Purchases and sales without the help of real estate specialists can be caused by various reasons: from reasons of economy to reluctance to advertise the sale. Really, is it worth overpaying tens of thousands for something you can do on your own? The procedure for the homeowner to independently draw up an agreement on the alienation of real estate is practically no different from the same procedure, but with the participation of an intermediary company.
There are many nuances in this matter, but a careful and competent approach to each of them is the key to the successful sale of real estate and obtaining maximum benefits from the seller.
Schematically, the process of selling an apartment can be divided into stages (without a realtor or with him, it doesn’t matter):
- determining the cost of an apartment,
- searching for buyers,
- preparing real estate for sale,
- collecting a package of documents,
- meetings with potential buyers and demonstration of the apartment,
- receiving a deposit,
- execution of the transaction.
Moreover, stages 2-4 should occur in parallel.
Reasonable price
Orientation in the field of supply and demand for housing on the secondary market will help the owner in establishing the cost of his apartment. A detailed study of Internet real estate sites and corresponding sections in newspapers, an analysis of the cost of apartments in the same area and with similar parameters will point you in the right direction. Of course, this does not mean that all apartments with similar characteristics cost the same. However, the apartment owner will get a rough idea of whether it makes sense to reduce the transaction amount, if necessary, or not.
Advertisements for sale
Actively advertising your apartment on leading real estate sites in the city is extremely important. If an apartment is one of the most popular among various categories of buyers, then numerous, relevant, fresh advertisements about it in various sections of the online purchase and sale service will attract a lot of interested parties to it. Most small real estate offices in large cities look for clients for their properties in this way. Photographs of the apartment from the most favorable angles increase the number of calls from buyers several times.
An alternative to advertising on the Internet is advertising an apartment in local newspapers in the section for selling apartments on the secondary market. Due to widespread access to the Internet, this type of advertising has recently become less and less popular. In addition, one of its disadvantages is that when submitting an application, the owner publishes a personal telephone number in the newspaper, while the editorial office retains the address and passport information.
Pre-sale preparation
The reality is that in a big city, the repairs and condition of the apartment do not have a decisive impact on its value. Buyers are ready in advance to redo the renovation to suit themselves. However, clean and “fresh” apartments sell faster, so if it is important to quickly sell your home, you need to prepare it. There is no point in doing a major overhaul, but general cleaning and replacing dilapidated wallpaper and textiles with inexpensive options are quite justified. It is necessary to restore order not only in the apartment, but also around it: remove trash from the landing, ventilate and wash it.
To sell an apartment, you need to prepare documents and perform a number of procedures:
- Apartment registration certificate issued by BTI. It contains a floor plan and inventory data. Its validity period is 5 years, so, if necessary, it is better to call an inspector in advance and update the document, since it takes 2-3 weeks to issue it. All unauthorized redevelopment must be formalized before the sale; without this, the transaction may be frozen.
- Notarized consent of the spouse, refusal of the co-owners if the apartment was in shared ownership.
- All prescribed items must be written out. This issue should be addressed in advance, since re-registration, especially for minors, can take months. A certificate from the house register is valid for 1 month.
- Documents confirming the absence of debt on utility bills.
Apartment demonstration
After publishing the advertisement, the seller must be prepared to accept applications for her visit, and after setting the date and time of the showing, to the presence of strangers who may be interested in the smallest details. On the other hand, people looking for an option with specific characteristics, as a rule, initially know what they need to pay attention to first of all, and are unlikely to find fault on any occasion if, upon inspection, these parameters of the housing satisfy them.
Bargaining when selling an apartment is inevitable. When discussing the price of an apartment, an immediate reduction in the amount on the part of the seller, as a concession, will not play into the hands.
The owner, who realistically evaluates all the advantages and disadvantages of his home and the possibility of selling it, has the opportunity to independently decide whether he should adjust the assigned price, or whether he should wait a moment.
From the point of view of real estate specialists, you should not “cling on” to the very first client who wants to close a deal with a given apartment at a given price. Such a fact of interest may mean an excessively low price of housing in comparison with similar offers.
When an agreement is reached
After the parties have reached an initial agreement on the transaction, the next step should be the signing of a preliminary contract and an agreement on the payment of a deposit by the buyer. Without complying with these formalities, the risk arises for both the seller and the buyer. The owner of the apartment, convinced that the transaction will certainly take place, by removing advertisements for sale, puts himself at risk of wasting time if the unscrupulous buyer, despite the agreement, continues to consider other options. There may also be danger for the buyer if the apartment owner receives a more advantageous offer from a third party.
