How to sell an apartment: detailed instructions

How to sell: on your own or with the help of a realtor

Each option has its own pros and cons. When selling yourself, you will spend a lot of time and effort, including on the settlement of legal issues, but you will save on commission to the intermediary.

Selling an apartment with the help of a realtor is easier. All you need to do is find an intermediary, be present when viewing the apartment (preferably, but not necessary, if, for example, you are in another city) and when concluding a sale and purchase agreement. But the specialist will have to pay 2–6% of the value of the property for help.

How to choose a realtor

Denis Rumyantsev, managing partner of the Goodman Estate real estate agency, advises when choosing a realtor to pay attention to his competence, and not to the time of work in the market.

Denis Rumyantsev Managing Partner of Goodman Estate Real Estate Agency

The intermediary must have technical, economic, legal knowledge and be an appraiser, engineer, lawyer, broker, psychologist, salesman, marketer, photographer all rolled into one.

To be convinced of the realtor's competence, you can ask him to present documents confirming his knowledge: diplomas, attestations and certificates. Membership in professional communities, for example, in the Russian Guild of Realtors, will also be a marker of professional aptitude.

Be sure to ask how you can sell the apartment in the required time frame and at the highest possible price. Ask for personal sales successes in your area. It is also important to find "your" person with whom it would be comfortable, pleasant and easy to work and communicate.

How to choose a realtor and sell an apartment

How to sell an apartment without intermediaries

1. How to evaluate real estate

A correct assessment will allow you to sell an apartment quickly and not lose money. According to Denis Rumyantsev, average prices can be found on the website of the Federal State Statistics Service. But this portal is not the ultimate truth, since the cost of a particular apartment is made up of several factors. The price is influenced by:

Number of rooms.
The area of the apartment.
Layout: isolated rooms are valued higher than adjoining ones.
Adjacent territory, infrastructure: parking and a playground in the yard or nearby, grocery stores, schools and kindergartens within walking distance will allow you to sell an apartment at a higher price.
The floor on which the apartment is located: the higher the better.
The presence of a balcony or loggia.
District: the proximity to the center and public transport stops, the presence of nearby parks and recreation areas, and so on are taken into account.
The size of utility bills.

To independently set the price of an apartment, you need to find the most similar objects on the market. Use all available sources: classifieds sites, real estate magazines, and so on.

The average price for a similar apartment will be what you are looking for. It can be increased slightly if you are ready to wait for a deal for a long time, or slightly decreased if you need to sell the property urgently.

The object, the cost of which is 15% higher than the market value, accounts for up to 10% of all possible buyers, 10% - a third. A properly priced property will attract 60% of potential clients.

Denis Rumyantsev Managing Partner of Goodman Estate Real Estate Agency

2. What documents are needed to sell an apartment

To conclude a transaction on the sale and purchase of real estate, the seller must have in his hands:

passport;
certificate of ownership, if the apartment was purchased before July 15, 2016;
cadastral passport for an apartment from the BTI;
an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate (you need to take it at the territorial department of Rosreestr, or on the department's website, or at the MFC);
an extract from the house book on the number of persons registered in the apartment (go to the UK, HOA, ZhSK or MFC);
certificate of absence of debts on utility bills (HOA, housing cooperative, UK, housing office or the Unified Information and Settlement Center);
a certificate of the legality of the redevelopment, if it was carried out (BTI);
notarized consent of the spouse for the sale of real estate, if it was purchased in marriage;
permission from the guardianship authorities for the sale of an apartment if its owner is a minor.

3. How to advertise an apartment

To attract potential buyers, you need to correctly compose and place an advertisement for the sale of an apartment.

Take quality photos

It is not enough to casually take a photo of an apartment on the phone. Prepare your living space for filming. Remove from the frame all unnecessary, shabby, too everyday, unpleasant to the eye. Wipe off dust, wash plumbing, carefully place your shoes at the doorstep, disassemble tubes and jars on open shelves. Add some cozy elements: a bouquet of flowers to the kitchen table, decorative pillows to the sofa.

10 ways to transform an apartment without buying new things →

Shooting is best done on a sunny day.

Write attention-grabbing text

Make a detailed announcement indicating all the advantages of the apartment. The first part of the text should contain technical characteristics: the number of storeys of the house, the number of rooms, the presence of a loggia, and so on.

