Last month we talked about getting your house on the market. Next you'll need to cope with viewings, analyse how it's going, deal with interested buyers and finally accept an offer and sell your house! As ever, your relationship with your estate agent is crucial to achieving the best outcome for you.
Viewings
As we emphasised in last month's article, presentation is everything so it really is worth putting in some effort to make your home look its best. In most cases your agent should be able to give you some notice before bringing prospective buyers but that may not always be possible.
Make sure that if you're going to be away from home for a while you make arrangements for a friend to look after viewings for you or leave a key with your agent – the right person might just come along while you are away!
Also talk to your agent about how the viewings will be conducted. For example who is going to take the clients round, what questions are they likely to ask and what are the good points about the house that you will want to emphasise? Having these things thought through properly helps make a good, professional impression to your prospective buyer.
Reviewing progress
Unless you're lucky enough to sell quickly then you might eventually want to think about whether there's anything you need to do to make your property more attractive to buyers, for example reducing the price. The feedback your estate agent gives you after each viewing should be a great help to you at this stage.
An offer to buy
Once you have a buyer and have agreed a price you will need to produce the following documents:
A copy of your title deed (escritura)
A receipt proving that your property tax (IBI) is paid up to date. If there are any community charges relating to the property then the same will apply. Proof of up to date payment of each of your utility bills – water, electricity and telephone.
A copy of your personal identification i.e. your resident's card or passport.
Purchase contracts are generally prepared over the next week and usually 10% deposit will be paid within 10 days of the contract being signed. The completion date can be agreed between you and your buyer but about 6 to 8 weeks is normal.
When selling your house you do not have to have legal representation unless the title deed needs up dating (see last month's article).
The next step is the trip to the notary to complete on the sale. You will be informed of the date, place and time by your estate agent. Bring the title deed for your property and your identification. Please allow a few hours for this visit as on occasion there are delays at the notary office. During the visit the asesoria for the buyer will translate the new title deed and then you will be required to sign for the sale in front of the notary and you will receive a banker's cheque for the purchase price.
Then that's it, congratulations you have sold your house!