The law assumes the legal responsibility of the parties, both when making a deposit and when signing an advance payment agreement for an apartment. When signing an agreement with the buyer and accepting the deposit, the seller must be extremely careful in studying the text of the document, since unintentional termination of contractual obligations will entail financial losses on his part, for example, the return of double the amount of the advance payment.
An obligatory point at this stage is the agreement on the date when the owner and his family members undertake to vacate the apartment, both legally (by issuing an extract from this living space) and actually (to transport personal belongings and interior items from the apartment).
Necessary documentation for preparing the transaction
Preparing a full package of documents for a transaction, as well as carefully checking it for compliance with legal norms and established deadlines, is a labor-intensive procedure and requires a lot of time. Currently, the law recognizes 22 types of documents indicating the right of owners to residential premises, with which it is possible to enter into a transaction. A certificate of registration of ownership is not necessary when selling an apartment, but its absence may cause hesitation among buyers. It is worth stocking up on a copy of the law or suggesting that buyers seek any legal advice. On the buyer's part, if he or she is married, a notarized consent of the spouse will be required to purchase the home.
Mutual settlements with the buyer and registration of ownership
The most popular and safe payment option for both parties when concluding a purchase and sale agreement is to rent a deposit box in a bank chosen by the parties. The apartment seller needs to exercise increased caution in relation to the financial organization in order to protect himself and his property. To avoid illegal actions on the part of the homebuyer and his authorized representatives, monetary transactions should be carried out, if possible, in a place that satisfies both parties, and all issues related to the transfer of money should be settled at the stage of concluding the advance agreement.
The procedure is as follows. The seller, buyer and bank employee deposit the money, after checking it, into a deposit box, the key to which is kept in the bank. Seizure occurs after the contract has been registered with the Federal Registration Service, that is, after a month.
After agreeing on the nuances of the financial security of the transaction between the parties, the purchase and sale agreement is subject to registration, by agreement of the parties, either in notarial form or in the department of justice.
Vacancy of the apartment
After registering an agreement on the sale of a residential property, the former owner and members of his family must contact the passport office and register the deregistration of this living space, as well as transport personal belongings and household items from the apartment. The actual execution of the order to vacate the apartment is confirmed by an act of acceptance and transfer, usually simultaneously with the transfer of keys and receipts for repayment of utility debts. The act is characterized by a simple written form of execution, it is a mandatory annex to the purchase and sale agreement for housing and implies the practical fulfillment of the obligations of the parties.
Do you need to sell the apartment yourself?
The modern market for the purchase and sale of apartments has a fairly low percentage of offers that are on pure sale. Approximately 80% of apartment sales transactions involve the selection of an alternative option for simultaneous purchase. If this is your case, and you plan to immediately look for a new housing option, then keep in mind that when buying an apartment through an agency, you will have to pay a larger commission than if you immediately arranged the exchange through a realtor. Independent sale becomes economically justified if the owner plans to purchase an apartment in a new building, directly from the developer, or will look for the same apartment for free sale.
Selling a home yourself, although it involves saving money due to the absence of commissions to a real estate agency, will require a much greater investment of time. You will have to plan your vacation in advance or agree on time off at work. Naturally, the amount saved on a realtor should exceed what the owner could earn for the time spent.
Do you want to change your living space to a larger one or move to another city? This means that you have to start selling the apartment. By selling it yourself, you can save a lot on real estate services and control every stage of this important transaction. But remember that the process of buying and selling a home is not easy, time-consuming and requires good legal knowledge in the field of real estate. Get ready for time and financial costs.
Selling an apartment - documents and transaction procedure
Now let's look at the step-by-step algorithm of the process itself. For such an event, the stages of the transaction are as follows: determining the market value of the housing being sold, preparing the apartment for sale, drawing up the necessary set of documents, putting up your own advertising offer on the real estate market, searching for buyers and negotiating with them, concluding a preliminary purchase and sale agreement, the procedure for signing the money the main agreement with the registration of the buyer as the new owner, the transfer of funds for the housing being sold and the procedure for transferring the apartment to the new owner.
So, let's start with assessing our home. What does this process look like? Most often, prices are compared using different sources of information - advertising newspapers, real estate websites, choosing similar options. Using data from real estate agencies, you can make a fairly detailed selection that will help you better understand the current price level for similar options.
What to consider
You should “link” your desire to sell your precious home as profitably as possible with the actual state of affairs on the market. The price of an apartment purchase and sale transaction depends on its condition. If there are a lot of similar offers, the cost of apartments decreases somewhat. You can take polar options - the most expensive and the cheapest. The real amount is approximately in the middle.
