The traditional strategy of hiring an estate agent from the high street is still far-and-away the most popular method of selling up, with around 85 per cent of homes being sold this way.

However, a study from Alliance & Leicester suggests that selling time could be cut by up to a month if alternative strategies are employed.

Many homeowners are successfully speeding up the sale of their property by turning to the internet and other alternative methods.

Sellers who use property websites and their own DIY ‘for sale’ signs succeed in shifting their property in an average of two months, while estate agents are slower with an average three-month time period.

With the popularity of the internet increasing, more then 70% home seekers now search for property online. Thosands of private sellers and landlords advertising their houses and flats privately ranging from mobile homes to stately manors.

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