Services

How I can help you to sell a canalside house

Some hints and tips on selling a canalside house, and how I can help you.

Is Sheridan an estate agent?

I used to be an estate agent specialising in canalside homes, but I am no longer insured or registered as an agent, so I can't directly sell or negotiate sales.

However, I can help you with marketing, and of course I can enable you to reach canal enthusiasts directly through this website and my personal contacts. I do not ask for any commission for my help, but I always welcome a small donation in my tip jar!

Get genned up

I suggest you start by learning as much as you can about the selling process. Have you seen this post I wrote? It's a helpful guide to the process in the UK. There is a lot of useful information to think about, especially if you have never sold a property before, or if you haven't done so for many years.

Should I treat my canalside house differently from other houses?

The vast majority of buyers are looking for property in their local area, or in a specific geographical area, so don't worry too much about reaching the market nationally. That being said, the specialist canal market is a good niche, and worth exploring if your local marketing is not working.

Advertise free on my mailing lists

Every week I publish a lengthy post full of canalside properties with Rightmove links to each one. These lists are fully comprehensive, within parameters which are at set my discretion. Listings in these posts are completely free for sellers. If your property fits my requirements, I may have included it already.

Members of the public can see a preview of each post, including the main photo and the featured property at the top of the page.
Subscribed (paying) members can see the whole of these posts and also receive them by email. Most paying members are actively looking to buy, so it's a great way to reach this niche audience.

If I decide to include your property, it will continue to appear in my posts for as long as you're actively on the market.

Featured properties on my mailing list

As mentioned above, at the top of each mailing list post, there is a main photo of a property from the relevant price range. These photos are also used as the thumbnails for each post on this page and on the home page.

The text in each post begins with a little editorial and beneath this there is another featured property from the relevant price range.

Everyone, both paying members and the general public, can see these two properties.

You can purchase these key spots for £10 each or £15 for both. The payment covers one post, but the feature remains on the website indefinitely.

Working with estate agents

My usual advice is to use an independent solo agent (my group was eXp, but there are others). Ideally choose an agent with only a handful of properties on their books, so that they have enough time to devote to your house, and so they have the maximum possible motivation to help you sell, as their income and reputation as an individual agent depends on their success.

Make sure you check the agent's draft details carefully to ensure that they are technically correct, e.g. accurate info on mooring rights, that canals don't flow, narrowboats aren't barges, etc.

Be sure to work in useful key words which someone may be searching for, such as 'mooring', 'Name of Canal', 'canalside', 'waterside', 'views', 'towpath'.

You could also ask the agent to upgrade to Premium on Rightmove and add your property to the Waterside category.

Pricing

In an unsettled or off-season market there are less active buyers in the marketplace, so selling can take longer than we're used to, and it is especially important not to overprice.

The economy also affects the market - if there are fewer first time buyers in the market, chains cannot build.

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Always price realistically for the current market, not at the inflated price the valuers used to entice you to go with them!

It's a good idea to set the price to one of Rightmove's price brackets, so that your house comes up in the first batch when people are looking in that bracket. The searches are in 10k brackets up to £300k, then in £25k brackets up to £500k, then in £50k brackets up to £700k, then in £100k brackets up to £1million, then in £250k brackets up to £2 million, and so on.

Presentation

It's essential to present your house well and keep it clean and tidy. I like Phil and Kirsty's advice to invite a very tidy friend over to help you with some tough, objective advice on decluttering and styling. It can make a world of difference, especially in a difficult or competitive market.

Keep the grass cut, and keep bushes trimmed, especially if your property is vacant.

If there are unused support aids in the house which were used by an elderly person, such as stair lifts, hospital beds, and bath aids, remove them if possible.

Tone down any old-fashioned decor with a coat of neutral or white paint. Pale colours look fresher and make the rooms look bigger.

Moorings

Don't let your estate agent use the wrong wording when it comes to mooring information. Saying the house has "mooring rights" could be very misleading.

Take a look at this important post if you have an existing mooring or a house with mooring potential. A small investment at the beginning of the selling process could make your property far more attractive to buyers with narrowboats.

360 Tours

If your agent has not provided a tour, ask them to do so. They should be able to do them, either with their own equipment, or with a sub-contractor.

I can do a 360 virtual tour for you if you are within easy striking distance of my home in Tamworth. Each of my tours have their own dedicated page on my website. This costs £25. Your estate agent can add one of my tours directly to their Rightmove listing if they don't offer 360 tours themselves. There is no extra cost for that. Contact me for details.

Magazine advertising is always an option. There will always be a bit of a lead time though, so this is not so good in a fast, competitive market.

You might like to email Waterways World and ask whether they would be interested in featuring your house as the property of the month. (Feel free to name drop me to Andrew Denny if you do this).

You could also advertise in a local canal restoration, volunteers, or enthusiasts magazine.

Ask your estate agent to post your home sale in the various waterways Facebook groups, or do it yourself. If you leave it to the agent, tell them they must avoid estate agent speak. People don't like it!

They should also be posting your property on other channels, such as Instagram.

Conveyancing

Don't neglect the legal process. You should speak to a solicitor early in the process and get their advice on navigating any special issues with your property, such as flooding, access roads, rights of way, etc.

If you don't have a solicitor, I'd be happy to recommend mine. I don't get a commission from her - I just trust her to give a great service - and that's priceless! Drop me a line if you'd like her details.

I hope that helps a bit!

Sheridan