If you want to make a deal quickly, you should lower the price a little and bring it closer to the budget option. But this policy is hardly justified when prices on the housing market are growing before our eyes, for example, during periods of rapid inflation. Then selling an apartment quickly and cheaply means selling it at a loss.
Preparing the apartment
At the next stage, we prepare our home for sale, and also collect the necessary set of documents. You can give your apartment a new look by making minor cosmetic repairs. This will immediately make it more competitive compared to its peers. Sometimes, in this way, by spending very little money, you can significantly increase the cost of the home being sold.
When the sale begins, remove furniture and other things, leave the apartment as free, spacious, and uncluttered as possible. An empty, neat apartment looks more presentable and impressive in the eyes of potential buyers. Of course, all citizens who previously lived there should already be resettled by this time.
Now about the documents
If an apartment is to be sold, the documents and procedure for the transaction are a key issue. The procedure for collecting the necessary “papers” is one of the most important stages of the case. Documents not submitted on time or incorrectly drawn up can become an obstacle that can delay or even cancel the transaction procedure. Delay in this matter is unacceptable, because there are many options on the housing market, and the buyer can change his mind about purchasing yours at any time.
In addition, competent execution of the entire necessary list of documents eliminates doubts of the future owner in such an important issue as checking legal purity. In order to comply with all the rules, it is best to entrust the support of the apartment sale transaction to a competent lawyer and be sure to fully study the requirements set by the registration authority for such documents.
All numbers and data contained in the technical documentation must correspond exactly to reality in order to avoid further misunderstandings. We remind you once again - in such a matter as the sale of an apartment, documents and the procedure for the transaction - first of all!
What exactly is needed
What documents exactly are needed? First of all, this is confirmation that the seller is the owner and has the right to sell the property. This is a registration certificate. No less important are the identity documents of everyone who is among the owners of the property being sold. These are civil passports of adult owners and birth certificates for children under 14 years of age.
The main property document, also necessary when making a transaction, is the registration certificate for the apartment (or cadastral passport). When selling real estate, a marriage certificate must be presented and, without fail, the consent of the second spouse to the alienation of property. If one of the owners is a minor, you cannot do without the permission of the guardianship authority.
In addition, you will definitely need to take an extract from the house register, which lists everyone who is registered in the apartment. Another important document from the Housing Office is confirmation of the absence of debts on utility bills. The package is completed by the main document that you will have to draw up if you come to a mutual agreement - the purchase and sale agreement, the form of which we provide here.
Search for a client
How to find a buyer? Your decision to sell your home should be made public through as many sources of information as possible. Place an ad in the most popular media, on Internet sites of relevant topics. You should also work on the text. Your proposal must be formulated specifically, concisely, include the main technical characteristics of the apartment being sold and be sure to mention competitive advantages in the housing market.
Sometimes it is more convenient for an owner, especially a busy one, to contact a real estate agency and delegate all the work to specialists. Selling an apartment, documents and transaction procedures, details of registration, checking the legal purity of real estate - real estate specialists are able to resolve these and many other issues on a professional level - of course, not for free.
Drawing up a preliminary purchase and sale agreement
Why is this document necessary? Its task is to protect both parties to the transaction - both the seller and the buyer. Each of them runs the risk that the other may abandon their plan at the most inopportune moment. The seriousness of intentions is confirmed by the procedure for the buyer to provide the seller with a deposit. This is part of the future value of the purchased home. If the buyer changes his mind about participating in the transaction, the deposit remains with the seller.
If the seller changes his mind, the deposit, according to established practice, most often must be returned in double amount. This provision forces both parties to the transaction to take the issue seriously.
The size of the deposit, its amount and terms of return, the timing of the main transaction - everything must be recorded in detail in the preliminary agreement. Such a document does not have a rigid standard form; it is usually drawn up arbitrarily with the obligatory indication of the addresses and passport details of all parties, a description of the housing indicating the main technical characteristics (and, of course, the address), the amount of the deposit paid and the deadlines within which mutual obligations must be fulfilled . The agreement is signed by both parties with the date of conclusion.
How does the payment procedure work?
One of the key points is the cash payment for the housing being sold. It is extremely important to arrange it competently from a financial and legal point of view. It is possible to make such a calculation either at the stage of concluding a contract, or when both parties sign the act of actual acceptance and transfer of residential real estate.
Most often, such a procedure is carried out through an intermediary in the form of a bank, whose task is to guarantee that the seller receives the specified amount. It is important for the buyer to be confident that his property rights will be successfully implemented.
In general, the procedure occurs as follows: the designated amount of money is recalculated in the presence of all participants in the transaction under the control of a bank employee, sealed in a special bag on which both parties sign, and then placed in the bank. After the transaction is properly completed and the new owner’s ownership of the home is registered, the bank issues the agreed amount to the seller.
