Compare Your Property Selling Options

Route 1 — Maximum market exposure

Conventional marketing through an estate agent, on ESPC and the national portals, with the property prepared, photographed and floor-planned before launch, and an offers over strategy designed to create competition.

This is the right route for most Edinburgh and Lothians sellers. It takes longer and carries the ordinary market risk that a buyer withdraws before missives conclude, but it exposes the property to every buyer and is the only route that lets competition set the price.

• Best for: achieving the strongest result
• Requires: preparation, a Home Report, a marketing period
• Risk: timing is market-dependent

Route 2 — Quick sale

A sale prioritising speed and certainty, usually to a buyer able to proceed without a mortgage or chain, on a date you agree.

A quicker or more certain sale can involve accepting a lower price than might potentially be achieved through full open-market marketing. That is the trade-off, and it should be quantified against a realistic open-market figure before you decide.

• Best for: a fixed deadline, a collapsed chain, an unwanted or inherited property
• Requires: your own solicitor and a clear view of the price difference
• Risk: the price is lower, and offers can be revised — ask what is guaranteed

Route 3 — I'm not sure yet

Most people arrive here. The honest answer is that you cannot choose between the routes until you have a realistic figure for the open-market outcome and a realistic figure for the cost of selling.

The property review collects the details that make those two numbers meaningful. It commits you to nothing, and it does not share anything with anyone unless you ask us to.

How Lothian Property is paid

We may receive a fee from an estate agent, property professional or property buyer we introduce you to. That fee is paid by them, never by you, and it does not change the price you are offered.

We say so on every page because a comparison written by someone with a hidden interest is worthless.

Common questions

Which selling route gets the highest price?

Full open-market marketing, in almost every case. Competition between buyers is what raises the price, and only open-market exposure creates it.

How much less does a quick sale achieve?

It varies by property and buyer, so we do not publish a percentage. Ask any buyer to state their offer against the Home Report valuation, and compare it with a realistic open-market appraisal before deciding.

Can I try the open market first and switch later?

Often, yes — many sellers market conventionally and only consider a faster route if a deadline approaches. Check your agency agreement's notice period and any tie-in before committing.

Or tell us about your property here

Takes around two minutes. We will come back to you within one working day.

Selling in Edinburgh

• Sell Your Property in Edinburgh
• Selling a Flat in Edinburgh
• Quick Property Sale Options in Edinburgh
• Quick property sale Edinburgh
• Cost of selling a house in Scotland

Selling because something changed?

These guides explain what usually happens in Scotland when a move is prompted by a change in circumstances. They are general information, not advice about your position.

• Downsizing or retirement

  Moving to something smaller, releasing equity from a family home, and the order to do it in.

• Relocating for work

  Coordinating a Scottish sale with a start date, and what to do if the dates do not line up.

• Bereavement or inherited property

  Confirmation, executor powers, empty-property costs and what usually happens before a sale.