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Selling property
Selling a house between private individuals? If you want to sell your property, you should carefully consider whether or not you need the professional assistance of an estate agent. We will guide you to success, step by step.
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Are you about to relocate to another city for professional reasons, are your children leaving home, or do you simply want a change? There are many reasons for selling your house or apartment. The complexity of property transactions is the reason why only 12 percent of real estate sales in Switzerland take place between private individuals.
However, although it can be quite time-consuming, it is possible to sell property without going through an estate agent. We have summarized the arguments for and against selling a house without professional assistance.
If you have decided to sell your property privately without an estate agent, we explain what you need to bear in mind, step by step.
To ensure that the sale is successful and legally compliant, you should keep to a strict timetable, as there are various intermediate steps to consider: valuation, advertisement, viewing, sales contract... and each stage must be well prepared.
The best thing to do is to set a date for the sale, and then plan the process backwards. Define deadlines for completing each individual step by.
Your property should be worth as much as possible to achieve a good sales price. However, this value is determined by a combination of factors, including age and the standard of fittings. The older the house or apartment, the greater the age depreciation.
You can stop this aging by taking measures to preserve value. You can even increase the value by carrying out other work at the same time. Value-preserving measures involve replacing outdated decor or equipment with equivalents – for example a new coat of paint. You can take value-preserving measures into account on your tax return.
Value-enhancing, on the other hand, means that you create new value, for instance by replacing an old floor with a high-quality parquet floor. Although you cannot deduct value-enhancing measures from your taxes, you can take them into account later on when selling the house.
These costs can be deducted when determining the property gains, to reduce your tax burden.
You can also increase the value of your property by investing in energy efficiency, energy-saving measures or renewable energies, for example by installing better thermal insulation of the façade, new windows or a solar system on the roof.
These investments can be declared on your tax return. However, because they can quickly amount to tens of thousands of francs, you should calculate carefully in advance whether extensive renovation work is really worthwhile. You should also find out whether investments of this kind qualify for government subsidies, given that they may improve the energy footprint of the property.
The most important thing to ensure the successful sale of your house is to set a realistic guide price based on the market value of the property. However, determining this value is easier said than done: there are no fixed price lists for real estate; even identical houses can sell for different prices depending on their location, facilities or age. Prices on the real estate market can also change rapidly.
However, there are different ways of valuing real estate in order to find a realistic price for your house or apartment.
Firstly, you can have your property valued online on various platforms. To obtain an online or “hedonic” valuation, you enter data about your property and compare it with similar properties in the same region that have been sold in recent months. This will give you an initial estimate, which can be quite realistic depending on the platform and the amount of data provided.
Estate agents are very familiar with the local real estate market, so their valuations are often plausible. However, they may be slightly too optimistic about the sales value in order to win you over as a promising client.
Thirdly, you can commission a certified specialist to determine the purchase price for you. You can find independent, reputable experts through the Swiss association of real estate appraisers or the Swiss Real Estate Association, for example.
Of course, your own assessment also plays a role in determining the sales price: how much are you hoping to sell the property for? How much money do you need to reimburse any existing mortgages? You must also take into account the property gains tax that you will have to pay as the seller.
Once you have set a realistic guide price for your property, you enter the second phase: marketing. To attract as many interested parties as possible and achieve the best possible result, you need informative advertisements, excellent photos and a professional sales dossier.
Pictures often have a greater impact than lengthy descriptions. High-resolution, high-quality photos convey a positive and emotional image of your property. The external appearance should be impeccable: there should be no garbage in the garden; the façade should be neat and in good condition. Be sure to clean and repair the property if necessary.
Take exterior pictures in a good light, for example on a sunny day. Remember to include pictures of any particularly compelling elements, such as a terrace with a beautiful view.
Inside, sunlight makes rooms appear particularly spacious. Don’t forget to highlight the property’s special features: the large kitchen, the bedroom with a garden view or the modern heating.
