There are many different reasons why people need to sell their property.

Usually, it is to move up the housing ladder to a larger property to cater for a growing family, it could be a job move or family reasons such as death, divorce or separation or it could simply be a change of lifestyle in another part of the country.

The first thing you need to know is to determine the property's right value.

What price to ask

If you wish to find a buyer yourself, you must first decide what price you want to ask for the property. Many estate agents do free valuations so it is always possible to arrange for two or more local estate agents to provide this information. If you want a formal valuation, you could arrange for an estate agent to provide this but you would have to pay a fee.

In addition, you can find out about the cost of houses locally by looking at local papers, estate agents’ windows and similar houses in the area.

One of these property brokers may help you to evaluate your property:

• estate agents
• lawyers
• surveyors
• other property professionals

Many estate agents offer a variety of client services including accompanied viewings. However, most people prefer to show people around their own homes because they feel they know them better than the agent    

Advertising the house

You should first of all find out how much the local papers charge for house advertisements and then draft the advertisement on the basis of how much you want to spend. You could use existing advertisements as a guide to the format and wording. It is also possible to advertise very cheaply in shop windows. It is advisable for you not to give the address but to provide a telephone number instead.

Finally you could consider drawing up details of the house in a similar way to that of an estate agent, for example, giving details of room sizes, community charge/council tax, local facilities and fixtures and fittings. These details can then be given to potential buyers, either before they call, or at the time they view. You could also consider advertising the property on the internet.

Before deciding on a price, you may wish to consider:

• doing any repairs or decorating if this would make it easier to sell the house
• arranging for a survey if you think there are any major problems that might affect the value of the house, for example, a roof in a bad state of repair.