Services & Fees For Sellers

The directors have been working in the property market for the past 12 years. They have lived in Dartford their whole lives so they know everything about the local area. They have each built their own property portfolios whereby they have had the vital first-hand experience of buying and selling multiple properties. They have also carried out refurbishments and development projects in the Kent area.

You will be assigned one of the directors to deal with your transaction on a one-to-one basis from the start to finish. We refer to this as a Personal Property Manager (PPM).

Once we have received the following two items from you:

1. Signed Sales Agency Agreement (you can download this here); and
2. The keys to the property

Then we will endeavour to take the photos and have your property on the market the next day. We will give your property maximum exposure by marketing it on the major online portals, on our website, in our branch window, on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Google. We will then carry out a block viewing and negotiate the best price for you.

90% of our properties are “sale agreed” within 1 – 1.5 months.

We regularly achieve 3 - 8% above the market sale value. See the below examples:

Swanton Road, Erith – 5 bedroom semi-detached house
Market value: £450,000
Achieved price: £482,000
Additional income for seller: £32,000
Percentage change: + 7.11% increase

Langley Square, Dartford – 2 bedroom apartment
Market value: £320,000
Achieved price: £330,000
Additional income for seller: £10,000
Percentage change: + 3.13% increase

Mount Pleasant Road, Dartford – 3 bedroom terraced house
Market value: £325,000
Achieved price: £346,000
Additional income for landlord: £21,000
Percentage change: + 6.46% increase

We have hundreds of eager buyers registering on our website and in our office in preparation for when a matching property becomes available. Our buyers are motivated and they will be vetted for 4 requirements:

1. Deposit funds: how much deposit does the buyer have to put towards the purchase and will this be enough to complete the sale should their offer be accepted?
2. Mortgage offer in principle: does the buyer have a mortgage offer from a lender, is this high enough in relation to the sale price and when does this offer expire?
3. Solicitor: does the buyer have a solicitor instructed? If not, then we will put them in touch with one of our associate solicitors so that the purchase can progress swiftly.
4. Chain: does the buyer have to sell their own property before they can complete on the purchase of your property or are they a First Time Buyer (FTB) or a Buy to Let (BTL) Investor with nothing holding them back?

If you have sold a property in the past or you know of a friend that has sold then you will know about the frustration of not being kept updated on the sale progress. The stages are:

1. Marketing of your property and informing you of the interest being generated.
2. Arranging the viewings.
3. Carrying out of the viewings and providing feedback to you with the pros and cons of your property.
4. Collecting offers and negotiating the best price on your behalf.
5. Accepting the offer and passing the details to both parties solicitors.
6. Searches and enquiries to be carried out by the buyer’s solicitor.
7. Solicitors to draft and agree the sale contract.
8. Exchange of contracts and payment of a 10% deposit by the buyer.
9. Completion and handover of the keys to the buyer.

To simplify this we have invested in a easy to use online seller portal called Property File. This will keep you updated on the progress of your sale throughout the entire process. You will given your Login ID and Password once you have become a client of ours.

Click here to login to your Property File.

We have all the essential trades when either letting or selling your property in one place.  This means you will not have the stress and loss of time from contacting multiple companies.  We have the following:

Trades persons

• Gas Safe Engineer who can issue your property with a Gas Safety Certificate.  This certificate is a legal requirement for all lettings and is good practice for a sale.
• NICEIC Electrician who can issue your property with an Electrical Installation and Condition Report which is a legal requirement for all lettings and good practice for a sale.
• Energy Assessor who can issue your property with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).  This is an essential requirement for a letting and sale.
• Floorplan designer who can draw the layout and dimensions of your property. Did you know property adverts with a floorplan attract 33% more tenants and buyers than an advert without one.  We strongly recommend having a floorplan drawn, especially if you are selling your property.
• Decorator to refresh the paint in your property or carry out small repairs prior to listing your property for letting or sale.  If you want to achieve the top rental price or top sale price then we recommend that your property is spruced up before we start marketing.
• Gardener to get your garden looking tidy.  A lot of landlords or sellers neglect their gardens especially during the winter months.  This is off putting to potential tenants or buyers.
• Cleaner to get your property looking at it's best prior to viewings.
• Other trades including plumbers, handyman, flooring fitter, FENSA approved double glazer, builder, carpenter, roofer, drainage engineer and pest controller.

Professionals

• Mortgage Advisor who can arrange your new mortgage, first time buyer mortgage, remortgage or release of equity through a further advance.
• Solicitor who can deal with the legal process of selling or buying a property.  The advantage of using our solicitor is that we can progress the transaction smoothly as we have contact with all of the 6 parties involved.  The typical parties involved will be: (1) the seller; (2) the seller's solicitor; (3) the buyer; (4) the buyer's solicitor; (5) the buyer's mortgage broker; and (6) the estate agent.
• Building Insurance Provider to protect your property in case of a fire, storm, flood or other damage.
• Accountant to deal with your Self Assessment or Company Tax Return if you are a landlord or your Capital Gains Tax if you are a seller.

When buyers were asked what is the first element that attracts them to a property advert? 87% stated it was the initial photos. To capitalise on this we use a 24.2 megapixel Canon camera with Wide Angle Lens to bring out the vibrant colours and give the most impact.

