality
b) And seeing which turn to ‘Sold’ the most frequently and in the shortest time
You then need to go and see the agents that appear to be shifting property in your location and speak to them.  Tell them about your home, explain you want it sold quickly so that you can make it out of the UK and into your sunny new life abroad as soon as possible.  You then need to talk about a realistic price and marketing your property to the masses.  You may have in your mind the ideal value for your home – your estate agent may agree, or may strongly disagree in a negative direction.  This may be your sticking point.  You see, if you do want to sell in a hurry you need to be realistic about the price you can sell in a hurry for!

Those in the market are looking for bargains – if your home is a bargain it will sell.  As the meerkat says it’s ‘simples.’

The second aspect of your discussion has to be marketing your property – where will it be seen nationally?  It needs to be online, it needs to be in newspapers, it needs to be seen to be noticed to be bought.  If you can come to a good arrangement with a traditional estate agent on all of these points and you’re happy to sit back and let them get on with it whilst you pack up ready to ship out, all well and good.  However, if you want to be a bit more proactive in selling your property in the UK there are possibly better options available to you such as: -

Selling Your Property in the UK Yourself

There are sites on the Internet that can guide you through the process of everything from accurately measuring your property to actively marketing it – and by doing it all yourself, getting the HIP, taking the pictures, writing the description, showing people round and negotiating a sale price, you will save yourself a significant sum of money.  However, you need to be very active, very savvy and work very hard to get your property seen in as many places as a traditional estate agent can get it seen – so I’ve got a better idea for you.

Use An Online Agent to Shift Your British Property!

Online estate agents are far less slippery, a lot less costly and often a million times more dynamic and successful than an offline/traditional/shiny suit wearing estate agent…and there are plenty to choose from.  They offer you an array of pick and mix type services and here’s just a suggestion of how you can make an online agent work best for you.

You need to pick one that is well established, you need to pick one that markets your property widely and gets it seen on the most popular online property search sits such as RightMove, and you may well want one that you can customise in terms of the services offered to you.  Some such as HouseNetworks.co.uk give you a range of add-ons from a ‘For Sale’ sign (yes indeed!) to a HIP – and they offer you different payment plans too.  The advantages of these types of sites and services are that they guide you through what you need to do such as writing the description of your home so that it is accurate but also appealing, but they also do some of the harder work for you such as getting your property out and about and seen all over the Internet.

You will have to show people around your property and negotiate the sale price, but the online agent will a) charge you far less than an offline one usually and b) be far less creepy!

Final Top Tips for Getting Your Property Shifted

If you’re not comfortable doing it yourself or even going online, haggle hard with an offline agent on your high street – after all for them surely something is better than nothing!

If you do end up showing people around your property be prepared for some tyre kickers and nasty comments – people can be ignorant and horrible and forget to keep their opinions to themselves until they are out of ear shot!!

If you do have to negotiate yourself and you’re a weak negotiator, bring in a hard haggling friend to help.

Don’t despair if a deal is on the table and it falls through, just use it to make you even more determined to escape the nation where gazumping and gazundering are possible and where banks are playing hardball now that their balance sheets are so sickly looking.

Stay on the ball, chase up the would-be buyer or the agent yourself after a viewing to make sure that the interested party was actually interested and to see if you can do anything to make them even more interested.

And finally, despite the fact that selling a property can be hard work and even emotionally draining, know that you’re doing it for the right reason – so that you can be one major step closer to living your dream life abroad.