Savvy homeowners speed up house sales by plugging into the internet

Houses can be sold a month quicker via the internet, claim web-savvy homeowners

Despite the increasing dominance of the internet in organising and running people's lives, the majority (85%) of homeowners still favour the traditional method of hiring estate agents to sell their homes.

But research by Alliance and Leicester Mortgages movingimproving indexhas highlighted claims by homeowners that using DIY methods to sell a house can be up to a month quicker.

It is claimed homemade 'For Sale' signs and internet websites are selling homes on average in less than two months - compared to more than three months using traditional sales processes.

Despite this, more than four out of five (85%) people favour using estate agents to sell their homes, while 17 per cent of people hedge their bets by using more than one agent.

But by using DIY methods, it is claimed they could save time and money.

The most popular DIY methods people use when selling their homes include: Via the internet using DIY sale websites (8%), Word of mouth (8%), Advertising in their local newspaper (5%), A DIY 'For Sale' sign (4%), Auction websites including eBay (approximately 1%).

Stephen Leonard, Director of Mortgages at Alliance and Leicester says:Using an estate agent to sell your home is generally viewed as part and parcel of the moving process with many homeowners continuing to use them to sell their home.

But the research suggests that DIY methods such as using the internet to sell a home are becoming more popular." Not only do we rely on estate agents to sell our homes, but also to value our property too.

More than half (55%) of people solely use estate agents to value their property, while four per cent bypass them altogether and value their property themselves.

The rest use a variety of methods, with nearly one in four (22%) looking at similar properties for sale in their area before making their own 'guesstimate' and one in ten (9%) going online and using websites like the Land Registry to see how much their house would be worth.

The research also suggests that women (46%) are more likely than men (43%) to favour using DIY methods to value their home.

Stephen Leonard continues:"It is very interesting to discover that more than half of house sellers rely on one estate agent alone to put a value on their home.

This seems rather surprising given that when making other significant purchases, people will shop around and carefully look at what's on offer to get the best bargain.

Similarly, in order to get a realistic valuation for their property, homeowners should be prepared to hunt around to ensure they get an accurate figure.".

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