Home › News › What property board games get wrong about selling a house
Most families have played a property board game at least once. You land on a square, pay the owner, buy what you can afford and try to leave everyone else with nothing. Selling looks easy in these games: you choose to sell, the bank pays out and the next turn begins. That simplicity is the point of a game, but it can give a false picture of what happens when you sell your own home. This is an archived reference on The Smarter Choice site, not an offer to buy your property.
The fast game and the slow sale
Property board games are built around speed. Turns move quickly, prices are printed on the board and nobody waits for a survey, a mortgage offer or a buyer’s solicitor to finish their checks. A property changes hands in a single move.
A real house sale has no such shortcut. It usually moves through a series of stages: valuation, marketing, offers, a sale agreed, searches and surveys, contracts exchanged and finally completion. Each stage can take time, and each one can stall. The game compresses all of that into a few minutes, which is why it is fun to play and a poor guide to planning a sale.
What the game gets right
Even a simple board game teaches some useful lessons about property.
- A house is an asset that can be turned into cash. Many people who need money quickly are asset-rich but short of cash. The game shows that difference clearly.
- Timing changes the result. A player who sells at the wrong moment loses ground to the others. In real life, the time of year, the local market and your own deadline all affect what you can get.
- Cash flow matters more than value. A property worth a lot on paper does not pay this month’s bills. Players who run out of money in the game are often the ones who held too many properties for too long.
These points are worth keeping in mind when you look at any sale, quick or slow.
What the game leaves out
The biggest difference is cost. A board game charges you rent and nothing else. A real sale carries several layers of expense, and they are easy to overlook when you are focused on the headline figure.
- Agent fees, if you use an agent. These vary, and they are often a percentage of the sale price plus VAT. Ask for the terms in writing before you agree.
- Legal costs. A conveyancer or solicitor handles the transfer of ownership. Their fees and disbursements should be quoted before you start.
- Removal, storage and any repairs you decide to make before selling.
- Time while you wait. If the house sits empty or you keep paying the mortgage, every month of delay has a cost.
The game also ignores the chain. In real life, your buyer may be waiting to sell their own home, and a problem anywhere in that chain can delay or end the sale. Board games have no equivalent of a survey finding a damp problem three weeks before completion.
Auctions and unsold property
In many versions of the game, a property a player declines to buy goes to auction. Auctions do exist in the property world, but they work differently from the board. A sale at auction usually has a fixed completion date, and a deposit is normally due on the day the lot is sold. The buyer must be ready to move quickly, so the seller gets speed and certainty but has less room to negotiate.
An open-market sale is different again. The price is set by what buyers are prepared to offer, and the seller chooses how to market the property and how long to wait. Neither route is automatically better. The right choice depends on your situation.
Three questions to ask before you sell
Before you decide how to sell, it helps to work through a few questions on paper.
- What will I actually keep? Take the figure you are offered or expect, then subtract agent fees, legal costs, any repairs and any debts secured on the property. The result is the money that matters.
- How long can I wait, and what does waiting cost? Count the monthly outgoings on the property while it is on the market, and compare them with the difference between a quick offer and a possible open-market price.
- What other options do I have? Some people can borrow against the property, arrange a payment plan with creditors or move somewhere cheaper. Speaking to a free debt adviser can show options you had not considered.
If your answers show that speed is essential, a quick sale may make sense. In that case, take the offer in writing, read the terms carefully and check who you are dealing with. If a firm offers a sale and rent back arrangement, it should be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, and you can check its register entry before you sign anything.
Key points
- Property board games teach useful lessons about assets, timing and cash flow, but they compress a slow process into a few turns.
- A real sale carries fees, legal costs, running costs and the risk of a stalled chain, none of which the board shows.
- Auctions and open-market sales work differently, and each suits different situations.
- Before choosing a route, work out what you would really keep, how long you can afford to wait and whether other options exist.
- Get any offer or fee structure in writing, and take independent advice before you commit.
For general guidance on where to turn if you are unsure, see where to find help .