How to Sell Your Apartment

January 25, 2023 10-minute read

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You’re a homeowner and you’ve decided to put your apartment up for sale. This is an important milestone in your life, often filled with emotions—so there’s no room for improvisation. The real estate sales We’ll guide you through the process step by step, from the appraisal of your property to the signing of the deed of sale at the notary’s office.

How do you sell your apartment?

Our real estate agency in Paris's 16th arrondissement, CENTURY 21 Auteuil Immobilier offers advice to guide you through the sale of your apartment and explains in detail the various essential steps to ensure your transaction is successful under the best possible conditions.

How Can You Sell Your Apartment Quickly?

If you want to sell your apartment quickly and successfully by finding the right buyer, here’s our recommendation for getting the most out of your sale by following our step-by-step advice.

First, you need to make the interior of your apartment appealing—don’t forget that during a showing, first impressions are what count. Think about the lighting, make sure your home’s decor is cheerful and well-maintained, and above all, declutter each room to create an atmosphere that gives visitors the impression and desire to feel right at home and move in immediately. It’s also important to highlight your property’s strengths to make it stand out, especially if your potential buyer has already toured other properties.

Next is the price of your apartment, which shouldn't be out of line with the market, but you also shouldn't sell it at a loss. A valuation that reflects the local real estate market and the characteristics of your property will save you time.

Finally, the best way to sell your apartment more quickly and at the best price is to draw on the expertise of a professional who specializes in this field and to entrust the sale to a real estate agency. A real estate agent who specializes in your neighborhood and has in-depth knowledge of the local real estate market can guide you through the entire sales process.

Finding a Real Estate Agency

When choosing a real estate agency, you can, of course, use the internet to compare different agencies based on their rates and the services they offer.

If you want to sell your property quickly, it’s best to work with a local real estate agency because of its knowledge of the local real estate market and regulations. The advantage of entrusting your real estate project to an agency is that it handles all the administrative steps and mandatory procedures required to close the sale; furthermore, the real estate agent will ensure you receive solid offers by verifying the buyer’s creditworthiness. This real estate professional will help you sell your apartment quickly and successfully.

When you contact our two CENTURY 21 agencies—Auteuil Immobilier and Auteuil Seine—you’ll benefit from the attentive service of trained, professional advisors who are dedicated to their clients, as well as customized services and a network with national and international reach. You’ll be welcomed with a warm, family-like atmosphere.

Property Appraisal

To sell your property as quickly as possible and under the best conditions, the first step in the process of selling your apartment is to have it appraised. It’s crucial to accurately assess the value of your property to avoid it staying on the market for too long and to prevent potential buyers from negotiating the price down.

There are various options available to help you estimate the value of your property on your own; some are free, while others require a fee. You can also use online services. However, it’s not easy to come up with an estimate on your own, especially since you have to take into account various factors such as your property’s features, its overall condition (age, needed repairs), its location and the surrounding area, and the preferences and needs of prospective buyers, which vary from person to person.

When it comes to having your apartment appraised—an essential first step in any real estate sale—the most effective approach is to contact a real estate agency.

Since price is a key factor that determines whether potential tenants will want to visit your apartment, only a real estate agency can provide you with added value throughout the process.

Having your property inspected by a real estate agent who specializes in your neighborhood will provide you with a thorough, accurate, and reliable appraisal, conducted by a professional who does this for a living.

Choosing a Sales Agreement

When you entrust the sale of your property to a real estate agency, you enter into a contract with the agency that covers the entire process of selling your property.

A sales agreement is a contract between the seller (the Principal) and the real estate agency (the Agent) that specifies the property to be sold, its sale price, who will pay the real estate agency’s commission (the seller or the buyer), and the amount of the commission. It is governed by laws, notably the Hoguet Act, which protects consumers and regulates the real estate agent profession. Please note that the agency’s fees will not be due until the date of the final sale of your apartment at the notary’s office. Your property cannot be marketed until the sales mandate has been signed.

There are different types of sales mandates: general power of attorney or exclusive power of attorney.

The simple power of attorney, or a non-exclusive listing, allows you to simultaneously entrust the sale of your property to several real estate agencies of your choice, but be aware that this will result in your property being widely advertised and will no longer be unique. On the other hand, an exclusive listing avoids the main pitfall of a simple listing: the property becoming just another listing. With an exclusive listing, you avoid excessive advertising on individual websites or multiple listings for the same property appearing side by side—sometimes at different prices—with varying sales pitches or information. Furthermore, pitting agencies and buyers against each other can lead to hasty or opportunistic offers.

The exclusive mandate, involves entrusting the sale of your apartment to a single real estate agency. You will therefore grant exclusivity to the agency you have chosen to find you a buyer. When signing the listing agreement, you can mutually agree with the real estate agency on an exclusivity period, which is typically at least 3 months (starting from the date of signing). This period may be renewable. Entrusting your property to a single agency guarantees action and ensures efficiency. This allows you to sell your property with peace of mind and at the best possible price. Opting for an exclusive listing agreement is naturally motivating for the real estate professional.

