Selling an apartment or house is not easy. At least that’s what we hear from real estate brokers who cannot recommend self-selling for perfectly logical reasons. But is it really so hard that you can’t handle it yourself? Whether your motivation for starting to sell without the help of a real estate agent is the desire to avoid paying commission, or you simply don’t trust brokers, we’ll tell you how to proceed, what to look out for and when it’s better to seek the help of a professional.
Before you go into selling on your own, you need to consider your time options. While many things are taken care of by a real estate agent when selling with a real estate agent, when selling a flat, house or building plot without a real estate agent, you have to take care of everything yourself. Not only do you have to take into account the time you will spend preparing the property for sale, but also the time you will have to spend afterwards to see the interested parties and take care of the legalities. If you’re already as busy as you can be, you should consider whether you can handle the sale yourself, or whether it would be better to turn to a professional – or at least someone who can help you with the individual tasks. This does not necessarily have to be an estate agent. Engaging one may not save you time at all, and the service of an experienced real estate attorney may be sufficient. A real estate agent often just collects a commission that does not correspond to his engagement. Worse still, in some cases, he does not even spare his client’s time and energy.
Remember that the real estate agent has a different interest from the buyer and the seller. He or she is primarily concerned with the booking and commission and may therefore underestimate the risks and comfort of the client.
The sale of a property involves several legal transactions that are not worth making mistakes about. In the best case you will lose your time, in the worst case you will lose money or even the ownership rights to the property. At The Affordable Lawyer, we are happy to take care of everything and protect your rights.
Have you decided to go into the sale without a realtor? Here are 8 steps that will lead you to a successful transfer of the property to the new owner.
If you plan to sell your land, flat or house without a realtor, it’s a good idea to check the Land Registry before you start the process. Although you probably know most of the information, it’s definitely worth checking for easements, pre-emption or liens – and if you’re selling the land without a realtor, also for the exact location and position of the property (as fences don’t always follow the actual boundaries of the land).
A wrong selling price is one of the basic mistakes in selling and can lead to a significant loss of time or even money. Too high a price will slow down the sale and you probably won’t avoid additional discounting anyway. With a low price, you will in turn lose some of your potential earnings, and at the same time you may discourage some buyers who will find a poorly set price suspicious.
That’s why it’s usually a good idea to have the property appraised by a real estate professional who knows exactly what to use to determine the price. You can use a market appraisal, which is normally carried out by an estate agent or other property specialist. Alternatively, you can opt for an appraisal conducted by a forensic expert. The latter goes more in depth in his work and checks the technical condition of the property in addition to the location or type of building, which is particularly useful when selling an older house. However, his work is more costly.
One of the more difficult tasks that await you in a self-sale is the proper preparation of the property for sale and its subsequent promotion. It is definitely advisable to join forces with a professional photographer who specialises in real estate and knows how to light the space properly, what to capture and which furnishings or personal items should remain hidden from the eyes of potential buyers. High-quality photos or even videos will impress and not leave your property unnoticed. However, you should also make sure that you prepare your advertisement, which should contain all the important information.
Post your advert on property websites and use the power of social media. Ask your friends to share it and if necessary, try paid promotion of the post. You’ll see for yourself that with a quality presentation, potential buyers won’t wait long.
You can place building plots, flats and houses for sale without a real estate agent on specialized portals for selling real estate without a real estate agent. Try for example bezrealitky.cz.
If your advert is successful, be prepared for lots of phone calls and emails. It’s a good idea to be available every day – ideally even at weekends. This will show them that they are really important to you and that you want to meet them. The next point is the property viewings themselves , which should be preceded by careful preparation. Gather documents that potential buyers might be interested in and prepare for all possible questions. The better you present your property, the better your chances of a successful sale. According to some research, even small details can make the difference. For example, the smell of freshly baked cake creates a pleasant atmosphere in the apartment and can therefore unexpectedly increase its value.
Of course, however, if you are selling an apartment in a highly desirable location, you do not have to push potential buyers too hard, especially nowadays, and it is better to focus on separating the wheat from the chaff before the viewing. After all, the high demand for real estate is also the reason why there is usually no need to involve a real estate agent.
Remember that as a seller you must not conceal hidden defects. The Civil Code allows the buyer to claim defects up to five years after the transfer. He can claim a discount and, in the case of a material breach of contract, even rescission of the contract.
It is therefore worthwhile to arrange a technical inspection of the apartment or house beforehand and describe the finding precisely in the purchase contract (“there is a moisture map on the property in the right corner of the basement, the buyer accepts the defect and reduces the purchase price by CZK 20,000”). Invite an expert to inspect the property – his report is cheaper than five years of uncertainty.
Among loved ones,gifting is an effective way to acquire or dispose of property. We will help you implement it so that you don’t step on the wrong foot. We will prepare a complete contractual and legal service for you, including the donation contract, registration in the Land Registry and taxes.
Have you found the right buyer for your property? Congratulations on the successful completion of the main task. But the responsibilities don’t end there. Protect your rights with a reservation and purchase contract for the property. Both contracts protect the seller and the buyer and it is certainly not worth underestimating their preparation in any way. Be careful about their contents too. While the internet is rife with freely available templates, these will never cover the specifics of a particular property. In addition, they may be outdated and full of errors because you never know their author.
