The trend for selling houses on the internet appears to be on the increase as Private Seller or ‘For Sale By Owner’ (FSBO) websites fight for sponsorship advertising space on Google Search. A UK based search conducted on the British Bank Holiday 27th August 2007 for search terms  ‘Sell My Property’ reveal over 90 FSBO websites fighting for exposure on Google sponsored advertising space.

The trend for selling property online appears to be on the increase and with recent reports in the media about Supermarket giant Tesco entering the UK  For Sale By Owner market sellers appear to now to be seriously considering the private seller route as an option.

A recent survey  conducted by Alliance & Leicester has found that private home-sellers using websites to market their properties have sold their homes in an average of less than two months while those using the more conventional estate agency route were taking over three months. 8% of the 2,384 people interviewed said they had used Private Property Sale’s sites. (This is up from the commonly accepted figure of 5% last year.) A similar proportion had simply used word-of-mouth. Of the rest, 5% had advertised in a local paper, 4% had made their own “for sale” board and 1% had even used auction sites like eBay.

Nicholas Marr CEO Homesgofast.com ‘We have been helping sellers find buyers for their homes since 2003 and the trend is only getting busier. Our latest sales include a luxury home in Tobago priced at £499,000 and a flat in Watford Hertfordshire UK,  these sellers combined saved over £25,000 in agents fees. The adverts cost less than one hundred pounds ‘

When asked what tips he would give to those selling property privately Mr Marr said’ Getting the right images of your property in front of as many internet users as possible will help sell your home. Pricing your property competitively is key for a quick sale, sellers need to take account of the potential commission savings they will make and price their homes competitively. When a private seller has agreed a price with a buyer then it is important for the process to be put in the hands of lawyers. Selling property privately is not for everyone; estate agents have local knowledge and will market your home for you and assist with negotiations. Their services do come at price and selling privately offers the hard pressed consumer increased choice in the way they sell a home’