A record number of homes have been sold off-market and for a premium due to the property shortage. A new analysis has shown that throughout 2022 one in 10 homes were sold across Britain without being publicly marketed by an estate agent. 

It is therefore clear that private house sales are more popular than ever. The same research has shown that homes marketed discreetly have achieved a higher proportion of their asking price than their counterparts which were more widely marketed in 2022.

For many years, it was often the case that most private house sales occurred in London, however, we are now seeing around 59% of private house sales occur outside of the capital and we at homebuddy expect this to grow. Hamptons estate agents suggest that this branching out of London and into more affordable areas has been due to a lack of stock, but whatever the reason, today’s technology, such as smartphones, the internet and a website like homebuddy, ensure that selling your home privately has never been easier.

Whilst we at homebuddy appreciate and understand that there will always be a need for estate agents, that doesn’t take away from the fact that some people just want to sell their homes themselves. Some of the reasons for selling your property without an estate agent can often be linked to:

    - Wanting to save on estate agent costs
    - Wanting full control and visibility of the process
    - Wanting privacy – i.e. not wanting your neighbours and friends to know your personal business.

For decades, the trend was to appoint an estate agent to sell your home with those same estate agents showing how busy they were by listing multiple properties, however, as homebuddy is demonstrating, there are more than enough fantastic homes to be acquired at affordable prices, albeit privately.

This was the very reason that homebuddy was created in an attempt to further assist the private house sale market and with our ability to let you list and advertise your own home, taking full control of the process, combined with the services offered by our professional partners (solicitors, mortgage and insurance brokers, removal companies and surveyors), now is the perfect time to list your home, utilising homebuddy and achieve the best price possible.

There is a common misconception that selling privately takes significantly longer than selling through a traditional estate agent, and whilst this may have previously been the position, the power of the internet, social media and platforms such as homebuddy, make it easier than ever. In fact, according to Hamptons Estate Agents, in 2021 the average number of days to sell a home off the market was 43 compared to 91 days on market. Is the shift here to stay? Who knows, but in the meantime, if you are looking to sell, why not take advantage of homebuddy and all its beneficial additional services on offer and take back control in selling your home.