APPOINTING AN AUCTIONEER (step 1)

The first thing you will need to do is contact an Auctioneer and ask for a valuation. Here at Sherry FitzGerald Davitt and Davitt we offer a FREE VALUATION service for Thinking of Selling. One of our fully trained Auctioneers will visit you at your property at a mutually convenient time to discuss the sale. At the time of visiting our Auctioneer will bring an information pack with full information on Sherry FitzGerald Davitt and Davitt, including our rates, advertising fees and advice on how to prepare your home for sale.

At this point it is always worth discussing any decorating or minor repairs you may be thinking of undertaking prior to your house going on the market. Your Auctioneer will be happy to discuss this with you and offer suggestions; it may be that your property is delayed for a week or two, while you finish the work, in order that your home is shown at its best.

You may well have asked a number of Auctioneers to value your property for sale. The next step is for you to decide the right Auctioneer for you. This may not be based solely on the fees charged, but who you feel comfortable with and you think will do a good job for you.

In the meantime visit their websites and maybe their offices to see how properties are displayed, discuss advertising and what will be best for your property, what will you get for your money? If you have an unusual property or a large period home, perhaps you may want to consider selling it by Public Auction (see our section here), again this can be discussed with the Auctioneer at the time of their visit.

When you have decided, then contact that Auctioneer and advise them that you want them to act for you. At this stage, or soon after, you will need to advise your Auctioneer of your Solicitor details.

If appointed Sherry FitzGerald Davitt & Davitt will then make arrangements to re-visit your property to take measurements and photos. At this point you should agree with them features of the property you want included – maybe a newly fitted kitchen or bathroom, south west facing secluded garden, garage,additional reception rooms, is it close to Town/Village amenities such as schools, shops, church….these will all be good selling points.

Consider also what you want included in the sale of your property. Carpets, curtains, light fittings and fixtures would normally be included, however, other items such as kitchen appliances (especially oven & hob in a fitted kitchen) would be considered an advantage. In some cases all furniture will be included if, for example, it has previously been an investment property that has been rented.

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CONTACTING A SOLICITOR (STEP2)

How do I go about getting a Solicitor?
You may already have dealt with a Solicitor for other legal matters, if you were happy with them, contact them again. Here at Sherry FitzGerald Davitt & Davitt we deal with Solicitors on a daily basis and can recommend a firm to you. We have compiled a list of the Solicitors in Mullingar –

As soon as we have a buyer for your property, we will take their deposit and make the property Sale Agreed. We will then contact both your Solicitor to advise them to draw up contracts and inform him/her of the details of the Purchaser’s Solicitor. We will also contact the Purchaser’s Solicitor to advise them of the property his/her Client is buying.

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SELLING YOUR PROPERTY – Finding the right buyer (Step 3)

HOW LONG WILL IT BE BEFORE YOU START SELLING MY HOUSE?

Straight-away! Our Auctioneer will confirm your instruction in writing together with fees agreed and advertising suggested.

S/he will then compile the brochure, based on all the information you have agreed. Once the brochure is complete s/he will arrange for you to see a draft of the brochure to make any changes.

Once this is done, the property will become available and be advertised in both our Mullingar and Castlepollard offices, it will also be advertised on our own website (www.davittanddavitt.ie) and the Sherry FitzGerald website (www.sherryfitz.ie). This instantly means that your property is available to view, not only in our own 105 offices countrywide, but worldwide via the Internet.

In the meantime our Customer Service representative will be checking the database of customers looking for property and will be emailing, posting or telephoning them details of your home ‘just on the market’.

We collate the information for our database from a range of sources from people who walk in the door enquiring after a particular property type, price range or location, to our colleagues in one of Sherry FitzGerald’s 105 offices, through to people emailing/telephoning our office daily.

WHAT DO I DO ABOUT PEOPLE VIEWING MY HOUSE?

Here at Sherry FitzGerald Davitt and Davitt we always accompany potential buyers on a viewing and will contact you 24 hours in advance to advise you of the visit.

When you first appoint an Auctioneer, if you have particular preferences about viewing times, let them know. It may be that you and your family do not want viewings after 6pm in the evenings, perhaps you work nights every few weeks and do not want visitors before say, 4pm.

WHAT IF THERE IS NO-ONE LIVING IN THE PROPERTY?

Perhaps the property you have was an investment and is now unoccupied, or you have moved and no longer live in the house for sale.

It is standard practice in this instance to provide us with a key to carry out viewings. We will always keep you informed of viewings taking place and feedback from the visits.

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SIGNING THE CONTRACTS (Step 4)

Your Solicitor will inform you when contracts are ready to be signed, this will normally be around 4-6 weeks after your property is Sale Agreed. At this stage you will agree a date to close. The close date is the agreed day that you will move out of your property, hand the keys to your Solicitor or to us, and when the buyer will take possession.

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CLOSE (step 5)

So you and the new buyer have signed the contracts, they are back with your Solicitor and the agreed closing date is here. This is normally 1-2 weeks after signing of contracts. You will be in the process of moving out.

We find that 12.00 midday is normally a good cut-off time, to allow you to leave, hand over the keys to your Solicitor or to us and for the new buyer to collect the keys and move in. It is also standard practice for a closing date to take place on a weekday, especially while banks and utility companies are open.

Don’t forget to take a final reading of your gas/electricity meters and arrange to have your phone disconnected or the line transferred to your new home.

WHEN DO I PAY FOR YOUR SERVICES?

Here at Sherry FitzGerald Davitt & Davitt, we will agree our fee and your advertising spend upfront.

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