thelittlehousecompany.co.uk has moved one step closer to fulfilling its vision of becoming the number one private homes sales website in the UK, by announcing a technology partnership with one of Europe’s leading training outsourcing providers, Redtray.

The Little House Company was established in 2000 and offers vendors a commission free way to sell their property without using an estate agent alongside a host of news and information for vendors to sell their property themselves.

Redtray’s advanced ALTO learning management system together with their technological expertise will be used to develop a wide range of new features on the site including a series of unique e-learning courses to teach private individuals how to sell their homes without an estate agent.

It’s already been a big year for the private sales portal. Nick Marr, CEO of Marr International Limited and owner of overseas property website homesgofast.com, took over the company’s leadership in February 2009.

Nick Marr said:

“Estate Agents do offer a number of benefits to those selling a property including arranging viewings and following up buyers for feedback, writing the property descriptive details and keeping tabs on the progress of exchange of contracts. But do people actually need someone else to provide these services? The law doesn’t require any of these functions to be carried out by an estate agent. When an offer has been accepted, the vendor simply passes the details straight to their solicitor who does all the necessary legal work.”

“In the UK, 80% of all property buyers use the internet to search for their next home. We anticipate that private home sales will expand as purchasers become more accustomed to searching both estate agent and private sales websites when looking for a new home. In most cases you can sell with us and an estate agent. We advise all house sellers to add a clause to their estate agents contract, confirming that no agency commission is due on a private sale. This allows sellers the choice to try and sell their homes themselves and could also be an added incentive for an agent to work harder for their money.”

The UK has seen a vast increase in the number of For Sale By Owner (FSBO) websites in the past year, with houseshout.co.uk launching most recently as well as bethemiddleman.com and several high profile websites like TV presenter Sarah Beeny’s tepilo.com and Anton Kreil’s hablib.com.

According to the company, it’s not concerned about the newcomers to the FSBO market and this year things have been going well for thelittlehousecompany.co.uk. In March the company reported a 30% increase in sales compared to March 2008 following the BBC TV Show “Axe the Agent?”. thelittlehousecompany.co.uk says this leap in sales in a depressed housing market indicates the huge potential of this new method of selling a property which completely excludes the services of an estate agent.

thelittlehousecompany.co.uk charges vendors £89 for the standard service or £135 for the multi-list service and upload details of their property. There is no commission or additional charge when the property is sold and there are no time limits or surcharges. Vendors can opt for the All in One Package at £549 which takes care of all the vendor’s legal documents including the Home Information Pack and Energy Performance Certificates and includes 20 professionally taken photos, advertising on hundreds of websites and a bespoke For Sale Board to put outside the property (with a low call national 0844 phone number if the vendor does not want their private phone number displayed).