Registration of an apartment purchase and sale transaction
Let's move on to signing the main document. How exactly is the purchase and sale agreement drawn up? It is not necessary to use a standard sample form. The parties have the right to conclude an agreement in any written form; it is most reliable to do this with the participation of a notary. He will check the presence of all the necessary components of this important document, namely, the mandatory details of each of the parties, the price of the alienated property, the exact address of its location, a technical description with data from the cadastral passport.
Also, the contract must certainly contain a description of how and at what time payment for the housing being sold is carried out. The time frame within which the actual transfer of the apartment to the new owner must be indicated and the act of acceptance and transfer must be signed.
Completes an event such as the sale of an apartment, registration of the transaction. Having signed the agreement, the parties are obliged to contact the territorial registration authority of the area where the housing being sold is located. After the transfer of ownership rights, it is necessary to sign the final document in the form of an acceptance certificate for the sold apartment.
All documents are drawn up in quantities equal to the number of parties to the transaction. Once signed, the seller has the right to contact the bank demanding the release of funds stored in his safe deposit box. At this stage, the transaction for the sale of the apartment can be considered closed.
Purchasing a home is a very complex and responsible task that requires careful consideration of every moment, be it choosing a seller or preparing documents.
Each step must be taken without haste and rely on the support of qualified specialists in the field of real estate issues.
Real estate prices in Russia are high and subject to constant fluctuations. Therefore, you immediately need to determine which apartment and the size of living space you can apply for with the available amount.
It is better to make any purchase with your own own funds. Alternatively, this is the accumulation of money in a bank account, income from the sale of real estate, a car, etc.
Those who do not have personal money for a large purchase have to resort to lending, which is often the only way to gain your own square meters.
For example, a salary of 20 - 30 thousand rubles is already enough to obtain a loan of 1.5 million rubles. For this amount in most cities you can buy a one-room apartment, or even a two-room apartment.
Purchasing housing through realtors
The traditional way to find a suitable option has long been the media. But advertisements in the newspaper or on television never conveyed the most necessary information - who is the owner, who is registered in the apartment, whether it has apartments.
Currently, an increasing number of buyers are turning to services real estate agencies.
Even in small towns you can find similar offices and ask for support directly. In addition, agents place advertisements about their services on the Internet on specialized websites and bulletin boards of information portals.
When choosing an agency, it is better to consider several options and choose the best one.
A conscientious company, as a rule, is characterized by the following features:
The company takes on many tasks, which greatly simplifies the process.
But the agency, as an intermediary, charges a certain amount for its work. For different companies it ranges from 2% before 5% from the market value of the apartment.
Verification of apartment owners and seller
This step must be approached with great care, since due to the imperfections of Russian legislation, there is a possibility of becoming a victim of fraud.
Cases are not uncommon forgery of documents when, after completing a transaction, it turns out that the seller and the real owner are completely different persons.
The violation of the law may be very old and may not be revealed immediately. This further aggravates the problem, because if such facts are discovered about the illegal actions of past owners, there is a risk that the purchase and sale transaction will be declared invalid, and bona fide buyers will be evicted from the apartment.
Only specialists can effectively perform such a check, but you need to know what can affect the concluded contract:
- Deviations in the mental and physical health of the seller (alcoholism, drug addiction, age-related and neurological diseases).
- Lack of legal grounds for owning an apartment (fake certificate of ownership, fake power of attorney for the right to dispose of the apartment, etc.).
- The presence of several property rights holders, including minors.
- The owner has problems with the law (is wanted, under investigation, serving a sentence in prison).
- Availability (mortgage, seizure of property, penalties).
Verification of documents confirming ownership
Real estate agency specialists, together with the buyer, must check:
The certificate confirms a person’s ownership of the property, and it also indicates on the basis of which title document it was issued. Only after receiving this certificate can you dispose of your property.
Checking for encumbrances
In this area, encumbrances are usually called restrictions on transactions with real estate. These restrictions are related to rights of third parties. In other words, some individuals and organizations may have property claims to the residential premises being sold.
To obtain it, you must prepare a package of the following documents:
- Application for registration of property rights.
- Purchase and sale agreement or other title document.
- A document confirming payment of the state duty.
This can be done in person by presenting your passport, or using an electronic form or by mail.
Documents submitted in electronic form must be confirmed by the electronic signature of the applicant. In the case of mail, the application and the accompanying documents of title, including a copy of the passport, must be notarized.
Within 10 days after all documents are received by the authorized body, the state registration procedure is carried out, after which the owner of the residential premises receives the appropriate certificate.