Property adverts with floorplans attract 30% more buyers than those without them.

The following certificate is essential for all sales:

• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
  Since 2007 it is a legal requirement for an EPC to be carried out on all properties to be sold prior to marketing them. This measures the energy efficiency and estimated energy consumption of your house. See an example here.

  We will arrange for our Energy Assessor to carry this out at your property.

The following certificates are recommended for sales:

• Gas Safety Certificate
  This certifies that all of the gas appliances in the property are safe to use. Such as the boiler, gas hob and any fireplaces. We can arrange for our Gas Safe Engineer to carry this out.

• Electrical Installation & Condition Report
  This is commonly referred to as an electrical certificate. It is very common for buyer’s solicitors to ask for this from the seller. We can arrange for our NICEIC qualified Electrician to carry this out.

We will give your property maximum exposure by marketing it in the following places:

• Online portals – Zoopla, On The Market, Prime Location and Rightmove on request.
• Our website - This was designed by specialists in the property sector and they have built us a website that really stands out from our competitors.
• In our office window – We are the very first estate agent as you walk or drive into Dartford Town Centre from the East. We spent thousands of pounds refurbishing our office to a higher specification than any other estate agent in Dartford. Our office really stands out with the gigantic 6m x 3m frameless glass shop front, ambient lighting, 65” QLED TV and high quality bespoke furniture. This means buyers will be attracted to your property first in our shop window!
• On Facebook – 3 billion people use Facebook on a monthly basis. We upload photos and a video tour of your property on here.
• On Instagram – There are 2.35 billion monthly users on Instagram. We upload photos on to this platform.
• On YouTube – We will create and upload a video tour of your property with background music and engaging graphics. This enables buyers to get a realistic feel of the space in your property prior to booking a viewing, which will cut down on the viewers who say there is not enough internal space. This additional service is not offered by other local estate agents.
• On Google – 4.3 billion people use Google on a daily basis. We upload the sale details of your property on here for maximum exposure.

Prior to carrying out viewings we will vet the potential buyers for 4 criteria:

1. Deposit funds: how much deposit does the buyer have to put towards the purchase and will this be enough to complete the sale should their offer be accepted?
2. Mortgage offer in principle: does the buyer have a mortgage offer from a lender, is this high enough in relation to the sale price and when does this offer expire?
3. Solicitor: does the buyer have a solicitor instructed? If not, then we will put them in touch with our associate solicitor so that the purchase can progress swiftly.
4. Chain: does the buyer have to sell their own property before they can complete on the purchase of your property or are they a First Time Buyer (FTB) or Buy to Let (BTL) Investor with nothing holding them back?

Companies such as Purplebricks, Yopa and Strike will make you carry out your own viewings.

This is not the case with Property King. Included in your service is accompanied viewings with one of our trained staff. It is always best to let us do the viewings for the following reasons:

• Buyers are more comfortable when the seller is not present.
• Viewers will be far more honest with their feedback.
• We know which features to highlight according to each buyer’s specific requirements.
• We are experienced in overcoming negatives.
• We are trained in negotiations which means we will achieve a higher price than if you tried to negotiate the price yourself.

A key skill for a good estate agent is to be able to negotiate the best price for their client. We will use our historical sold prices data and local knowledge to get you the very best price.

For example
Prior to carrying out viewings we will research the nearby area and determine if anyone has carried out any rear, side or loft extensions. If they have, then we can point this out in the viewings which will help to negotiate a higher price since buyers are always interested in how they can add value to the property in the future.

The seller and buyer will then agree the final price. We then pass on all the relevant details to both parties solicitors and the buyer’s mortgage broker.

We will try to complete the sale in 2 – 3 months. To maximise the chance of meeting this target we will keep in regular contact with your solicitor, the buyer’s solicitor and the buyer’s mortgage broker.

Your solicitor will only pay our sales fee once the sale is completed i.e. “no sale, no fee”.

90% of our properties are “sale agreed” within 1 – 1.5 months.

Yes. We have buyers who register on our website and in our office in preparation for when a matching property becomes available.

No. Your solicitor will pay our sales fee only once the sale has completed.

This is common. In the current buoyant property market it is virtually impossible to get an offer accepted on a property you are looking to buy if you have not actually “sale agreed” your current residential property. Sellers are preferring First Time Buyers or buyers who have actually sold their property.

So let's get your property on the market for sale and then we can assist you in sourcing a property to buy.

Yes. We have our own in-house team of handymen, builders, roofers, gardeners, decorators, floor fitters, carpenters, plumbers, electricians and double glazing installers.

We can advise you of any works that we think would increase the value of your home.

Once an offer has been accepted by you. It usually takes the solicitor around 2 – 3 months to complete all of the paperwork.

Property King are members of The Property Ombudsman (TPO).

The TPO is professional redress body which sets out good practice for estate and letting agents in the UK. Only agents who adhere to their strict rules are given membership.

Property King are members of Client Money Protection (CMP).

CMP protects landlords, sellers and tenants from misappropriation of client monies by estate agents.

Property King are members of the Property Redress Scheme (PRS).

The PRS was started by the Government in 2014 and it is an independent redress scheme to which consumers can refer to should they have a complaint about an estate or letting agent.