How to sell your house yourself, step by step

Step 1 — Order the EPC

Check the official EPC register first: certificates last ten years and yours may still be valid. If not, book a domestic energy assessor now. The certificate must be commissioned before you advertise and the rating must appear in the listing.

Step 2 — Gather the paperwork

Pull together the title register and plan, guarantees and certificates for work done, building regulations and planning approvals, and — if leasehold — the lease, service charge accounts and managing agent details. Doing this now prevents a three-week stall during conveyancing.

Step 3 — Instruct a conveyancer

Instruct before you have a buyer. Your conveyancer can complete identity checks, obtain title documents and prepare the contract pack while you are still marketing, so the moment an offer lands the pack goes out the same week. Get a written quote covering fees, searches, Land Registry charges and any mortgage redemption fee.

Step 4 — Research the price

Use Land Registry sold prices for your postcode, adjust for house type, size and condition, and cross-check against live listings nearby. Set the price at, or just under, a search-band threshold. Decide in advance the lowest number you will accept — it makes negotiation far easier later.

Step 5 — Prepare the house

• Declutter room by room; aim to remove around a third of what is on show.
• Deep clean, including windows, and neutralise smells.
• Fix the cheap visible defects: dripping taps, cracked tiles, sticking doors, scuffed paint.
• Tidy the front — kerb appeal decides the first photograph and the first impression.
• Make the purpose of every room obvious. A cluttered box room should look like a study, not storage.

Step 6 — Photograph and measure

Shoot in bright, even daylight, in landscape, from a corner of each room at chest height, with lights on and blinds open. Twelve strong photographs beat thirty average ones. Add a floor plan with room dimensions and total floor area — buyers filter on space, and a listing without a plan gets fewer enquiries.

Step 7 — Write the listing

Lead with what makes the property the right answer for a specific buyer: the school catchment, the commute, the garden, the parking, the running costs. Then the factual detail — bedrooms, bathrooms, tenure, council tax band, EPC rating, heating type, parking. Be precise and be honest; overselling costs you at survey stage.

Step 8 — Launch and promote

Go live and push hard in the first fortnight, when a new listing gets the most attention. Share to local groups, tell your network, and put a board up if you can. On HausMart your listing is matched to buyers whose brief already fits, so early interest tends to come from people genuinely able to proceed.

Step 9 — Viewings and offers

Qualify before you book. Run viewings safely and never alone if you can help it. Follow up the next day with a short, low-pressure message asking for honest feedback — it is the fastest way to learn whether your price or your presentation is the problem.

Take offers in writing, ask for proof of funds or a mortgage agreement in principle, and weigh chain position and timescale alongside the number.

Step 10 — Conveyancing to completion

Complete the property forms carefully, answer enquiries the day they arrive, and check in with both conveyancers weekly. Nobody is chasing the chain for you, so a standing Friday phone call is the single most useful habit in a private sale.

At exchange, the deposit is paid and the completion date is fixed. On completion, hand over every set of keys, take final meter readings, and notify your council, utilities and insurer.