Not only buying but also selling an apartment is a complex undertaking. And it’s something you’ll rarely have to deal with more than once in your lifetime. This makes it all the more important—especially if you lack experience—to prepare thoroughly for the process of selling your apartment. And you should do this even before you or the real estate agent you’ve hired lists the apartment on the market. After all, good planning can play a key role in achieving an attractive price and ensuring the sale goes smoothly. Conversely, if you’re not well prepared, there’s a high probability that the sales process will be delayed—and that costs time and money. Includes a checklist to print out, check off, and save.
How can you properly prepare to sell an apartment?
Proper preparation is the secret to successfully selling any apartment. A sale is considered successful when the property is sold as quickly as possible and at a good price.
To achieve this goal, sellers must complete a number of tasks well in advance of the sales launch. Katharina Höllwarth, head of Raiffeisen Immobilien’s Steyr office, explains what these tasks are.
#1: Learn about the legal and tax framework
Before you get started, you should familiarize yourself with the basic process of selling an apartment and the documents and information you must or should provide to prospective buyers or the buyer. Furthermore, don’t forget that capital gains tax may be due when you sell the apartment. You may also incur costs for a notary, attorney, and tax advisor. The same applies if you decide to hire a real estate agent to handle the sale. In this case, however, you should keep in mind that a real estate agent takes a lot of work off your hands and thus saves you time.
#2: Create a schedule
“A timeline is a crucial part of proper preparation,” says the real estate agent. Sellers should therefore pay special attention to the following questions:
- By when should the apartment ideally be sold? Is there a deadline for this? This is important, for example, if you’re planning to move or if you intend to use the proceeds from the sale to pay off debts.
- How long do I want to—or have to—stay in this apartment? “Anyone moving into a new building should definitely plan for a buffer. It happens time and again that you have to move out of your old apartment but, surprisingly, can’t move into the new one just yet,” Höllwarth says from experience.
- When should viewings take place—while you’re still living in the apartment, or only after you’ve moved out?
- Anyone who wants to go on tours on their own should also consider when it would be most convenient for them to do so—in the morning, in the evening, or on the weekend.
- Also keep in mind that responding to inquiries, scheduling showings, and conducting the showings themselves are time-consuming.
#3: Gather the necessary documents
If you have to search for important documents or gather information only during showings or sales negotiations, you’ll lose valuable time—and possibly even serious prospective buyers. If you don’t already have all the documents required for selling your apartment in a folder, this task should be on your to-do list before you even list the apartment. Assume, however, that potential buyers are interested in far more than just that: “They want to get a comprehensive picture of the apartment,” says Höllwarth. Accordingly, you should prepare for all kinds of questions—from those about renovations that have been done to questions about schools or the neighbors. “People also often ask whether heating is billed by square meter or by heat output. Or whether you have to arrange for maintenance of the ventilation system yourself,” explains the real estate agent. Last but not least, you should check whether all the keys you received when the apartment was handed over are still present. If you’ve already had any keys duplicated, you should also have the key card ready.
#4: Define Your Target Audience and Sales Strategy
Define the target audience you want to reach with your sales efforts and tailor your sales strategy accordingly. “A larger apartment located near kindergartens and schools is typically a good fit for families. A barrier-free apartment, on the other hand, is more likely to appeal to older people,” says Höllwarth.
#5: Pricing
A realistic asking price is crucial for a successful sale. If the price is set too high, the sale will be delayed. “If the apartment stays on the market for a long time because of this, potential buyers will assume there’s a catch with the property,” says Höllwarth. Repeated price reductions also damage the apartment’s image.
Finding the right price, however, isn’t all that easy. For one thing, appraising a property is quite complex. “A wide variety of factors play a role, ranging from the location and age of the building to the size, layout, and amenities of the apartment, as well as the surrounding infrastructure,” explains Höllwarth. On the other hand, the market price should also be factored into the pricing. This means sellers should find out at what price comparable apartments in the area have sold. “It therefore makes sense to consult a professional when setting the price,” Höllwarth is convinced.
#6: Showcasing the Apartment to Its Best Advantage
“You only get one chance to make a first impression,” Höllwarth sums it up. The most important thing, therefore, is to dress the bride beautifully and take high-quality photos that are just as meaningful as the text.
How do you get an apartment ready to sell?
To get the apartment ready for sale, sellers need to pay a little attention to it. “The apartment should be warm and inviting,” says the real estate agent. Cleaning and tidying up are therefore a must. In addition, the apartment should be “depersonalized,” so to speak: personal items and clothing should not be visible in the photos or during showings. Too much furniture and decor is also counterproductive. “Prospective buyers won’t feel comfortable, and that causes their interest to wane,” explains Höllwarth. In some cases, it may also be advisable to remove minor signs of wear and tear. “Painting the walls white after moving out won’t hurt,” says Höllwarth.
How important are photos and home staging when selling an apartment?