In an interview, a professional lawyer explains in detail the procedure for concluding an apartment purchase and sale transaction. It talks about possible nuances, difficulties and fraud schemes when making real estate transactions.
How an apartment purchase and sale transaction occurs is interesting both to those who are encountering this for the first time, and to those who participated in the process relatively recently: legislation is changing, the procedure is being improved. The stages of concluding transactions remain unchanged.
Having found your dream home among a number of offers, be prepared for a long process of finalizing the purchase and sale of an apartment.
Almost all real estate properties are sold through intermediaries.
A standard agreement with a real estate agency specifies its responsibility for selecting a property and providing consulting services. In fact, they cannot, and from the point of view of the law are not obliged, to guarantee the legal purity of housing, and, therefore, of the transaction itself. In the purchase and sale agreement (both preliminary and main) the realtor is not even indicated.
Initially, before signing an agreement with a realtor, the legal purity of the property is checked by studying:
- Form 7 (technical characteristics of the object) and (or) cadastral passport;
- Form 9, which contains information about everyone registered in the apartment;
- receipts for payment of utility bills, certificate of absence of debt;
- title documents for the object - a certificate of ownership and a document confirming the basis for the emergence of such a right (exchange agreement, privatization, sale and purchase, certificate of inheritance).
At this stage, realtors usually present copies. Request the originals, because they may be registered with the justice system for another transaction, and the advance (deposit) will already be paid.
By the time the main contract is concluded, the seller, in addition to the above, is obliged to provide:
- an extract from the Unified State Register, which will indicate the current owners and encumbrances (whether the property has been seized or pledged);
- power of attorney for the right to sell, issued by the spouse (if any);
- if one of the owners is under guardianship (a child or incompetent), then permission from the guardianship authorities will be required. The document is issued within a month from the date of application.
You should not count on special help from a credit institution when getting a mortgage. The lender will defend his own interests - the object, life (and sometimes the title) of the borrower will be insured, and his obligation to fully repay the debt (if insurance payments are insufficient) is stated in the contract.
Important: when checking the list of persons who have ever been registered in a given territory, you need to clarify:
- whether the rights of all those registered at the time of privatization, especially minors and incompetents, were respected;
- the circle of heirs, if the housing was inherited, and whether there were any questions.
Certificates from a mental health clinic and guardianship authorities will help dispel suspicions, but only the owner of the property can obtain them. Refusal to provide such information in controversial situations is a reason to more carefully check other securities and, if the transaction does take place,,insure the title (the risk of alienation - loss of ownership - of the property).
If the amount required for the purchase is on hand, you can, after checking the documents for the apartment, conclude a deal. A preliminary purchase and sale agreement will help protect the property you like from the claims of other buyers, if there is a need to wait (for a mortgage, for the sale of other property).
In this document, in addition to the fundamental points about the object of sale and purchase, it is important to indicate:
1 – terms:
- conclusion of an agreement;
- transfer of money;
- actual transfer of the apartment to the buyer;
- deregistration of persons who are strangers to the buyer;
2 – calculation procedure:
- – will there be an advance payment and in what form:
advance payment (in case of cancellation of the purchase and sale agreement at the initiative of the buyer, this amount remains with the seller)
a deposit that will be returned to the buyer if either party refuses to sign the main document;
- sources of payment for the cost of the object (which part is paid from own funds, which from borrowed funds);
- volumes of payments and methods of transferring money;
- for payment of utilities;
- special conditions (whether furniture, expensive plumbing fixtures will remain, which can be replaced with a cheaper analogue by the time the apartment is transferred, etc.).
It is necessary to agree and stipulate in the contract (both basic and preliminary) who will pay the associated costs of transferring money (cost of renting a locker, commission for a bank transfer), in whose name the funds will be received.
Drawing up the main contract is an even more important process than drawing up a preliminary agreement.
It will clarify the settlement procedure between the parties, specifying who will accept the money and how. If an advance (deposit) was paid, this must be indicated.
Pay attention to the description of the apartment: the more detailed this is done, the better. In addition to the address, you should write down:
- cadastral number;
- area, both general and residential;
- parameters of the house (year of its construction, material from which it was built);
- location of the object inside the house (entrance number, floor).
Please clarify other points (on terms of transfer of housing, on the list of property that remains in the apartment).
Calculation
Calculation is possible in the following ways:
- in cash;
- money transfer;
- through a safe deposit box;
- letter of credit.
In the first case, we are usually talking about an advance (deposit). The transfer of money must be documented with a receipt. It is written by hand or typed on a computer. But it should describe in as much detail as possible:
- who received the money (specifically which of the sellers, if there are several), his passport details, information about his place of residence (registration);
- basis for payment (purchase and sale agreement, its imprint);
- It is advisable to involve a witness who will make a note that the funds were transferred in his presence. The document should also indicate his passport details.
