Saying goodbye to your home and selling it onto someone else can be a tricky and emotional process. (Of course, maybe you never liked the place, or it was just a buy-to-rent property that you never actually lived in. In which case, it’s probably not going to be that sad an experience!) This is, perhaps, why so many people fall over at several hurdles when it comes to navigating the sale.

You’ve not only got to worry about selling the house itself: you’ve also got to worry about finding a new place for yourself. And if you don’t go about this process in the right way – which is to say an efficient way – then you could be setting yourself up for a bunch of very expensive mistakes.

If you don’t nail this process, then you’re going to be in for a lot of financial stress. It’s stress you can avoid by doing things the right way!

Doing it right: selling your home before you buy

Before you start searching passionately for new homes, you need to ensure that you’ve got a buyer secured for your current place. You may think that this sounds very counter-productive. After all, don’t you need to make sure you’ve got the right property to move to before you start selling your home?

Actually, the important thing is that you have the money you need before you start looking for a new home – and you’re only going to get that money secured for you if you find the right buyer! If you’re not in a position to buy when you find the house you want, then you’re just going to end up disappointed when someone who is in a position to buy comes along and takes the place from under your feet.

Doing it wrong: not reviewing your finances or researching the market

Seems like an obvious enough step, right? Who would possibly start selling off their home without getting a good understanding of the situation of both their own finances and the state of the housing market? Actually, you’d be pretty surprised how many people neglect to do either properly.

Inadequate research of the market is probably the most common mistake of the two. This is because sellers are often working with agents or some other professional during the process, and so they assume that anything important they need to know in this area is going to be considered by those professionals. But don’t forget that these people have their own interests that won’t always align with yours. Don’t be afraid to get out your calculator and do your own research.

Doing it right: being realistic

The best thing you can do is get the most accurate pricing possible for your home. You don’t want to get just one valuation that gives you a seven-figure estimate for your home and then find out some months down the line that the property actually goes for somewhere in the low six-figures. Smart sellers will try to be as objective and strategic as possible, and get at least three professionals to place a value on the property. This is extremely important: going forward, you want as accurate a projection of your future finances as possible.

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