Conducting a Property Inspection

Putting your apartment up for sale requires carefully preparing the sales documentation for your property by providing the necessary documents, including the mandatory property inspections that must be conducted based on the type of housing and its year of construction. These inspections provide the buyer with information about the property they wish to purchase.

There are 8 real estate inspections required when selling a property: the Carrez Law, the parasitic state, theasbestos, the lead, the gas, theelectricity, theERP and the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), which is an important assessment during a sale and is intended to evaluate energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The EPC features two labels with seven classes ranging from A to G (from the best performance, A, to the worst, G), which will help determine whether it is necessary to conduct an energy audit of your property, with the goal of eliminating energy-inefficient homes. The seller is required to provide the buyer with the Technical Inspection Report (DDT) no later than the date of signing the sales agreement.

Writing a Real Estate Listing

If you entrust the sale of your apartment to a real estate agency, the real estate agent will be responsible—with your consent—for drafting the listing description for your property to be used in advertising. To be effective, the listing must be concise, precise, sufficiently detailed, and, above all, truthful, so that it stands out from other listings. Potential buyers must be able to find the essential information they need about your property—information that will encourage them to visit your apartment rather than another one. A catchy headline highlighting your apartment’s main selling point is essential to capture the attention of your future buyers.

Real Estate Negotiation

In the sales process, real estate negotiation is a common step that occurs when a buyer is interested in purchasing your apartment and has decided to buy your property. They may make you a purchase offer. This offer may be equal to or lower than the price you have set for the sale of your apartment. Of course, as the seller, you are free to accept the offer, reject it, or begin negotiations.

Choosing a Preliminary Sales Agreement

You have found a buyer with whom you have agreed on the sale price of your property and with whom you plan to proceed; you will need to sign a legal document called a “preliminary contract,” which will formalize the terms of the sale to finalize the transaction and bind the buyer contractually. The preliminary contract is an essential step before signing thenotarized document at the notary's office. There are two types of preliminary real estate contracts that rely on the future buyer’s commitment: the Sales Agreement and Unilateral Promise to Sell.

When the preliminary agreement is signed, the buyer agrees to purchase your apartment that is for sale, and you, as the seller, agree to sell your property at the agreed-upon price (subject, where applicable, to the cooling-off period and the fulfillment of the conditions precedent). Legally, both parties are bound by this agreement.

In a unilateral promise to sell, as the seller or the party making the offer, you are the only party definitively bound by the agreement, and you grant a single buyer the exclusive right to purchase your apartment for a time limit specified in the conditions precedent, typically 2 to 3 months. The prospective buyer, for their part, also has a right of withdrawal—the option to purchase or not purchase your property within the term of the preliminary agreement, until the conditions precedent are satisfied. But this “change of heart” will come at a cost: the earnest money deposit, typically 10% of the purchase price.

Signing the deed of sale at the notary's office

The signing of the deed of sale—known as the “notarized deed”—at the notary’s office is the contract that definitively validates all the pre-established terms of the sale of your real estate property, including the real estate agency’s fees, if applicable. This is the final and most important step in the sales process. The notarized deed of sale formalizes the transaction between the buyer and the seller. It triggers the settlement of the sale and, in particular, the transfer of ownership, along with the handover of the keys to the buyer.

Calculating Notary Fees

Whether they are the responsibility of the seller or the buyer, the notary fees must be paid on the day the deed of sale is signed. These real estate transaction costs, determined by French law according to a scale based on the sale price and referred to as “acquisition costs,” include both the notary’s fees and the various taxes owed to the state, the department, and the municipality, and amount on average to 7.5 to 8% of a property’s sale price.

Grounds for Canceling a Real Estate Sale

There are several scenarios that could lead to the cancellation or failure to complete a real estate sale:

Upon the buyer’s submission of a purchase offer, if the seller rejects the offer,
After signing the preliminary sales agreement, the buyer is entitled to a right of withdrawal within 10 days of receiving notice of the preliminary sales agreement by certified mail with return receipt requested. The buyer may withdraw from the agreed-upon purchase without providing a reason or incurring a penalty.
At the time of the final signing of the deed of sale at the notary’s office, if the seller fails to fulfill their obligations regarding delivery, if they do not allow the buyer to take possession of the property, and regarding the warranty against hidden defects.

For any additional information, our team is here to answer all your questions about your plans to buy or sell real estate. Please feel free to contact our two real estate agencies, CENTURY 21 Auteuil Immobilier and CENTURY 21 Auteuil Seine, by phone at 01 42 15 16 21 or 01 56 07 16 21, or by email: auteuil@century21.fr or auteuilseine@century21.fr

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