If you don’t feel confident about taking professional photos yourself, you can hire photographers who specialize in this area. For particularly unusual properties or estates with large gardens, it can make sense to have photos taken with a drone or even create a virtual 360° tour. Professionally filmed tours attract potential buyers and give them the impression of being taken on a personal visit.
In addition to photos, you need a professional sales dossier that provides transparent information about the property. The dossier should include the property valuation, photos and a detailed description. It should contain precise information about the facilities, the region and the residential location. Mention any special features such as a large terrace or a modernized kitchen.
Evidence of renovation work or extensions is also useful. And finally, state the purchase conditions, the sales price, the earliest possible move-in or handover date and your contact details.
These documents should also always be part of the dossier:
If you are selling a condominium, the sales dossier should include the deed of foundation, the usage and management regulations, as well as proof of operating costs and the amount of the renovation fund.
A professional sales dossier provides interested parties with all the necessary details about the property. It also protects you, as the seller, against possible complaints after the sale.
Once you have finished putting together the sales dossier, you are ready to publish your advertisement. In the past, advertisements were usually placed in newspapers. This can still make sense today, but you can often find people interested in buying your property more quickly and economically online.
Ideally, you should advertise the property on one or more online platforms. In addition to ImmoScout and Homegate, the largest portals in Switzerland are Aclado, Acheter-Louer (especially for properties in French-speaking Switzerland), Flatfox and Newhome.
There are a few points to take into account if you want to create an advertisement that will stand out from the crowd. Even with an online advertisement, the first impression counts. You should therefore use the most attractive picture of the property as the main image. Think of a title with emotional appeal. Describe the property briefly, but making sure you mention all the most significant details. Talk about what makes the property special. Explain what the surrounding area is like.
You could also offer a virtual 360° tour and provide excerpts from your sales dossier.
You can expect to hear from interested parties soon after the advertisement appears. Make sure they can reach you on the number indicated. You should respond promptly to email inquiries. Remain friendly and objective.
The viewing is a crucial moment of the sales process: this is when potential buyers will discover whether your marketing delivers on its promises. People often decide on instinct whether a house is right for them or not. The more effectively you present your home, the more likely it is that potential buyers will feel drawn to the property.
When you show potential buyers around the house, point out particularly interesting aspects, such as a convertible attic or basement, the sunny location of the terrace or the large garden. Then you can answer questions and clarify the next steps.
With a little skill, you can draw attention to the advantages of the property when talking to the prospective buyers afterwards, to make them feel more confident about the property.
Prepare yourself for meeting potential buyers. Consider in advance what advantages the property could offer them. For a family with three children, for example, you could stress the good public transport connections to schools or stores in the area; for couples with a dog, you could focus on the large garden.
Try to put yourself in their shoes and be ready to answer critical questions. Keep an open mind, and tell them if you are expecting other interested parties to view the house, for example.
If you receive several offers after the viewing stage, you can choose the best offer at your leisure. You should not only pay attention to the amount of the offer, but also find out more about the buyer – after all, you are hoping to sell your property without any delays and difficulties.
This includes inquiring about the buyer’s financial circumstances. Have they already received approval for a mortgage? Are they prepared to show serious interest by paying a reservation fee? Can they prove their willingness to pay?
If these points do not apply, it might be more advisable not to sell to this person.
If, on the other hand, everything seems in order, you are now a decisive step closer to concluding the sale. You then need to sign a sales agreement with the buyer that sets out the terms of the sale: the price, the property and the date of transfer of ownership.
In order for the contract to be legally valid, it must be certified by a notary. The contract can then be used to register the change of ownership in the land register. The buyer will only become the new owner of your property when the sale is officially recorded.
You must go through a notary for the transfer of ownership because they will apply for deletion permits for mortgages or other encumbrances, and process entries in the land register.
Anyone who has successfully sold a house once may have the confidence to do so a second time. Hopefully the sale went smoothly, and you were able to benefit from a number of advantages. However, you may also have experienced the disadvantages of this sales model.
