Sell Your Gecko Home

At Gecko, we understand that circumstances change, and you may decide to sell your Shared Ownership home.

No matter the size of your Shared Ownership share, you have the flexibility to sell your property. As housing market conditions evolve, your home's value may fluctuate since your initial purchase. But rest assured, we've streamlined the selling process to make it hassle-free for you.

When you decide to sell your Gecko home, our dedicated Resales Team steps in to assist you. Our commitment is to provide you with a smooth and seamless selling experience. We adhere to the Shared Ownership principles, ensuring that another individual can embrace the opportunities of Shared Ownership, just as you did when you first embarked on this homeownership journey.

Step 1 - Valuation and listing

Step 1 - Valuation and listing

Before you can sell, your home will need to be valued by an independent valuer qualified through the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

This valuation helps determine the market value of your home.

The value of your property may have changed since your purchase, so the valuation sets the current price.

You'll also need good quality photos, a floor plan, and an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for your listing.

Once prepared, your property will be advertised online.

Step 2 - Find a buyer

Step 2 - Find a buyer

Once you’ve decided you want to sell your home, Gecko gets the opportunity to market it to people registered with us first. We get 8 weeks to try to find a buyer. This is called the nomination period and it’s part of a clause built into every Shared Ownership home.

We have a large database of people wanting to live in our Shared Ownership homes, so it could be pretty quick to find someone who wants to buy yours. And the best thing is that they have all been checked out to be certain they are eligible to buy a Shared Ownership home, so that keeps things moving quickly once you’ve accepted an offer.

If we don’t find a buyer within the 8-week nomination period you’ll be free to market the property with an estate agent or keep it with us to find a buyer.

To get your home on the market we’ll need some information from you. There’s a form to fill in and you’ll need to provide us with some photographs which show off your home looking its best.

Once we have all the details and photos, we’ll send you a draft of the marketing materials we’ve put together. You have a good look through to make sure everything is accurate and when we have your agreement we’ll get cracking with showing your home off to potential buyers.

Step 3 - Viewings

Successful Viewings

If people are interested in buying your home, they’ll want to take a look round. We’ll work with you to figure out the times that work for you and arrange the viewings with the potential buyers.

We won’t be there at the viewings, so you’ll need to be at home and willing to tell people all about how fabulous your home is.

We’ll keep in touch with everyone who has viewed your home to get feedback and see if they want to put in an offer. And we’ll make sure we keep you updated along the way.

Tips for successful viewings:

Clean and declutter – as with the photos, people need to be able to imagine themselves living in your home. Pack away any clutter and family photos from surfaces, and give everything a good clean

Stage your home – fluff your cushions, make the beds, and push back the curtains to let in light, which will help to show your home off to its best

Fresh air – open the windows before a viewing to let in the fresh air (but close them before people turn up if it’s cold outside!). You could use air freshener or scented candles to add a lovely smell, or get creative and do some baking if you have time!

Make a good first impression – what’s the best room in your house? Show potential buyers that first. This will get your viewing off to a good start

Give them space – once you’ve showed them the best room, give viewers the chance to wander around on their own. You might want to give them lots of details about your home, but they also need space to think and discuss their impressions without you listening in. If they have questions, they’ll ask you (or us) once they’ve finished exploring

Step 2 - Costs

The costs involved:

If your property sells through Gecko, you'll be responsible for covering solicitor fees, as well as providing an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) to prospective purchasers.

You'll also need to provide a landlord's management pack to your buyer's solicitors. This pack contains essential property details.

Ensure your valuation report is up-to-date throughout the sale process.

Will my monthly payments change?

Here's a breakdown:

Wondering how your monthly payments will evolve during the Staircasing journey?

100% Ownership

When you reach 100% ownership, you'll bid farewell to rent payments. You'll only be responsible for your mortgage on the property if you have one.

In most cases if you own a house and staircase to 100% ownership then the freehold will be transferred to you. With apartments, the leasehold usually remains in place.

Part Increase

If you go for interim Staircasing and still own less than 100%, your rent will decrease, but this is dependent on the property valuation. For instance, if you staircase from 25% ownership to 50%, your rent will reduce while your monthly mortgage payment may increase. Keep in mind that even if you achieve 100% ownership and the freehold, you may still be liable for service charges.

How do I apply?

Ready to begin?

Applying for Staircasing is a breeze. Simply log in to your online account and complete the Staircasing application.

Your journey to increased homeownership starts with a few clicks.

Tips for taking photos of your home

You can hire a local photographer to come and take photos of your home, pay a small fee for our team to come and take them, or have a go at doing it yourself.

Here are some tips for how to get the best pictures to tempt people to come to see it:

Setting Up Your Camera

Whether you use a DSLR camera or your smartphone, it's always best to ensure it's set up for taking photos of your home. We suggest taking wide-angle shots to give a better perspective of the rooms, as well as photographing in both portrait and landscape from the exact same spot.

Smartphones have lots of cool features that can help too so it's worth checking them out.

Have a tidy up

People want to imagine themselves living in your home, so tidy away your personal things (you can just hide them in a cupboard!). Clear surfaces also make it look as big as possible.

Put the lights on

Take your photos in daylight, open all curtains and blinds, and put all of the lights on in your room to brighten it up as much as possible.

Cover all bases

Take a few pictures of all of the rooms in your home, just in case. We might not need to use them all but having a selection will help us make the most of the marketing materials we’ll put together for you.

Pick the right spot

It's usually best to take pictures from the corner of a room or the doorway. To show potential buyers as much as possible you want to include three walls in your pictures.

What’s outside?

If yours is a house, don’t forget to take pictures of the outside too, including your garden if you have one. And if you have an apartment, include pictures of any outside space such as balconies.