Therefore, it is better not to start drafting contracts on your own, but rather to entrust this task to professionals. Unfortunately, even some real estate agents are no guarantee of good documentation. We have repeatedly had to intervene in our practice and prepare new contracts in order for the transfer to take place at all. This is because the estate agent is mainly interested in the booking, not necessarily in the smooth running of the whole transaction. We will be happy to help you with the preparation of a tailor-made purchase contract and will make sure that your self-sale is legally completed without a single mistake.
Want to read more about the reservation and purchase agreement? See our article on selling a house for details.
The solicitor you work with to prepare your contracts can also take care of the safekeeping of your money. It doesn’t pay to bypass this step either, as it in turn protects the buyer and adds to your credibility. Attorney escrow consists of depositing the purchase price into a special account set up by your chosen attorney for this purpose. There, the entire amount waits until the transfer of title in the Land Registry, only then is it transferred to the seller’s account. The aim is that neither the seller nor the buyer will have both the money and the ownership rights to the property at the same time. This protects both parties from any fraud.
Not only the price, but also the terms and conditions play a role in the choice of escrow. Notarial escrow is subject to stricter supervision, but it is the most expensive – for an amount of four million it costs approximately CZK 25,000. Bank escrow is cheaper and insured, just like regular deposits, but banks impose relatively rigid conditions for payment. Lawyers’ custody tendsto be more flexible and cheaper (in the range of 0.15-0.3% of the amount), but only if the lawyer has adequate liability insurance and transparently discloses the terms of custody. At Affordable Lawyer, we charge for custody regardless of the amount. Although professional indemnity insurance must be taken out for a minimum of CZK 7.5 million, we are insured for CZK 50,000,000.
However, escrow with an estate agent is definitely not appropriate. It is not insured by law and is not subject to strict rules, so it may paradoxically be more of a risk. Moreover, the Real Estate Mediation Act directly stipulates that real estate agents may not even accept money in escrow and may only mediate it with a bank, notary or lawyer.
After all the previous points have been fulfilled, the next step is the proposal for entry into the Land Registry. Here, too, a good deal of care is needed, as any mistake can lead to the application (draft) being returned and resubmitted. Therefore, keep an eye on all the requirements and do not forget to attach the contract of sale. The administrative fee for filing the application is CZK 2 000.
In practice, we have also encountered cases where clients have paid commissions of hundreds of thousands of euros to the real estate broker who was supposed to prepare the proposal for the deposit. However, he made a mistake in the proposal and repeatedly prolonged and complicated the whole transaction.
Do not forget that the sale of the property also involves the obligation to obtain energy labels. Who exactly has this obligation and how to get an energy label can be found in our next article on the sale of a flat and energy labels.
If you have successfully handed over the keys to the house to the new owner and the transfer of ownership rights at the land registry has been completed, there is nothing to do but congratulate you on the successful completion of the whole mission. But there is one last thing to do – fulfilling your tax obligations.
The special tax on the sale of immovable property has been abolished, but the classic income tax on the sale of immovable property is still paid in certain cases, taxed at two rates: 15% for the part of the tax base up to 36 times the average wage and 23% for the part exceeding this limit. The gain is determined as the difference between the sale price and the purchase price.
However, there are exceptions where you do not pay tax. You do not pay tax if you acquired the property before 31 December 2020 and have owned it for at least 5 years. For properties acquired from 1 January 2021, the minimum length of ownership is set at 10 years. You also do not pay if you have lived in the property for at least 2 years immediately before the sale. The last exception applies if you invest the money you have made in your own home (whether for purchase or renovation) within one year of the sale.
Unfortunately, there are no calculators to help you calculate income tax on the sale of a property. You need to calculate your total income for the year (e.g. from employment, business, rent, etc.).
Finally, don’t forget about insurance. The seller bears the risk of damage to the property until the physical handover of the keys, even if the ownership has already passed by registration in the land register. Therefore, terminate your existing insurance policy on the day of handover at the earliest. For example, a burst riser may flood an already sold apartment while you are waiting for the deposit – the damage is then covered by the seller’s current insurance policy.
Preparation of all contracts and documents, attorney’s custody or application for entry into the Land Registry… With all this, the Available Attorney can help you. You will get the confidence that your rights are protected and you can concentrate only on choosing the best buyer. We will handle everything in the shortest possible time and online from the comfort of your own home.
You will find that the commission you would otherwise pay to a real estate agent can be much better invested.
If you are planning to rent an apartment without a real estate agent, you will find our guide to renting safely useful.
Selling a property without a real estate agent means taking on all the responsibilities – from preparation and promotion to viewings and legal administration. The key is to first verify the land registry data (easements, pledges, exact boundaries), set the market price correctly (ideally with a professional estimate) and professionally prepare the advertisement and photographs. During inspections, it is necessary to be flexible, transparently admit any defects and consider a technical inspection to avoid later claims.
Once you have found a buyer, a reservation and purchase contract drawn up by a lawyer and a secure escrow of the purchase price (attorney, notary or bank) protects you. After signing the contracts, you file a flawless application for registration in the Land Registry and finally settle the income tax. Properly set up insurance policies cover damages until the physical handover of the keys. At every stage, it pays to work with a specialist solicitor who can provide legal certainty and custody of your money more cheaply and efficiently than many brokers.
We provide comprehensive legal services related to the purchase or sale of real estate, including reservation agreements and escrow services. We can also assist with land registry and tax matters. We can handle everything within 48 hours, even when purchasing from a developer.
Ondřej is the attorney who came up with the idea of providing legal services online. He's been earning his living through legal services for more than 10 years. He especially likes to help clients who may have given up hope in solving their legal issues at work, for example with real estate transfers or copyright licenses.
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