Stamp duty: Homeowners urged to use ‘auctions’ to speed up sales and beat SDLT deadline

Stamp duty: Phil Spencer says he sees ‘catastrophe brewing’

The stamp duty holiday deadline is fast-approaching with buyers and sellers now rushing to complete their transactions before the holiday comes to an end on March 31. The buyer rush, coupled with a busy property market and the coronavirus pandemic is causing long delays. According to MoneySuperMarket, the average property purchase is now taking 123 days which means buyers are unlikely to complete their transaction before the deadline if they put an offer in now on a home.

But it’s not all bad news for buyers and sellers looking to cash-in on the SDLT deadline.

Auction specialist iamsold has revealed how you can speed up the moving process to complete a sale or purchase in almost half the time it usually takes – just 56 days.

The experts have claimed that most estate agents in the UK can offer an alternative way to sell a property called The Modern Method of Auction (MMoA).

MMoA has a fixed completion timescale of 56 days, involves less parties and paperwork and has a 95 percent completion rate.

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Meanwhile, 30 percent of traditional sales actually fall through.

Unlike traditional sales, an MMoA can be done completely online which reduces admin and speeds up the process as a whole.

Although you may not have heard of MMoA, it’s actually well-known across a plethora of estate agents.

Jamie Cooke, Managing Director at iamsold said current delays in the property market are linked to the more “traditional” way of buying and selling property which means sellers could miss out on the SDLT holiday.

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He continued: “There are ways to help speed things along and reduce the risk of missing the deadline.

“The Modern Method of Auction can offer the speed and certainty that people need right now, that perhaps a traditional Private Treaty sale can’t give.

“Don’t be put off by the term ‘auction’. They have a history of being misunderstood, but any property type can be auctioned.

“Fundamentally, it’s about what’s right for the circumstances of the seller, not what’s right for the property, and in this case it’s speed and certainty.”

The experts at iamsold have shared some of their top selling tips in order to benefit from the stamp duty holiday:

Look at how you’re selling

If you’re looking to speed up your sale, sellers should consider MMoA.

It’s lesser known but it’s a lot faster than the traditional method.

Make your home appealing

Due to lockdown, more people are viewing homes virtually which means it’s more important than ever to make your home look homely and inviting.

This means you may have to redecorate small things, repaint some walls and potentially fix obvious faults.

If you have faults that obviously need fixing then these should be fixed before your home is put on the market as this could impact the value of your home.

Be organised

Packing, booking a removals company, redirecting post and telling your utility companies you’re moving are all things that can be done in advance.

Start planning early and the moving process will be less stressful.

Choose the right price

Agree the right pricing strategy from the beginning.

If you’re in a hurry to sell, make sure you don’t undervalue your home and sell yourself short – you may come to regret it.

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