Every year, more than 100,000 residential properties are sold by owners themselves in Germany. However, many owners underestimate the financial and time effort involved.
Determining value
Determining the right asking price already requires a considerable amount of time and effort. If you do not have the right tools and experience, you can be very wrong in your assessment.
Whether the value is set too high or too low, in both cases this leads to sometimes high losses.
A realistically set offer price will bring the desired success in a short time. If the price is set 20 percent too high, a lower result will be achieved, and this with a considerably longer marketing time. In addition to the loss of assets due to the lower sales proceeds, there are also possible instalments for interim financing and housing subsidies for vacant flats. The long marketing period leads to increased scepticism about the offer on the part of prospective buyers, most of whom have been on the move for some time. This is then only accepted at a large discount.
The private seller has a harder time determining the right offer price. He has to observe the property market intensively over a longer period of time to get a feeling for prices and market developments. One listens to the advice of colleagues and friends, hears for what fantastic price the neighbour sold his property or how cheaply he bought it.
A quicker result is obtained by an expert, by means of an appraisal for an average of 1500 € or free of charge with us.
Obtain documents
Depending on the type of property, comprehensive documents are required for the sale of a property, such as utility bills, minutes of owners‘ meetings, declaration of partition, energy certificate, extract from the land register, all of which can be time-consuming and costly to obtain. If important documents are missing, this can not only delay the sale considerably. A missing energy certificate can even result in a fine of up to 15,000 euros. For a qualified and committed estate agent, this is naturally part of the scope of services. It not only saves the seller time and money, but also the buyer, who will receive a financing commitment more quickly if all documents are available quickly.
Property marketing
Property advertising is not easy either. Appealing texts and photos (also 360° and drone use), as well as well prepared floor plans are a craft that comes from experience. Every property needs a marketing concept.
To reach qualified buyers, an advertisement with an appealing exposé on several of the well-known and expensive property portals makes sense. If you want your property to stand out from the crowd with premium placements, these costs are considerable. For marketing particularly high-end properties, the work of a professional photographer is advisable. This costs an average of 300 € for flats, much more for houses – but for appropriate properties it is money well spent.
Correspondence and telephone calls
Especially in sought-after locations, many different prospective buyers will contact you. In this phase, the enquiries that arise must be answered quickly and correctly. A false statement can later lead to claims for damages. Of course, the private seller receives the calls exactly when he has no time. After all, selling real estate is not his profession. So he has to call back. The prospective buyer then asks which property it is about, saying he has lost track of all the property offers.
Viewing appointments
For the private seller, viewings are the most time-consuming part of the process. Prospective buyers want to be invited to individual appointments. With a bit of luck, the interested parties will also show up at the agreed appointments. A considerable amount of time is spent arranging and carrying out viewings, cancelling appointments and making alternative appointments, as well as following up on viewings, answering queries from interested parties and submitting any documents.
Negotiations and notary appointment
Once the right buyer has finally been found, the most exciting phase of the sale begins. The purchase price has to be negotiated, the financing of the prospective buyer has to be checked, a draft purchase contract has to be requested from a notary and, at best, legally concluded at a notary appointment. Should the prospective buyer change his mind before the conclusion of the purchase contract, which usually happens at short notice and unexpectedly, the seller usually receives an invoice from the notary’s office for several hundred to several thousand euros for the draft purchase contract. A well-prepared purchase contract saves time and money.
Once a purchase contract has been concluded and the buyer has transferred the purchase price, the handover is imminent. Depending on the property, keys and documents must be handed over, meter readings must be taken. It must be determined whether the property is handed over in the contractually agreed condition.
A good estate agent saves you time and money
Private sellers often do not realise that they have suffered financial losses due to the private sale. Professional estate agents take the burden off the property seller throughout the entire sales process, saving time and money. The range of services offered by a good estate agent extends from a free property valuation to high-quality marketing and price negotiation, right through to the legally impeccable purchase transaction and handover of the property.