Selling Property

Where to start

Prepare your property

Freshen up paintwork in neutral colours. A smart front door gives a good impression. Many sales are lost in the first two minutes so remove bikes,
wellies and coats from the front door area De-clutter and store excess furniture, clothes, kitchen gadgets and junk off site. De-personalise by removing family photographs, ornaments and personal items. Clear work tops, and clean the kitchen and bathroom. Mirrors make rooms look more spacious. Clean the windows. Check the lighting - use low level lighting even in daylight. Fresh flowers and fresh coffee are a good idea. Cut and edge the grass and remove dead flowers and weeds.

Pre sale valuation

Our Property advisors will provide a pre sale valuation free of charge and without obligation. If you wish to proceed you will receive “house doctor” tips, an overview of the market, advice on whether to buy or sell first and the
do’s & don’ts of successful selling.

The BudgetPlan

Unique to Neilsons, this is a comprehensive summary of the all financial aspects of your transaction with no hidden extras. This lets you know what the fees and outlays will be. If you are also purchasing it shows what you can afford to pay for a new property and the size of mortgage to make it all
stack up.

Maximum Exposure… Minimum Expense

Marketing your property

Neilsons will provide maximum exposure on the market at minimum expense. 91% of properties are sold through the Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre (ESPC). Neilsons are the second largest advertiser of properties in the ESPC and the ESPC marketing fee is £240.

Your property is advertised on the ESPC Homepages, on www.espc.com (the
most popular property website in Scotland) and here, on our Property pages.

Neilsons are founder members of the Edinburgh & Lothians Property Guide in
the Scotsman and Evening News which has a circulation of over 120,000. This
is a partnership between Scotsman Publications and Neilsons along with five of the other top Edinburgh Solicitor firms, and has been enormously successful.

We can offer advertisement in these publications for a one off payment of only £125 plus vat. Note that Estate Agents are not permitted to advertise in the ESPC nor in the Edinburgh & Lothians Property Guide.

Your Property also appears on our huge PowerPoint projector screens and in the windows of our busy high profile Offices in the City Centre, Corstorphine and South Queensferry.

Offers Over or Fixed Price

In a buoyant market, almost all properties are advertised on an “offers over basis” to try to attract the best possible price. A Fixed Price property will normally sell quicker but this will set a ceiling on the price you can achieve and eliminates any chance of the unexpected windfall profit that a hot market can bring. We will guide you on the best strategy for your property.

Viewings

The traditional viewing times are Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons. Outwith these times appointments can be made through our Property Department. If the times are inconvenient we can arrange to handle the viewing on your behalf.

Before your first viewing, go through your property and rehearse the points you will bring out about each room. On your tour, start and end in the best room. Where possible, open the room door for the viewers and allow them to walk in. You should the stand in the doorway. If you all go in the room it will feel smaller and darker. Never walk in to a room and stand at the window. Never discuss price direct with a viewer. We will tell you how to reply if asked about price.

Closing Dates

When we have received sufficient notes of interest we will fix a closing date. You are not obliged to accept the highest or any offer at the closing date and have the option to continue marketing or change to a fixed price structure. All offers are then submitted and normally the highest offer is accepted.

How Neilsons can help you

Free initial Interview

At this meeting we tell you all the do’s & don’ts; the difference between offers over & fixed price and the tactics & tips you need.

You need to know how it all stacks up and if you can afford to proceed, so we give you a BudgetPlan.

BudgetPlan

Available only from Neilsons this comprehensive summary shows you all your costs including: fees, outlays, Insurances and monthly mortgage costs. It also calculates your maximum mortgage and what you can afford to offer for any property.

What to offer

Most Offers are submitted “Subject to survey” so you need an experienced Professional to guide you in what to offer, otherwise you could end up paying too much or offer too little and not get the property.

Neilsons specialise in property sales and purchases - we are the second largest advertiser of properties in the ESPC and all of our Property Advisors, Solicitors and Consultants are experienced experts in their field.

ESPC Link up

Our computers are connected to the ESPC so we can show you past prices for any property in any street, or the going rate for any type of property in a particular area.

Mortgage Advice

Our computers are updated daily with all mortgage products. We can show you the cheapest available mortgage in any class of mortgage you like – even showing the true cost of each product over a number of years. If you’ve got your mortgage sorted out that’s fine – we can show you how it compares with all the others so you can be sure you’re getting the best deal!

Property to sell?

No problem. We will guide you on selling or buying first; show you an ESPC price comparison and our Property Manager will undertake a FREE PRE-SALE VALUATION.