Buying and selling property is never an easy process (despite what some agents might have you believe) and 2019  is set to throw up many additional challenges. When most people think about selling their home, the focus is usually on the start of the process, selecting the right agent to market the property, making sure your home is presentable, clean and looking the part for those all-important viewers, negotiating a price and finally accepting an offer!

But that is far from the end of the story……..

The dreaded fall through could be lurking just around the corner.

What’s a fall through? I hear you ask, well, fall through is a term used when an offer to purchase your property doesn’t continue through to completion, meaning the buyer no longer wishes to purchase after they have had an offer accepted and meaning that you have to start back at square one.

In fact a report from independent home buyer ‘Quick Move Now’ reported that the fall through rate in 2018 hit a 10 year high of 30%! That’s an awful lot of disappointed property owners.

A sale can fall through for a number of different reasons, the buyers circumstances could change meaning they are no longer financially able to purchase, something could be revealed in a survey that a buyer wasn’t expecting, putting them off the property and causing the sale to fall through, or, in some cases, the buyer could simply change their mind and walk away. With the uncertainty cast by the ongoing (and seemingly never ending) Brexit set to continue in 2019, the dreaded fall through could be even more of a threat.

It all sounds like doom and gloom.

But don’t despair! There is something you can do to minimize the threat from the Brexit uncertainty that is set to be the headline of 2019, and it’s as simple as this: Pick the right Estate Agent.

Most Agents out there can point a camera at a room, write a half decent description and post the results on Rightmove and any other portal you care to mention, some can even conduct viewings and negotiate an offer (admittedly some fair better at this than others, but that’s another story) But where the best agents are worth their weight in gold is from the moment that an offer is accepted.

In 2019 more than ever, you really, really, really need to pick an Estate Agent with a proven and dedicated sales progression team. It’s simply vital to your chances of reaching completion and keeping your sanity!

A recent report from View My Chain suggests that 50% of all sales are now involved in a chain, that’s up from 40% year on year. A chain means that the people buying your property have sold their own property in order to purchase, it can also mean that the owners of the property you are purchasing are purchasing a property to move to, and so on and so on, in fact, some chains could conceivably involve 5, 10 or even more individual sales and purchases! That’s a whole lot of transactions, offers, surveys, mortgage applications and conveyancing to keep track of!

That’s where the sales progression team comes in. At Hannells we have dedicated case handlers who progress each sale through from offer to completion, keeping track of not only your buyers but also tracing each step up and down the chain and making sure every link is solid. They are fully trained and have years of experience, meaning not only can they understand and explain information relating to mortgage surveys, the conveyancing process and the many other aspects of the home buying and selling process, they are also able to spot potential problems in the chain at an early stage and liaise with buyers, sellers and solicitors to make sure these problems are resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible, keeping your chain intact and your sale and purchase on track.

So if you are considering selling your home in 2019, make sure you find an agent with a dedicated, experienced and professional sales progression team, it will not only save you money but it should save you time and a whole lot of stress!

To instruct Derby’s best agent to sell your home call in to your local Hannells Branch, or click the link HERE

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