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Selling a home in Bournemouth, Poole or Christchurch follows the same order every time: a valuation, an agent, the EPC and the facts a buyer needs, marketing and viewings, an offer, the memorandum of sale, conveyancing, exchange of contracts and completion. Most delays come from paperwork that could have been gathered before the first viewing, so the sellers who move fastest are the ones who prepare in that order.
This guide is general information and not legal, tax or financial advice. Speak to a solicitor or conveyancer about the legal steps and to an accountant about any tax on the sale.
1. Get a valuation and set the asking price
Start with an agent's market appraisal: what comparable homes nearby have sold for, what is competing with yours now, and what the house or flat has that those do not. Ask every agent you invite to show the evidence behind the figure. A price chosen to win the instruction rather than to sell the home usually ends in a reduction weeks later, and a reduced listing looks stale to buyers who saw it first time round.
Our guide to how property valuations work explains what moves the figure locally: position, parking, a sea view, lease length, service charges and condition.
2. Choose an agent and read the terms
Before you sign, an agent must tell you in writing what it charges, when the fee becomes payable and what services it will offer buyers. Check the type of agency (sole agency, multi agency or sole selling rights), the tie-in period and the notice to end it. Every estate agent must belong to an approved redress scheme. Our guide to choosing an estate agent in Bournemouth lists the questions to ask.
3. The EPC and the material information
At the time of writing GOV.UK says you must order an Energy Performance Certificate before the property is marketed for sale. It lasts ten years.
A listing must also give buyers the facts they need to decide whether to view. National Trading Standards set these out in three parts in 2023: Part A (price, council tax band, tenure), Part B (property type, construction, rooms, utilities, broadband, mobile signal, parking) and Part C (things that only some homes are affected by, such as flood risk, building safety issues, restrictions, rights of way and planning). That guidance was withdrawn from official channels when the consumer protection part of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 came into force on 6 April 2025, but the duty not to leave out material information remains and the parts are still the working checklist. Expect your agent to ask you for all of it before the listing goes live.
4. Leasehold: order the management pack now
If you are selling a flat, the buyer's solicitor will need the lease and the management information: service charge accounts and budgets, the reserve fund, planned major works, buildings insurance and any building safety information. This usually comes from the managing agent on the Law Society's LPE1 form or the agent's own pack, for a fee, and it can take weeks. Order it when you instruct the agent. Selling a leasehold flat covers the detail.
5. Prepare the home and the photographs
Fix what a surveyor will write down: dripping taps, cracked panes, blown seals, a loose stair rail. Clear surfaces and floors so rooms photograph at their real size. Our guide to preparing your home for sale separates the jobs that pay from the ones that do not.
Photographs are taken once and seen thousands of times online. Agree a date, have the house ready the evening before, and ask for a floorplan, which buyers use to judge room sizes before they book a viewing.
6. Marketing and viewings
The listing goes on the agent's website and the property portals, with the photographs, floorplan, description and material information. Decide in advance who will show the property. Agents usually accompany viewings, which lets buyers talk freely and gives you feedback in writing. Keep the home ready to view at short notice in the first weeks, when interest tends to be highest.
7. Offers and the memorandum of sale
Every offer must be passed to you in writing. Before you accept, ask the agent three questions: is the buyer's finance confirmed (a mortgage in principle or proof of funds), is there a chain, and if so how far has it got? A lower offer from a buyer with nothing to sell can be worth more than a higher one at the bottom of a long chain.
Once you accept, the agent issues a memorandum of sale to both solicitors: the price, the parties, the solicitors, any fixtures agreed and the chain. In England an accepted offer is not binding. Either side can still withdraw until exchange.
8. Conveyancing
Your solicitor sends the draft contract, title documents and your completed property information forms. The buyer's solicitor orders searches, raises enquiries and reports to the lender, while the buyer arranges a survey and the lender sends its valuer. Answer enquiries quickly and fully. Conveyancing explained walks through each stage and what slows it down.
9. Exchange and completion
When enquiries are answered, the mortgage offer is issued and the whole chain is ready, the solicitors exchange signed contracts and the buyer pays a deposit. From that moment the sale is binding and the completion date is fixed. On completion day the money moves through the solicitors, your mortgage is repaid, and you hand over the keys once your solicitor confirms the funds have arrived.
10. After completion: the 60-day tax rule
If the property was your only main home for the whole time you owned it, with no part let or used only for business, Capital Gains Tax is not usually due. If it was a second home, a buy-to-let, a holiday let or your home for only part of your ownership, at the time of writing GOV.UK says UK residents must report and pay any tax due on a UK residential property within 60 days of completion. Speak to an accountant before you exchange, not after.
Where to start
Read selling your property to see how we market a home, or ask for a property valuation. Our sellers' hub collects every selling guide in one place.
