1. HIP - If you haven't already got one, legally you should order a HIP (Home Information Pack) before marketing your property or face a £250 fine. For more info please see our HIP advice. (We recommend: http://www.myhiphome.co.uk/)
2. PHOTOS - You can take photos of your home yourself with a digital camera and upload them. You can do this when you add details about your home, or come back and add and amend this later. You may decide to pay someone else to take photos/virtual tours etc for you. (Click here for more info and our special recommended partner offer).
3. FLOOR PLANS - You may already have a floor plan that you can use from when you bought the property, or from when you had a planning application submitted. In which case you can upload this document to your home profile. If you don't have a floorplan, there are a few options:
4. LEASE (FOR LEASEHOLD PROPERTIES) - Find out the details of the lease if you own a leasehold property. To start with you will need to know how long the lease has left and how much the service charge and ground rent is.
5. BOARDS - Do you want a sales board outside your home to increase awareness? They are proven to help with with marketing, you can design and print your board and have it put up outside your home using our recommended service for around £36. (Coming soon to Tepilo - please email hello@tepilo.com for more information).
6. VIEWINGS - Do you want to do the viewing yourself- see our viewing advice/safety guidelines - or do you have a friend or relative who could do them for you. Alternatively you can pay to use a key holding company who will do the viewings for you. (Visit www.keyholding.com or email: services@keyholding.co.uk for more info).
7. PUT YOUR HOME ON TEPILO.COM - Load your details onto tepilo. We've tried to make the process as simple as possible.
8. SOLICITORS - Contact your solicitor and let them know you would like to get paperwork in order in preparation for a buyer. If you do not have a solicitor I would suggest you ask family/friends for a recommendation. This is one area I think it is a bit unwise to be money driven.
9. PAPERWORK - Your solicitor should send you a fixtures and fittings form and a preliminary enquiries form to fill in. I would suggest you get these filled in and sent back as soon as you can, as there may be extra paperwork that needs hunting down i.e. planning permissions, building regulation approval or details of your lease.
10. NEGOTIATION - When a potential purchaser contacts you, we would recommend that you negotiate with them through the site and do not give out more personal details than you have to, i.e. when you are away on holiday, where you work, whether you live alone, or your personal email address.
11. SALE AGREED - Once you have agreed a sale figure you will need to agree exchange and completion dates and swap solicitors details. You then need to instruct your own solicitor giving them all the details of the buyer and sale.
12. CHECK - Ask your solicitor to contact the purchasers solicitor and check they have been instructed and that everyone is in agreement as to dates and details of the sale.
13. MORTGAGE/SURVEY - If a mortgage is required, check when it is booked in to be carried out. It is at this point that the purchaser will have had to part with some money and so you can be a little bit more confident that the sale should go through.
14. ACCESS - You may well need to be around to let valuers/surveyors into the property.
15. CHASE - Keep chasing your solicitor, asking them to check that the buyer's solicitor has all they require and has put any searches in place.
16. MORTGAGE OFFER - Check with the buyer as to when their mortgage offer will be through.
17. EXCHANGE - Once both sets of solicitors are happy that all paperwork is in order, a deposit is being held and that the mortgage offer is agreed, your solicitors can exhange contracts. This is done by a phone call between them.
18. POST EXCHANGE - Between exchange and completion you will need to arrange removals, contact your energy suppliers and arrange for post to be forwarded.
19. COMPLETION - You move out of the property. The monies are sent to your solicitor who will pay any charges against the property i.e. your mortgage and generally their fees. Any remaining monies will either be used to buy your next home or sent to you directly.