They try to make a bank transfer directly on the day of the transaction before visiting a notary or judicial authorities. Confirmation of the transfer of money will be a debit order issued by the bank. A copy of the paper can be given to the seller after presenting the original.
A safe deposit box is often used when purchasing an apartment with a mortgage. The seller and buyer together enter into an agreement with the bank to open it. The document will state who and under what conditions has the right to enter the safe space and use the key, i.e. get money.
In the normal course of a transaction, on the day it is concluded, the buyer receives borrowed funds or brings his own cash. Both the seller and the buyer enter the safe space together, check the stacks, whether the pledged amount complies with the terms of the contract, put the money in the safe and leave for the transaction. After its registration, the following have the right to return for money:
- the seller, upon presentation to the bank employee of the registered purchase and sale agreement and passport;
- the buyer upon expiration of the agreed period if the transaction does not take place.
Letter of credit is a bank account opened by the buyer; the seller has the right to dispose of it after registering the transaction and presenting the necessary papers. The scheme is similar to the scheme with a safe deposit box.
Transaction registration 
Ownership of a property comes only at the time of making a record of the state registration of this fact in the state register (USRE), and not immediately after the documents are transferred to the registrar.
Documents required for registration:
- passports (birth certificates for minors, residence permits or national passports with a registration mark from the Department of Internal Affairs for foreigners) and copies of them from all participants in the operation;
- power of attorney, if one of the parties acts through a representative or is married (then a certificate of its conclusion is also required);
- permission from the guardianship authorities if one of the sellers is a minor or incapacitated;
- cadastral passport;
- title documents;
- application for registration (printed by the registrar);
- receipt (copy) of payment of state duty.
After checking the package of papers, both parties are given a receipt confirming its receipt. The document will be required for:
- tracking the registration process online or by phone;
- obtaining a certificate of ownership and a registered agreement.
The transaction can also be completed by a notary, but the transfer of ownership of the apartment is still subject exclusively to state registration with the justice authorities. MFCs provide a similar service.
The presence of errors in documents (any), or the provision of an incomplete set of papers is grounds for suspension of registration or refusal of it.
If the property has been owned for less than 5 years (if there was a donation, inheritance or privatization - 3 years) and costs more than 1 million rubles, then the seller will be required to pay 13% income tax on the transaction amount exceeding the specified amount. To avoid this, a lower price is indicated in the contract. For the buyer, this is fraught with the fact that in the event of proceedings in court, the latter will proceed from the fact that only the amount stated in the document was paid for the apartment.
The way out is to indicate that the property is being sold for 1 million rubles, but it is accompanied by inseparable improvements worth X rubles, where X is the total cost of the property minus 1 million rubles. Similar formulations are also acceptable to credit organizations that issue mortgage loans.
But the buyer has the right to receive a tax deduction once in his life in connection with the purchase of housing for the amount specified in the contract (no more than 2 million rubles). If you indicate a lower value, he may lose part of the tax deduction amount. If the documents indicate 1 million, and 2 million are paid, then the losses will be:
(2,000,000 – 1,000,000) x 0.13 = 260,000 rubles.
Also, the seller is exempt from paying personal income tax if he sells his only home.
Do not be shy! If you are not sure, ask to see the papers and the object again and again, check them carefully (even if slowly). You pay a lot of money, you have the right to check everything that seems suspicious, to clarify any controversial issues.
If the complaints relate to the quality of housing, bargain. It is quite possible to reduce the required amount by part of the cost of future repairs.
If the conditions are not satisfactory, you should refuse the transaction or postpone it.
In this article you can read advice from a lawyer and investor in the real estate market on how to competently sell an apartment,
how to properly sell an apartment yourself, what documents are needed for this, what mistakes should be avoided, etc.
Quite often in my practice I encounter questions
clients on how to buy and sell an apartment without risk. We will talk about how to buy an apartment another time, but today I would like to dwell in more detail on the topic of how to competently sell an apartment and how to sell an apartment without the help of an agency.
Usually, all such articles boil down to the fact that selling an apartment yourself is very difficult and risky. This, in my opinion, is not so. After all, you don’t have to decorate the apartment yourself; you can entrust this to specialists.
If you have a question about how to sell an apartment without a realtor and you are sure that you can do everything yourself, then you can often earn or save an amount comparable to the average income for six months. Is there any point in working a little?
Tip No. 1. Selling an apartment without the help of a real estate agency is easy, but buying it is much more difficult.
