If you are going to sell an apartment with the help of realtors, you will save yourself nerves and energy. On average, realtors charge 2-4% of the apartment price for their services. At the same time, the realtor will help with paperwork, find buyers through aggregator services or his contacts, and help to more accurately assess the cost of the apartment.
If you decide to sell an apartment through a real estate agency, the situation will be easier. The agency will send an appraiser to your apartment, after which a lawyer will help you arrange all the documents, and realtors will find buyers.
Moreover, if you are one owner, it will be easier to sell an apartment yourself. But if the sale scheme is more complicated: you have a preschool house for an apartment, the apartment is privatized or there are several shares, it is better to use the services of a realtor. There are situations when several people are involved in the sale and purchase of an apartment. Someone sells an apartment that has a mortgage, buys another apartment, and issues a new mortgage on it. Without the participation of a realtor, you can easily lose money and become homeless.
If you still decide to sell the apartment yourself, you will have to make an effort. Find buyers, inspect the apartment, and prepare documents. At the same time, you yourself bear the risks when preparing purchase and sale documents. We advise you to order a one-time service from a realtor so that he gets acquainted with your apartment and helps in drawing up the documents. This way you can save money and protect yourself from losing property in extreme situations.
Ownership documents
After you have decided how you will sell the apartment, check the information about it. Perhaps there are several owners in the apartment or there is an encumbrance about which you may not know if this is an apartment that has been inherited.
Apartment appraisal
If you decide to sell an apartment yourself, you need to evaluate it. The final cost of an apartment is influenced by many factors: infrastructure, adjoining territory, kitchen size, apartment footage, and other factors.
If you want to estimate an apartment approximately: look at the cost of an apartment in your area with the same footage and layout. After that, roughly understand the average price and push from it when selling an apartment. After listing the apartment on aggregator sites, track how many calls were made. If there are more than ten calls, you can increase the cost a little. If there are 1-2 calls, it is better to lower the price. This way you can find your buyer faster. Of course, if the price is now comfortable for you and you are in no hurry to sell the apartment, leave the price at the market level. If you are in a hurry, set the price 15-20% lower than the market price.
You can also order an appraiser. On average, services cost from three to five thousand rubles. At the same time, you will know for sure that you will not be cheap with your apartment, because the appraiser takes into account many factors that affect the final cost. Also, the appraiser at the end must give a certificate, which can be useful to people who want to buy your apartment on a mortgage.
Pre-sale preparation of the apartment
To quickly sell an apartment, prepare an apartment, and not only it. Often, potential buyers are set up to buy from the doorway. If there is garbage everywhere in the entrance, walls are covered with writing and unpleasant smell – most likely buyers will not buy an apartment.
Also, clean up most of the items in the apartment. Buyers pay for square meters, and they will fill them at their own discretion. Do a general cleaning – clean the walls from stains and dirt, wash the windows. The apartment should look impersonal at the end.
It is also worth doing cosmetic repairs. Pull up balcony doors, paint walls, or apply plain wallpaper. Changing the floor, repairing the batteries is better not. This will not particularly raise the price, and you will waste money and nerves. The most important thing is to level the walls and floor, check if pipes and taps are leaking, and there should be no leaks on the walls and ceiling.
Placement of advertisements for the sale of an apartment
After the renovation, you need to place your apartment on real estate websites. Before uploading your ad – take high-quality photos. You can make them yourself or order a photographer with a wide-angle camera. We also recommend adding a plan of the apartment to the photo.
After you have taken photos – write a description of the apartment. It is not worth writing “Basic infrastructure facilities are within walking distance.” Better like this: “A stop is 10 minutes walk, the school is across the street, and around the corner, there is a grocery store.”
You can also post on social networks announcing the sale of an apartment and tell your friends and family about the sale.
It is difficult to advertise an apartment on your own: you need to follow an ad on many sites, answer a bunch of calls, and place an ad in social media groups.
How to show an apartment to buyers
The better you prepare for viewing the apartment, the more expensive and faster you will sell it. Prepare copies of basic documents in advance: documents on payment of utility bills, and an apartment plan. Also, prepare to answer the main questions of buyers: when did the last repairs, what will remain of the furniture and things in the apartment, and how things are with sound insulation.
Ask potential buyers why they want to buy your apartment. If this is a married couple, focus on the safety of the apartment and proximity to the school, if the buyers are elderly people – that there is no blowing from the windows, and the neighbors are adequate.
If you know about the obvious shortcomings of the apartment, which will be paid attention to, figure out how to tell about them from the side of benefit. For example, if the windows are high, explain that this is safer for children and pets.
What documents are needed to sell an apartment
When selling an apartment, collect the documents for it in advance. It is definitely not possible to collect documents in a day. On average, this takes up to two weeks.
Contract of sale of an apartment
After the buyer has been identified and you have entered into a deposit agreement, you can conclude a purchase and sale agreement. The best thing is to draw up a contract with a lawyer or realtor. They will help you compose it correctly and prevent fatal mistakes. After that, certify the contract with a notary. This will make it easier for you to defend your apartment rights in court if things don’t go according to plan.
How and when will the money for the apartment be transferred
After you have transferred the rights to the property, you must transfer the money. There are several ways: in cash, through a letter of credit or a safe deposit box. They rarely give money in cash, therefore they most often use a letter of credit account in a bank.
Transfer of an apartment to a new owner
When you submit an application, sign the acceptance certificate. This means that the buyer has no questions about the property of the apartment and accepts it, and you are ready to sell it with everything that is specified in the act. Also, attach to the deed a certificate of absence of utility bills and certify the deed with a notary. This is not required, but you may find it useful in the future. After that, you can give the keys to the new owner and collect the money.