You don’t have to pay estate agent commission, which can amount to up to 3 percent of the purchase price.
The marketing is entirely up to you, and you can monitor the whole sales process. You get to decide who will buy your property.
On the other hand, the legal process for selling a property requires a lot of experience, knowledge and time. Familiarity with the real estate market often helps buyers to set and enforce the right price for their property.
Negotiations require a lot of skill. Many private sellers approach the sale with too many personal emotions and lose objectivity. The sales price will be lower if the sales negotiations are poorly conducted.
Find the right estate agent
Would you like to place the sale of your home in experienced hands and save yourself time and anxiety? We will be happy to put you in touch with trusted local estate agents.
In addition to the actual sales process, there are various other points that you should clarify – e.g. how to sell a special property, or how to decide on the timing of the sale.
If you want to sell a plot of land, you will often be lucky: demand for land is growing. The sale can prove relatively easy even without an estate agent. You should first check what type of land it is. Prospective building land is land that may only be developed in the future. To sell land as building land, you need a legally valid development plan for the property. A building plot, on the other hand, is fully developed. Determining the value of building land or building plots is easier than for a house or apartment: you can calculate the value from the price per square meter in the relevant location.
The situation is different for an apartment building. There are usually tenants living in the building who can influence the sales process. You not only have to deal with private buyers, but often also with professional brokers or investors. It is also particularly difficult to find the right asking price for this type of property. It may therefore be advisable to seek professional assistance from an estate agent.
The situation is similar for commercial properties. Here, too, valuation is complex, and there are tax aspects to consider: the sale of commercial properties incurs income and trade taxes. It’s a good idea to call in an experienced commercial estate agent who has the right know-how to market and sell the property in your best interest.
You may be asking yourself whether you should sell now or whether you might be able to achieve a better price in a few months’ time. There are several factors that determine the best time to sell a house. The current market situation is important because real estate prices can change quickly due to market trends.
The right time to sell also depends on the property and its condition: a summer house sells better in spring or summer than in winter. Perhaps it would make sense to carry out renovation work beforehand so that you can sell the property at a higher price?
But of course, your personal financial situation also makes a difference: the more urgently you need the proceeds from the sale, the faster you will have to sell – possibly below value.
Finally, there are tax aspects to consider: the property gains tax from the sale of a property depends on aspects including the duration of ownership. Since regulations vary from region to region, it can be advantageous to wait before selling.
Sellers are usually hoping for a quick, smooth sale. But you shouldn’t be under any illusions, it can take time for a house to find a new owner. Studies show that on average, four months are needed to find a buyer for a house or condominium. Luxury properties and particularly sophisticated properties can require up to two years or more to change hands.
This is one reason why only 12 percent of the 60,000 or so real estate transactions that take place in Switzerland each year are carried out directly by private individuals. For all other sales, estate agents oversee the entire process.
When selling a property, nothing is more damaging than time pressure. You should therefore not only plan the sale of your property in detail, but also make sure you find a new home in good time. A vacant house usually sells better than one that is still occupied. However, a furnished property looks more inviting and homely when presented.
If you have already found a new place to live, you can avoid being disturbed by people coming to look round your previous house or apartment. In addition, you do not have to agree a relocation clause with the new owner to set a date for moving out.
It is quite possible to sell property without an estate agent. There are an increasing number of offers on the market that provide partial assistance from professionals without the need to mandate an estate agent for the whole sales process. However, planning and taking care of the sale are complex tasks that can prove very time-consuming. The main thing that makes it so complicated to ensure a legally compliant sale is the fact that there are so many intermediate steps to be completed.
Tight planning is essential: are you disciplined enough? You should also be very conscious of your financial situation: are you aware of all the costs you will incur? Do you have any leeway when it comes to the price of the property, so that you can respond quickly to new demands from prospective buyers?
If you can say yes to all these questions, then there is no reason why you shouldn’t sell your property successfully. Buying a house is said to be one of the greatest adventures in life. Selling a house easily comes close.
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