I sold my house in 10 days. Completed in 6 weeks. Apart from ensuring the house was in showroom condition and with excellent photographs I simply marketed it at a slightly lower price than I thought it was worth. 37 viewings in one week, with 3 offers. In the end two buyers worked their way up to asking price and beyond. I could have gone for more but I settled with a buyer who was in a position to complete quickly.

Now I am sitting in rented and I am finding vendors who have little idea what their house is worth (not what they want it to be worth) and estate agents who are also not seeing what is happening to the market. This is short sighted as if you are trading up 8% is not an unrealistic reduction to achieve a sale.

1) Present your house at its best (redecorate, clean, etc)
2) Ask three estate agents for a realistic "priced-to-sell" price. Pick the *lowest* one.
3) Drop your sales price by a noticable amount each month until you get an offer.
4) If you don't get an offer, accept that you cannot sell the house at the price you want, then take it off the market

We have spent the last 18 months searching for houses due to waiting for funds to come through, and so we have had an enforced opportunity to learn about what we really want in a house. Every one is different, so what suits one person does not suit another.
My plea to vendors and estate agents is to give as much information on the house description, especially photographs, so buyers can see as much as possible whether a house is suitable before they make any futher enquiries. If you don't give all the information people start wondering why, and thinking is there something to hide, even if there isn't.
My advice to buyers is to find out as much about the area and the setting of the house, as well as what you would be getting for your money. I have been able to eliminate many houses just by using Streetview online. Then, visit the area first (if that is possible) and get a feel for it; sometimes I have been able to eliminate a house because I didn't feel comfortable in the area or with the setting of the house. This saves you time in the long run. You are avoiding setting yourself up for disappointment and the vendor avoids having time wasters, and getting their hopes dashed too. If you do go and view a property, try to be constructive and honest if you decide the property isn't for you, because the perfect buyer may be on the way soon.
Finally, don't be over picky about areas, and fashionable post codes; you never know, the right house for you may be waiting to be discovered in somewhere you had never thought of initially. That's what happened to us, so give it a go!

I really need some advice here, we bought our flat for 107 in sept 2009, it is a beautiful 2 bed flat with en suite, the building itself is really nice, pretty much new, bad thing: location, but funny enough is very quiet and close to the centre, we are trying to sell it now because my parents are going to give us an amount of money which we plan to invest it moving in the property ladder, we are not intending to pay off our mortgage at all, neither to increase it, we are asking 108, guide price, had 4 views and nothing more for weeks, is well presented nicely decorated, I cant get my head around it, I am getting desperate :(

Hello Robert
Yes, we have sold 2 houses next to schools,true it was in a better market.We only had viewings at week ends,after school..4pm or when the children were at their lessons and not in the play ground.
More to the point,the only busy time was 8 30am and 3 30pm,the rest of the time ,all summer,week ends,
evenings,very quiet indeed,how many locations can say that.
Good luck.