This article is part of a series of articles looking at the various aspects of selling your home without a real estate agent.

Marketing techniques for selling your home without a real estate agent

Choosing to sell your home is a big deal, selling your home without a broker is even more adventurous as you’ll have full responsibility of each aspect of the selling process. Previously we wrote about how to accurately establish the value of your home before putting it up for market. Once you’ve adequately priced your home it’s time to start advertising. If you’ve never sold property before, understanding how and where to advertise your home can be confusing and time-consuming. Here are a few key points that will help make the sale of your property more successful.

Pictures

A picture says a thousand words, and good pictures of your property will make a big difference when selling your home. Both the quality and the aesthetics of the picture should be taken into consideration as professional photos have a 61% higher percent of selling than low-quality images. While it may be tempting to just take out your iPhone and snap a few quick photos for property websites, this will be bad news for your page views and the ultimate sale of your home. Your best bet for taking your own pictures is to use a DSLR camera and work on your editing abilities. If that doesn’t work for you, hire a professional photographer. NEVER post blurry photos. It makes you look unprofessional and raises many questions in the minds of buyers about the quality of the home and your trustworthiness.

High-resolution, good quality photos is the first step to putting your home’s best face out to the public. Equally as important is the composure of your photos. Cleaning up your home and making it look as best as possible is more important than you think. There are whole websites devoted to terrible real estate pictures, it’s best to avoid being included. Clean up the rooms and remove distracting elements around the area, but don’t just post totally empty rooms either. Like everything else in marketing, it’s more about the idea of the home than just the home itself. Buyers don’t want to see a bare cube, but they don’t want to be bogged down by clutter either. Give the buyer the possibility to imagine the home as their own.

Websites

There are many websites out there dedicated to selling your home, but with so many options it can be hard to choose the right one. Do your research, and try to find ones with the most local listings. Keep in mind what people will be searching for online. This will not only help you narrow down some more specific websites, but should also help you write the descriptions as well. This is the marketing element of selling your home, so you should think carefully about your wording and search terms that people will be typing in when searching for property online. Try to make it unique, yet descriptive and honest. Each of these do come with a price tag, so make a budget for yourself.

Ads

If you’re going the old-school route you’ll want to think about advertising your home in newspapers, local magazines and creating leaflets. Advertising your home for sale in print is becoming less popular these days, so we wouldn't encourage it above other outlets, but it has its pros as well. While they’re not as easily searchable as internet ads, if you’re looking to market to a very specific audience these can offer a more personalized and tangible outlet for your home. It should be noted that these housing ads will more likely require more patience on the seller's part.

Contracts

If you’re selling your home without a broker, there are going to be many things that you probably haven’t thought of. One of the most important will be drawing up a contract. We always recommend meeting with an attorney and a real estate agent (consultations in Berlin are free) in order to get professional advice on what key points you’ll need to include and what will keep you safe and happy during and after the process. Mortgage approval and/or bank letters testifying to the buyers ability to pay should always be available before you sign the contract on the sale of your home.

Many people choose to sell their home without a broker in order to save the 3-5% commission that real estate agents tend to charge. Black Label Properties offer sales assistance commission-free. Take a look at our webpage for more information.

Here’s a list of documents you might also need when selling your home in Berlin. You can find these terms in German here.

1. Declaration of division  (not for single-family home)
2. Minutes book (not for single-family home)
3. Minutes of owner meetings for the last 3 years (not for single-family home)
4. Prefabricated floor plans with an official stamp from the architect
5. Current economic plan (not for single-family home)
6. Overview of renovations in the last 10 years
7. Information from liabilities – und easements
8. Current land register
9. Official site plan of the property
10. Confirmation from the property manager that there are no outstanding residuals (not for single-family home)
11. Copy of property insurance
12. Energy certificate (Cost c. 50€-150€)
13. Proof of property tax amount from the last year
14. Administrator contract between you and the property management company (not for single-family home)
15. Under certain circumstances, a further expert opinion will be required. (Cost c. 1000€ – 3000€)