Sell your home within this time window or risk knocking £1000s off your asking price

Wondering what the secret to how to get close to asking price for your house is? Well, it could all lie in how long it takes to sell your home.

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The HomeOwners Alliance has revealed that a sure way to achieve close to asking price is to sell your home within a 14 day time window.

Data from the HomeOwners Alliance estateagent4me, an estate agent comparison tool, revealed that agents with an average selling time of 14 days achieved 99.4 per cent of their stated price. While estate agents with an average selling time of more than 14 days were found to achieve only 97.5 per cent of the original asking price.

The data revealed that the final price paid for a property decreased the longer it was on the market. After four weeks on the market sellers usually achieved 98 per cent of the asking price. This dropped to 91 per cent after four weeks on the market.

That might not sound like a significant dip in price, but with the average UK home costing £235,000, a few percentage points equals thousands of pounds. If you house takes a month to sell could knock £5,194 off the asking price.

But how do you make sure your home has the best chance of selling within 14 days? Well, a good estate agent is key.

Commenting on the data Paula Higgins, chief executive of the HomeOwners Alliance, says that you need to choose an estate agent wisely.

'Draw up a shortlist based on their track record, not their sales pitch,' explains Paula. 'Estateagent4me lets you rank local estate agents by the time it takes to sell a property like yours. How close they get to achieving asking price and the fees they charge.'

'Don't be enticed by agents over-valuing your property just to get your business,' she adds.

If you're still struggling to sell your property after a month or two don't despair.

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'If you're selling a home which has been languishing on the market speak to your agent and review the asking price,' advises Paula. 'You may also want to switch estate agent to one that has a better success rate in your local market.'