Estate agency: the agreement for the sale of a property at a price negotiated directly between the seller and buyer or their agent

This is the most common method of sale and is used by estate agents. The agent finds a buyer, an offer is agreed and each side’s solicitor essentially builds the sale contract from scratch. It is best suited for owner-occupiers and can take up to 8 months to exchange contracts which is the point at which the sale cannot be legally stopped. Agency valuations vary because they appraise the property for all buyer types and the value is only truly assessed by a surveyor, generally for the buyer’s mortgage.

Positive: selling and buying with the aid of professional services such as solicitors and surveyors.

Negative: slow and uncertain, if an investor is involved in a chain it can mean a high chance of a fall-through.

Main consideration: who is most likely to want to buy your property? If it is an owner-occupier, then an estate agent is the favoured best advice. Choose a good estate agent and be proactive with the decision-making.

Modern method or conditional auction: a tender sale as an online auction with a financial commitment from the buyer and a delayed exchange of contracts

This is a tender offered as an online auction, when the auction/tender ends the buyer commits financially by paying the total auction/tender fees and exchanging contracts within a set reservation period. This method gives buyers who require finance time before the exchange of contracts to engage a mortgage company, surveyor and solicitor to advise on the process. It is also called a conditional auction and, as with an auction, ensures a buyer commits. However, there is a delay and some certainty with the contracted reservation period.

Positive: when an owner-occupier-suited property is extremely popular, this method can be effective in choosing the right buyer.

Negative: this method needs to be handled by an ethical auctioneer as there is a danger of aggressively looking for low pre-auction bids.

Main consideration: if a property is of interest to both investors and owner-occupiers then this method can be effective.

The traditional auction, as sold in an auction saleroom: a sale with an immediate and unconditional exchange of contracts, public and transparent, a speedy and certain process

Immediate and unconditional exchange of contracts when the auction ends, a speedy and certain process with a high degree of success if done correctly. Auctioneers set the terms with most using the RICS common auction conditions with the completion set out in the legal pack. The current format is single, online, and timed lots. The bidder commits to buy when the auction ends by paying the 10% deposit and buyers fee and can only engage finance, surveyors and solicitors after the auction and before completion.

Positive: a speedy and certain method of sale.

Negative: It has to be the right property for auction. If competition is low, it can result in a large discount.

Main consideration: who is most likely to be interested in the property? If it is investors solely, make them compete in the competitive auction environment.