‘I saved £16,000 selling my three-bed’: The property owners shunning estate agents

When planning to sell a home, most people’s first port of call would be an estate agent. However, it seems more homeowners are now looking beyond estate agents and exploring alternatives ways to sell their homes, according to property experts. When selling with an estate agent, they will arrange viewings, verify a buyer’s financial position, monitor the progress of related transactions within a chain and help to navigate issues that arise during the conveyancing process Shorts But this comes at a cost – this is generally between between 1 and 3 per cent of the sale price plus VAT. This means for an average priced home of around £290,000 – you are likely to shell out thousands of pounds before the likes of removal costs and fees for conveyancers – lawyers that transfer the ownership of a home – are taken into account. So, what are the alternatives, and what are the risks? Modern Method of Auction When people think of an auction, they probably tend to imagine a selling process which takes place at an auction house, at a set time, with the winning bidder signing a contract and paying an immediate deposit to secure the property. However, for property, experts highlight a separate type of auction – launched in 2009, known as modern method of auction (MMA). Although it makes up a small portion of the market, the UK’s largest residential property auctioneer, iamsold, facilitated the sale of more than £1bn worth of property last year alone. Phil Spencer, property expert and founder of the property advice website Move iQ said MMA was “much like eBay”, in that it sees houses advertised over an extended period – typically 30 days or so – and prospective buyers can place a bid at any point in that time. Rather than the seller paying the auctioneer’s fee, as seen in a traditional auction, in MMA it’s the winning bidder who pays a reservation fee to lock in their purchase. Spencer added: “Once the electronic gavel falls, both sides are committed to the transaction and pulling out will incur a cost. “In return, the buyer gets the certainty that they won’t be gazumped and a more relaxed timeframe – typically 56 working days as opposed to the 20 that’s the norm following a traditional auction – in which to secure a mortgage and complete their purchase.” However, there are some downsides. As the buyer pays the auctioneer’s fee, this money will come out of the buyer’s budget and therefore squeeze the amount they can afford to pay for your home. Typical fees tend to be around 4.5 per cent of the purchase price, although different auction providers have different fee structures and minimum charges. There may also be additional charges. For example, some auctioneers charge the winning bidder separately for the buyer information pack, which can cost in the region of £300 to £400, while others include this within their fee structure. In terms of conveyancing this officially starts once a buyer wins the auction but buyers should do as much due diligence as they can before bidding, according to Spencer. He said: “The buyer information pack will typically contain important legal information such as title documents and searches, which the buyer and their conveyancer can review in advance.“If a survey subsequently uncovers a serious structural problem, or the conveyancer discovers an unacceptable legal issue with the title or lease, the buyer can decide not to proceed.” Pulling out at this stage may mean the buyer loses their reservation fee, but exactly what happens will depend on the terms of the individual reservation agreement. “That’s why it’s especially important to do your homework before bidding. Buyers should read the legal pack carefully and ideally have their conveyancer review anything they are concerned about before bidding,” Spencer added. Facebook Marketplace Traditionally used for selling secondhand furniture and cars, Facebook Marketplace seems an unusual arena to buy a home. But Robin Edwards, a buying agent at Curetons Property Finders, says he is seeing it used on some occasions – especially for smaller or more unusual properties. However, given the popular social media site was never built primarily as a property platform, listing your home comes with many risks. A spokesperson for Moving Compared, a comparison site for conveyancers, surveyors and removal companies said: “Selling through Facebook Marketplace means the seller has to take on much more of the process themselves, from handling enquiries and viewings to negotiating offers and checking that a prospective buyer is genuinely in a position to proceed. If Facebook Marketplace is the starting point for the sale, being diligent about the legal process becomes particularly important. A property listing on Facebook Marketplace “Both sides should have conveyancers in place early, with the appropriate identity, financial and property checks completed before the transaction progresses,” Moving Compared added. Experts also warned that selling online may mean you don’t get the pricing right, which could negate any savings you make. Edwards pointed out although a seller may save a couple of thousand pounds in fees it can mean very little if you end up selling your home for £25,000 less than you could have with the right strategy. Self-listing Some people may choose to self-list and place their home for sale online with the likes of PurpleBricks and Yopa, for a smaller fee than with traditional estate agents. You pay a fixed fee, usually starting around £999 and rising to close to £2,000 for premium packages that include hosted viewings. This works out far cheaper on a higher-value home. However, there are some websites with even lower fees. On companies like Quicklister fees start from £99. Edward Grant, managing director at Quicklister, said: “Quicklister and the like are not likely to ‘take over’ from high-street agents, as there will always be a large portion of the market who prefer having their ‘hand held’ throughout the process and prefer to avoid any direct buyer contact. “However, there is clearly a market segment more suited to our ‘lighter’ agency proposition and the benefits that brings in terms of cost and transaction efficiency.” Hanna Durell described having a “frustrating” experience with her estate agents Hanna Durell, 32 from Jersey, sold her three-bedroom detached home on property platform Hiizzy and says she saved more than £16,000 in estate agents fees alone. “My brother and I inherited some money and bought the house together. We lived there for several years, but as our lives changed – I started a family and my brother got engaged and planned to start his own – we decided it was the right time to sell and divide the equity,” she explained. The siblings first put the house up for sale with an estate agents but described the experience as “frustrating”. Hanna said: “We first instructed a local estate agent who valued the property at £715,000. Unfortunately, the experience wasn’t what we’d hoped for. “The online listing contained incorrect information, there was confusion over the dates of an open viewing and communication wasn’t particularly good. During the year they marketed the property, we held three open viewings, and not a single person attended any of them.” In October 2025, Hanna then put the house up on Hiizzy for £715,000 and sold it in July 2026 for £690,000. She said: “Signing up was free, and we paid the standard monthly fee of £179, as soon as our listing was live. After six months, it cost us nothing and we could have paused or cancelled at any time. Because the estate agent’s commission would have been 2.5 per cent we saved around £16,000 in their fees alone” Hanna said she would absolutely self-list again not just because it saved her thousands alone but because she felt completely involved and informed from the moment she create the listing to completion. “I wasn’t chasing updates or wondering what was going on behind the scenes. I was the one making it happen, which gave me confidence, clarity and connection at every stage. I felt really proud of myself, and I enjoyed the whole process,” she added. Raffle Some people look to “sell” their property in an online raffle or prize draw – selling multiple tickets and then picking a winner. Though this a valid method if done properly, you need to be careful to ensure you follow certain rules and regulations, such as gambling laws. According to Jason Dale, managing director of online competitions portal Loquax, this method is not for the faint-hearted: “To raffle a house you need to become an estate agent, a social media influencer, a salesperson, an accountant and 101 other roles in what is a 24/7 pretty thankless job. You also need to convince the public that you’re genuine – which is difficult. If you do this, you’ll also competing against platforms like Omaze, BOTB, Elite Competitions and 7 Days who all guarantee winners and who have bigger advertising budgets. “People tend to resort to this method because their property isn’t shifting on the open market, or they assume that it’s an easy process,” he said.