Realtors usually charge for their services for the purchase of the apartment from 1-4% depending on the apartment that the client wants to buy, the location, the region and the greed of the realtor. Thus, you should remember that a professional and responsible realtor will undertake most of the work of searching for an apartment, checking the seller and the documents of the apartment, will help with registration of mortgage, will consult you on the terms of the sale-purchase contract and scheme of payment and acceptance of the apartment.
If you want to save money, in this article I will tell you how to buy an apartment without a realtor by yourself. I will try to describe all the main stages of the purchase and outline the main risks, so you can buy an apartment without a realtor and without losing your money.
Decide what you’re looking for
The question seems silly at first. The dialogue is usually like this:
- What are you looking for?
- Well, what are you looking for? A two-bedroom apartment.
And then the fun part starts. Many people have a rather vague idea of what kind of apartment they want, where it should be situated, what real financial possibilities the buyer has, etc.
So in order not to waste your time, make a small “rider” – your wishes concerning the future apartment. This list will include the following points:
- Number of rooms
- District or neighborhood
- Floor/and
- Presence of schools, kindergartens, health clinics, supermarkets
- Distance to work
- View from Windows
- Your finances
- Condition of the apartment
Of course, your vision may change during the inspection of apartments, but the initial list of requirements will save you a lot of time and effort.
Where to look for options of apartments for inspection and selection?
The most common way to find an apartment for your own home purchase is on websites. They publish a huge number of offers for apartments for sale. Be prepared for the fact that many ads are published not by the owners, but by real estate agents. Do not be confused by the fact that there may be several ads for one and the same apartment. This means that the apartment is being sold by several realtors or by the owner and the realtor.
Another common option is to look for offers for apartments for sale in specialized newspapers and magazines. Most advertisements in such publications are placed by the owners.
You should not ignore the various message boards on the Internet, where various advertisements are published, including those for the sale of housing. Technically it is long and hard to look through all the information, but if your goal is to find a dream apartment and save money, you should not neglect this option.
There are paid bases, but it’s your decision which way you should search for apartments. Free databases allow you to find a home for a longer period, but it is still possible. It happens that there are several offers of the same apartment. In that case, some of the listings were created by realtors, but still the owner is there too.
If you are sure about the area where you will live in the future, it makes sense to walk around the area and see ads for homes for sale on the porches and poles and other advertising media. This will kill two birds with one stone: you will closely examine the area of your future residence and you may find a great option for buying. You can even put up your own ads, if you have the time and desire. Option very expensive, but it works. We sometimes use it in our work, too, to fulfill the job of our client.
Another original option is your friends and acquaintances. But not their apartments, but the message boards of the organizations in which they work. If the organization is large, it’s 100% likely that apartment listings are published there. You can ask your friends and acquaintances to look at apartment listings on these boards and ask them to publish your ad to buy if you have already decided which apartment to buy.
The market of apartments for sale and purchase is very competitive, and you will often encounter a situation when, having called an advertisement for an apartment you liked, you will suddenly find out that it is sold out. You will be offered to look for another apartment or offer to find an apartment for you. The advice is simple – be patient and keep looking.
What you should pay attention to if you are planning to buy an apartment on your own without involving a realtor
Remember that you are buying an apartment for a long time. According to statistics, more than 80% of families live in the same place for 10 years or more. If you do not like something in the rented apartment, you will most likely have to deal with it for a long time. To avoid this, pay attention to the area where you live, how comfortable it is for you, how convenient it is for your children, what is the transport situation there, etc., etc.
What you need to pay attention to during the first inspection of the apartment.
Look at the condition of the apartment, will you have to make a major repair after the purchase, or you can confine yourself to cosmetic repairs. Remember that while you are renovating you will have to live in the apartment, or somewhere else. Examine everything carefully, don’t be shy. Your politeness may cost you a lot in the future.
Look at the apartment at different times of the day to understand its insolation, whether the location of the windows suits you, whether it is bright or dark enough. Notice the condition of the utilities. Pay attention to the neighbors’ front doors. In some cases this can tell you a lot about them.
Talk to the concierges, they can be a very helpful source of information about the seller and your future neighbors.
If you have a car, research the availability of parking. Determine for yourself where you will leave it.
And one more piece of advice. Even if you like your first apartment, look at a few more, just to make sure you pick the apartment of your dreams.
Documents needed to buy an apartment
When buying an apartment on your own, you should be very careful about the package of documents the seller gives you. We have prepared a list of documents that will help you buy an apartment without a realtor. So, the following documents may be required for drawing up a purchase and sale contract:
- Certificate of state registration of ownership and/or up-to-date extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities;
- Valid passports of all homeowners;
- documents of title confirming the rights of the apartment owners (privatization contract, equity participation agreement, sale and purchase agreement, donation agreement, certificate of inheritance, court decision)
- permission from child welfare authorities (if a child is the owner of the apartment or the share);
- technical passport;
- documents on legal capacity of the owners (dispensary certificates, driving licenses). As an alternative to conclude an agreement involving a notary, but you will have to pay extra;
- Documents of absence of arrears in utility bills and taxes;
- Notarized power of attorney from the seller to conclude the transaction (if necessary);
- notarized consent of your spouse to the sale of the apartment or the court decision on the division of joint property, or a marriage contract, if the owner is married.
Advance payment when buying an apartment
The practice of paying a certain amount of money to the seller of an apartment you like is very common. If you want to buy an apartment without any experience, you should also pay close attention to this point. The payment of a certain sum of money to the seller is a kind of guarantee of the seriousness of the relationship of both parties to the contract of sale. In this case, the parties sign a preliminary agreement, a contract of deposit, an advance contract. The point of any of these contracts is to “reserve” the apartment for the buyer for a certain period. The seller at this time draws up the missing documents, such as certificates of absence of debts for housing and communal services, and the buyer collects money and/or arranges a mortgage.
We recommend concluding an agreement on the deposit, because if the seller refuses to sign the contract for the sale of the apartment, he will be obliged to pay twice the amount of the deposit. This can somewhat discipline the seller and make him stop actively looking for other buyers.
Registration of the transaction for the sale of real estate
If you want to buy an apartment without a realtor, you should use this step very responsibly. At the stage of signing the contract you should have all the documents mentioned above. If any of them are missing, then you should seriously question if the seller’s intentions are pure. In this case, it is better to postpone the deal or cancel it altogether, so as not to become a victim of fraud.
Before you sign, it would be highly advisable to get an extract from the Registry Office to make sure there are no encumbrances on the apartment.
Reconcile the data in passports, certificates, powers of attorney and extracts. Everywhere there should be the same person, right down to the letter. I’m not talking now about cases of fraud, but simply about elementary inattention.
If there are multiple owners, they all need to be specified in the contract of sale.
When drawing up the purchase agreement, carefully check the correctness of the passport data and the details of the apartment.
In the contract we shall check the price of the apartment, how to pay, how to sign the act of acceptance of the apartment, if there were people registered in the apartment, and when they should leave.
The stage of transferring the money is a very responsible one. It is best to pay through a safe deposit box, especially if you buy an apartment from an individual. This guarantees the safety of the money and your peace of mind.
Remember that after the seller receives the money, his efforts to fulfill the obligations he gave when he signed the contract can decrease dramatically. For example, he may suddenly have problems with the evacuation of the apartment, removal of his property, removal from the registry office.
Therefore, in the contract of sale and lease agreement for a safe deposit box should be specified order of payment for the apartment and a list of documents that the seller must present to the bank to get access to the safe deposit box with the money.