Sell my house from abroad

For many people the prospect of selling their house is daunting enough without having to deal with the many added complications that selling a property in the UK while living abroad can bring. There are many reasons why a lot of us may be looking for a second property abroad, emigration, relocation through work, a holiday home, possibly with a view to retiring to a place in the sun later in life. Whatever the reason, the increasing numbers of people moving abroad has led to an increase of properties left behind in the UK having to be sold by vendors who are no longer resident in this country.

This situation can lead to its own very unique set of complications and there are a number of circumstances you could find yourself in.

You may have decided that, because your move was not meant to be long term, you have let your property out with the expectation that it would still be there should you wish to return. While this may seem like a good idea on paper, managing a rental property from abroad is virtually impossible, and finding a suitable management company is as much of a minefield as finding a suitable estate agent, should you decide to sell.

There is also the possibility that the "perfect tenants" you found have not turned out to be so perfect and your immaculately decorated home is now in need of a full refurbishment costing you even more money.

There is also the possibility of the dreaded "void". It could be months before you find a suitable tenant in the first place or there could be significant breaks between tenants. Either way you will be left with the burden of paying costly mortgage and insurance payments.

If renting your home is not for you then the obvious answer is to sell your property via an estate agent. Again this may not be as simple as it sounds. The first problem is finding a reputable estate agent who is going to give you a fair and true market valuation for your property as well as being sympathetic to the problems you are facing by having to conduct the sale from overseas.

Once you have found an agent that is by no means the end of the problems. Your property will have to be maintained to a decent standard if you are to have any chance of achieving a sale. This means that if you are unable to do this yourself, you may end up relying on family and friends to ensure that standards are maintained in the months it will probably take to sell your house. Whoever you decide is going to do this it is almost certainly going to cost you at least goodwill and at worst a lot of money.

Even if you are in a position to maintain your property easily and cheaply while a sale takes place, selling your property via an estate agent has all of the pitfalls that this method of selling has had for decades.

You will be relying on your agent for advertising and marketing your property. You or your agent will need to be able to conduct viewings (not easy if you are playing golf in Portugal!). The sale of your property will be subject to all of the ups and downs that a constantly changing housing market can bring - it could be months before you receive an offer and even then, if the market is falling, this is likely to be nowhere near your original asking price.

All of this hassle will invariably cost both time and money. Estate agents obviously charge a fee for their services, as do solicitors, but the main cost to your bank balance is in the number of mortgage payments you will need to make while a sale goes through. A typical house sale is now widely recognised as taking on average eight months from the property coming onto the market until completion.

There is however another option. Many people are now considering the benefits of selling their house to a property buying company. While they will almost certainly only be able to offer you a "trade" price for your home, the comfort of a guaranteed cash sale with flexible time scales and a host of other benefits (this method of selling a house is usually free!) means that there is at last a quick and hassle free method of being able to sell a property from abroad.