What is this rule about? If you just want to sell your apartment and get money, then everything is relatively simple. You evaluate the apartment, advertise, decorate, etc., but more on that in the following rules.
What if you don’t need the money from the sale of the apartment itself? If you want to buy another apartment in the future, a surprise may await you here. It turns out that almost no one sells apartments without realtors. If you don’t believe me, you can look at several apartments where you think people are advertising privately. It turns out, in 80% of cases, that this advertisement was given by a realtor, and in the remaining 20%, most apartments are sold at such inflated prices that it will be cheaper to buy through a real estate agency.
So you can get into trouble, as happened to me once. For example, you sold an apartment and you have money in your hands. But you sold the apartment yourself for a reason, but in order to save money or get a higher price for your apartment. Now, if you want to buy an apartment, you will pay the Real Estate Agency approximately 6% of the purchase amount. And if there was an exchange option, then you would pay 4% of the purchase amount, and sell your apartment without interest. Where is the benefit?
Therefore, the conclusions from the first rule are:
- sell an apartment without an agency when you only need money, and not exchange the apartment for another.
Or even if this is an exchange, but you only need money, because... you are moving to another city, or buying an apartment in a new building from the construction customer. In this case, it is also profitable for you to sell the apartment yourself.
— if you have an exchange option, then be prepared for the fact that there are practically no Sellers of apartments on the market who would sell them on their own. Accordingly, you will have to look for them yourself. Searching for them through advertisements is almost useless. You will need to independently advertise in newspapers, the Internet, and magazines, which means incurring the costs of both time and money. In addition, in a growing real estate market, there is a risk that if you wait, you will no longer be able to buy the apartment you planned with your money. If you are ready for this and you have time and money, then go ahead. By selling an apartment yourself and buying another apartment, you can earn or save quite a decent amount. If you are not ready, then contact Real Estate Agencies.
It's pretty simple. But once again I want to return you to rule No. 1. All other rules are techniques. Their implementation, if properly understood, is very simple. Much can be entrusted to others for very little money. But developing a strategy is your business.
Total, determining the price of real estate. The algorithm is approximately the following. We take magazines and newspapers with real estate prices. We discard extreme price options. Of the remaining ones, in a falling market, we take prices closer to the lower ones. When the market is growing - closer to the upper prices. Here's your price.
If you are not in a hurry, then set a higher price. In extreme cases, if you made a mistake, then a couple of months without one call or potential buyer will put you in your place.
If you are in a hurry, then of course, set the price a little lower than the market price. In addition, look for buyers with simple transactions. That is, those who have money in their hands, and not those who, in order to pay you off, need to sell their apartment, for which there is not even a buyer yet.
Tip No. 3. Get the documents for your apartment in complete order.
Your documents for the apartment should be as ready as possible. Otherwise, from 20 to 70% of buyers will “evaporate” because they don’t have the time or desire to wait for you to finish everything. This rule, like many of you, will probably seem obvious to me. However, as practice shows, what is obvious to you is not always obvious to other people. What do I mean by the maximum degree of document readiness:
— If necessary, update the technical documentation, that is, documents from the BTI (Bureau of Technical Inventory). According to existing rules, these documents are valid for 5 years from the date of inventory. Take them out and look at them. If necessary, update, don’t delay. Urgent running around later is 2-3 times more expensive, and as I already said, there is a high probability of losing a buyer. Moreover, during the inventory, redevelopment of the apartment may come up, which you might have already forgotten about. And to legitimize it will also require time and money;
— Register your documents with the Justice (Federal Registration Service), even if this is not necessary. For example, if you bought, inherited, paid a share in the housing cooperative for an apartment in 1993, then you do not need in law registration of documents at the Justice Institution. However, I recommend that you still go through this procedure. Many people do not understand at all that documents for an apartment come without a Certificate of Registration and, accordingly, they are afraid of transactions where the documents are not registered. And if you sell without a realtor, then the fear will be even greater;
— Write everyone out and get consent from all the people (if you are selling the room), which will then be difficult to collect. And those that are easy to assemble are even better. For example, you once registered a relative in your apartment a long time ago, who is ready to check out at any time. Let him sign out now. Then anything can happen. He may get sick, go on a long business trip, etc. If possible, sign out yourself. Get everyone's consent. For example, your wife lives in Germany and you need to obtain her notarized consent to sell (purchase) an apartment. Theoretically, there is nothing complicated. We go to court in Germany, certify, translate, send, affix an Apostille here, etc. But do it better in advance. And then I saw how from one word Apostille a potential buyer ran away. And even if your wife is not in Germany, but next to you, it is also better to do everything in advance. It’s difficult for me, without knowing your situation, to say exactly what other documents need to be done, maybe exchange a passport that is expiring, get a refusal to purchase shared owners, etc. and so on. I'll just say it again, do everything in advance.