Think about the advantages of an apartment that are irrelevant to you, but may be of interest to the buyer. For example, it is not important for childless that there are kindergartens and schools nearby, but proximity to educational institutions is an advantage for a large family.

Post your ad

Select sites to advertise your apartment. Among the universal sites for the sale of real estate in Russia - Avito, Domofond, "Yandex. Real estate". There may be local ad space in your city.

Don't ignore social media. Place an advertisement for the sale of an apartment on your page and ask your friends to share it.

4. How to show an apartment and negotiate with a buyer

Prepare for the meeting

How to sell an apartment: Prepare for a meeting

Before demonstrating a property to potential buyers, you need to put in order not only the apartment, but also the entrance. Screw in bright lights on the staircase, wash or at least sweep it.

At home, glue the wallpaper that has moved away from the wall, wash the windows, clean the plums so that there is no unpleasant smell, clean up. You can bake a cake before meeting with the customer: it is not necessary to eat it, but the smell of fresh baked goods will create a pleasant feeling for the visitor.

Your task is to create a wow effect in any contact of a potential buyer with you and your object.

Denis Rumyantsev Managing Partner of Goodman Estate Real Estate Agency

Talk to customers the right way

You are well aware of not only the advantages, but also the disadvantages of the apartment. Look at it through the eyes of the buyer and think about what questions he might ask that will cause him dissatisfaction. Make a list of arguments that will win the comer to your side.

The potential buyer is likely to bargain. Especially if a reseller came to the meeting who is interested in bringing down the price as much as possible. Decide in advance to what cost you are ready to go down. The buyer can give various (including non-existent) arguments why you should sell the apartment cheaper. Do not succumb to psychological pressure, look at the situation soberly, defend your price.

5. How to conclude deposit and purchase agreements

Deposit agreement

This is a document that confirms the seriousness of the intentions of both sides. The buyer declares his desire to buy the property and gives the seller a certain amount (usually 2–5% of the total cost of the apartment). The owner of the apartment, in turn, undertakes to sell it to this particular client at the agreed price.

The agreement provides for sanctions in case of cancellation of the transaction for both parties. If the buyer changes his mind, the seller keeps the money for himself. If the owner of the property does not want to sell the apartment, he will refund the deposit in double the amount.

Contract of sale

Before the transaction, the seller must prepare a package of documents for the real estate and write out all the residents registered in the apartment.

The sales contract is usually drawn up with a notary. It is signed after you receive money for the apartment and write a receipt that the buyer has settled with you.

After signing the contract, you need to submit documents for registering the transfer of ownership of real estate to the territorial body of Rosreestr. The state duty for fixing the transaction will be 2,000 rubles.

6. How to transfer money

Through safe deposit boxes

The buyer rents a safe at the bank's depository and concludes an agreement with the institution, which sets out the conditions for access to the cell of the former owner of the apartment. For example, the presence of a sales contract.

The seller, in turn, rents a safe, where he puts a receipt on receipt of money. The buyer will be able to pick it up after the conclusion of the transaction on the terms specified in the cell lease agreement. For example, again, if there is a sales contract.

When filling in the cells, both parties to the transaction must be present. So the seller can count the money, and the buyer can make sure that the receipt is in place.

Through a notary deposit

A notary can conduct a transaction through his account: take the money from the buyer and transfer it to the seller. But the service, most likely, will include the bank's commission, the amount of which depends solely on the institution's appetites.

Cash transfer

You can exchange money for a receipt of receipt without tricks. In this case, it is worth counting them, examining each bill for authenticity. It is better to conduct a transaction under cameras or in front of witnesses (for example, in a notary's office).

Of course, you should not dwell on where and when you will receive a large amount of money in order to safely bring it to your home or bank.

7. How to transfer an apartment to a new owner

On the day the documents are submitted to Rosreestr, the seller hands over the keys to the apartment to the buyer. The parties sign the act of acceptance and transfer of the real estate object, which confirms that the buyer has left the apartment in proper form.

How to avoid fraud

In real estate transactions, the most vulnerable link is the buyer. But the seller also has something to pay attention to:

The transfer of money must take place before the signing of the sales contract. Otherwise, the seller runs the risk of being left without payment for the property: the deal has already been concluded and the buyer has no reason to hurry with the calculation. If you are dealing with a fraudster, he can quickly sell an apartment and disappear with a double portion of money: yours and the new buyer.
Do not hand over the original documents to either the buyers or the realtor before the completion of the transaction. Otherwise, the apartment may be sold without your knowledge.