Selling a property step by step

Phase 1 · Valuation and the decision, week zero

We walk through the property, look at the title deed and at what has actually sold nearby. Out of that comes a price range and an estimate of how long the sale will take. This is also where we decide whether to go to public listings or to a discreet off-market offer. In buildings where the owners know each other, the second route is often faster.

Phase 2 · Preparation, one to three weeks

Clearing out, small repairs, refining the interior, photography, video and a floor plan. In parallel the documents are assembled: the declaration of unit ownership, the energy performance certificate, the latest service charge statement and information about the repair fund. The most common delay in this phase is the energy certificate, because it gets ordered at the last minute.

Phase 3 · Going to market, day zero to ten

The listing goes out at once, to every channel at the same moment. The first ten days are the strongest and the viewings are deliberately concentrated into them. The aim is not to handle as many people as possible but to have more than one serious buyer on the table at the same time.

Phase 4 · Viewings and choosing the buyer

I lead the viewings myself. I ask every interested party three things: how their financing stands, when they need to move in, and whether they are selling something of their own. The answers matter more than the amount offered. The highest offer conditional on selling another flat is weaker than a slightly lower one with a pre-approved mortgage behind it.

Phase 5 · Reservation, one week

Reservation contract and reservation deposit. The property comes off the market. This contract already fixes the purchase price, the date for signing the purchase contract, the method of financing and the handover date. Anyone who leaves those four points for later negotiates them from a worse position.

Phase 6 · Purchase contract and escrow, two to four weeks

The lawyer drafts the purchase contract and the escrow agreement. The purchase price, or the part of it coming from a mortgage, is deposited into escrow. If there is a lien on the property, this is where the split of the money between the bank and the seller is handled.

Phase 7 · Land registry, three to six weeks

The application to register is filed. The land registry has a twenty-day protective period during which it cannot register, and only afterwards completes the proceedings. The real duration depends on how busy the local office is. This is the longest part of the process and it cannot be accelerated.

Phase 8 · Handover and payment

After registration a handover report is drawn up with readings from every meter, the keys change hands and the escrow agent releases the money to the seller. Then the electricity, water and gas are transferred and the change of owner is reported to the owners’ association or the housing cooperative.

How long the whole thing takes

For a prepared property with a clean legal title, expect roughly three months from the first phone call to the money in your account. Half of that is the land registry and the bank, things nobody speeds up. The other half is preparation and the sale itself, and that is exactly the part where the final price is decided.

What I do and what stays with you

What stays with you is the decision on price, the signature and handing over the keys. The rest · preparation, visual content, listings, viewings, negotiation, coordinating the lawyer, the bank and the escrow, transferring the utilities and helping with what comes after the move · goes through me.