“Photos are extremely important because they are the first point of contact between prospective buyers and the apartment for sale,” said the real estate agent. After all, the better and more appealing they are, the more likely they are to make people want to see the apartment in person. Photos should therefore be neither blurry nor out of focus and should be taken in good weather and in natural light.
What is depicted in the photos is at least as important as their technical quality.
In this context, home staging—the professional styling of a home—is becoming increasingly important. “A home is more than just a few bricks; it’s a feeling,” says Höllwarth. This is precisely what home staging achieves through carefully selected, skillfully positioned furniture and accessories, good lighting, and scents. However, the professional staging of properties not only shows what it feels like to live in the home but also makes it possible to experience the sense of space in an empty home. “Most people can’t properly gauge the proportions in an empty apartment,” says the real estate agent. On top of that, furnished apartments receive more clicks and attention than unfurnished ones. All of this can speed up the sale of the property: According to studies, apartments that undergo home staging sell at least 50 percent faster.
Should you renovate an apartment before selling it?
Whether or not an apartment should be renovated before it is sold is a decision that should be made on a case-by-case basis. “It really depends on the condition of the apartment,” says Höllwarth. Not least because renovations cost time and money—and the buyer may have completely different ideas anyway.
What documents do you need to sell an apartment?
For the sale of an apartment, numerous documents are required for transparency purposes. Potential buyers should therefore be provided with an extract from the land registry, a utility value appraisal, the condominium ownership agreement, the garage lease agreement and description, a floor plan, a statement of operating costs, an overview of the monthly utility costs, and the energy performance certificate—which must not be more than ten years old— minutes of homeowners’ association meetings, and information on the amount of existing reserve funds. “After all, prospective buyers want to know whether they might face renovation work or an increase in reserve fund contributions shortly after the purchase,” explains Höllwarth. A building description of the property, a utility and installation plan, and information about any renovation or remodeling work carried out by the seller are additional documents of interest. If the apartment is rented out, the lease agreement should also be included in the document folder.
How can you increase the value of an apartment before selling it?
“You can’t increase the value of an apartment before selling it. That’s because sellers have no control over most of the factors that determine its value, such as location or infrastructure,” says Höllwarth. The price, however, can be influenced: The better the condition of the apartment, the more likely buyers are to pay at least the asking price—or even more.
What mistakes should you avoid when preparing to sell an apartment?
If you want to avoid mistakes when preparing to sell your apartment, you should research the topic thoroughly and well in advance. Among the biggest mistakes you can make in this context are incomplete documentation and setting an unrealistic price. “But it also doesn’t help if you don’t present the apartment properly,” says Höllwarth.
When is the best time to sell an apartment?
This question isn’t so easy to answer. In terms of the time of year, spring and fall are ideal for selling an apartment. But of course, market conditions also play a major role. If demand for condominiums is high, it’s a very good time to sell. If, on the other hand, supply exceeds demand, you should wait to sell—provided the seller is able to do so. According to Höllwarth, trying to sell in the middle of a move is also not recommended. After all, neither moving boxes lying around nor stressed-out sellers are conducive to a successful sale.
Good to know:
- On average, it takes six to twelve months to sell an apartment—though, of course, there are exceptions to the rule.
- People who sell their apartment under time pressure usually end up getting a lower price.
- Don’t hide any defects—in the worst-case scenario, this could lead to the purchase being rescinded.
- When preparing, always keep in mind what questions you yourself would ask if you were the buyer
Preparing to Sell Your Home: Downloadable Checklist
Selling a home is a complex process. To make sure you don’t overlook anything, we’ve summarized all the important steps in a concise guide. You can work through the checklist right here or download it as a PDF and print it out.
#1 Checklist: Documents
You should have these documents on hand before the sale begins
- Land Registry Extract
- Utility Assessment Report
- Condominium Ownership Agreement
- Energy performance certificate, no more than ten years old
- Statement of Operating Expenses
- Overview of Monthly Utility Bills
- Status of Reserves
- Apartment Layout/Floor Plan
- Wiring and Installation Diagram
- Building specifications for the house (if available)
- Information about completed restoration or renovation work, plus supporting documentation
- Garage Lease Agreement or Garage Description
If the apartment is rented out:
- Rental agreement
#2 Preparation Checklist
The most important steps to take before the sale:
- Obtain information about the legal and tax requirements for the sale
- Create a Schedule
- Check and/or complete the required documents
- Define the Target Audience and Sales Strategy
- Pricing
- Getting Your Apartment Ready for Sale
- A detailed property listing with high-quality photos and equally high-quality text
- or, if necessary, hiring a reputable real estate agent. You can find the list of agents recognized by FINDMYHOME.AT as quality agents here.
Download
Would you like to have the checklist handy? Download it now for free as a PDF—to print, check off, and save.
Download the “Preparing to Sell Your Home” checklist as a PDF
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