Tip No. 4. Be active in your advertising campaign.
One of the main mistakes of those who want to sell their apartment on their own is that they know everything, but do little. You can write advice, they will read it and say: “We didn’t find anything new for ourselves in these tips.” And when you start asking: “Is this done, and this, and this?”, it turns out that one thing is half done, the second is not done at all, and the third is “here, let’s start doing it.” And this “here we go” has been going on for about a month.
Therefore, I don’t think that I will discover anything new for you in the methods of conducting an advertising campaign, just act, and not half, but in full. After all, if you decide to sell an apartment without the help of a real estate agency, then you need to take over their work.
How to proceed? Here are the commonly used advertising methods:
— Post your ad on the Internet. This method has been gaining momentum lately and that’s why I put it in first place. Given its relative cheapness and ease of use, its effectiveness is almost maximum. Where to place it? Here, every city has its own rules. Where I live, there are two or three large sites where you can post ads for free. Then the ads need to be updated periodically. The effectiveness of this method, as I already said, is good. In addition to such free methods, of course, there are many offers for paid advertising on the Internet. You can waste a lot of money here. If you decide on paid advertising, then think about where and why you decided to give it. Let's do it for the shortest possible time;
— Advertisements in newspapers or magazines. Choose one or two of the most popular publications and advertise several times. Give us the cheapest line ads for three to four weeks in advance. This is usually enough. If you have a very expensive apartment or cottage, then of course you can and should do a more active advertising campaign. You can give photo advertisements, banners, etc. The effect of advertising is quite good. Of course, I'm talking about a good effect if you haven't made a mistake in determining the price of real estate. If the price is too high, then you can even advertise on television and not get a return;
— Posting advertisements. This way I
I consider it to be the least effective. However, if the apartment is average and
low price category, then it works. The only thing is
I can advise on this method, this is what if you decide
to use it, you need a lot of ads. In general, than
the more the better. If you decide that 100-200 pieces is
a lot, you may be disappointed. At least 300-500 pieces.
Accordingly, if you need to post so much, it’s better to have someone
hire or ask. I tried it, it's quite a tedious job;
— Placing an advertisement for sale directly on the glass of the apartment. I haven't used this method myself. However, those who use it say that it works well, especially if the apartment windows overlook public streets;
— Well, the last method is to call real estate agencies and put your apartment up for sale. If your goal is only to make money, then you can skip this point. However, sometimes people begin to make independent efforts to sell an apartment, because they believe that real estate agencies are not doing anything, and they need to sell it urgently and not for nothing. This is where I often agree with these people. It happens that real estate agencies, other than entering into their database, do nothing special, even if this is a so-called “exclusive agreement”. But nevertheless, there is an effect from real estate agencies. Many people, if they need to find an apartment, do not even look at advertisements, but immediately call real estate agencies, many also call based on advertisements from agencies, to which they give quite a lot. Therefore, if you do not sell an apartment yourself in principle, then use real estate agencies as well. This is a fairly effective method.
Tip No. 5. Think immediately about who will and how to formalize the real estate transaction, as well as how the transfer of money will take place.
When selling an apartment on your own, someone will have to fill out a deposit (if you have one), a sales contract and check the collected package of documents,
register real estate in the Federal
Registration Service, etc. Although usually there is nothing particularly difficult about this, and if you understand this, you can do everything yourself. However, for most people, a consultation and a person who would formalize everything is needed.
Find this person and find out the cost and detailed transaction procedure in advance.
The second important question is the procedure for transferring money for an apartment. In Justice (Federal Registration Service) no one will let you count your money. However, as a rule, you must already sign a document stating that you have received the money in full. If, after leaving Justice, the Buyer does not give you the money, and such cases have happened, then you will not do anything either through the court or through the police - I guarantee you this.
If the Buyer agrees to give the money to Justice, then great, take the money. If the apartment is expensive and you have agreed to use a safe deposit box, then great. In other cases, I recommend using the services of a real estate agency to complete the transaction.
Remember that the Real Estate Agency takes 90% of the commission money for finding a Buyer or Seller and 10% for registration. Therefore, if you find a Buyer yourself, then often for a symbolic amount, about 10% of the amount that they would usually charge for their services, they can help you prepare all the documents and provide settlements. It makes sense to look for a Buyer yourself, but registering it yourself is quite risky and I would not advise you to do so.
Here, in fact, are all the tips on how to properly sell an apartment yourself. If you have a little free time and desire, then you will definitely figure it out and everything will work out for you.
Best regards, Rashid Kirranov.
