Do you know why you need a realtor when buying an apartment, and is he needed at all? How can he help and what should you not count on him for? We have collected for you several arguments for and against hiring a realtor, and have prepared detailed instructions on how to buy an apartment yourself.
1) Is it worth hiring a realtor 2) Step 1. Looking for an apartment: how to quickly find housing 3) Step 2. Studying the ad: what to look for 4) Step 3. Call the seller 5) Step 4. Inspecting the apartment 6) Step 5. What ask the seller questions 7) Step 6. Independent risk check
Step 7. Making an advance or deposit 9) Step 8. Signing the sales contract and transferring money
Is it worth hiring a realtor?
Arguments for"
- You don't have to look for housing on your own. A realtor will select the appropriate option according to your requirements and save time. The main thing is to formulate your preferences very precisely.
- You do not need to delve into the legal intricacies of buying an apartment yourself. A realtor should deal with all issues related to the purchase process and inspection of the apartment.
- A realtor will evaluate the apartment with a professional eye and tell you about its advantages and disadvantages. Based on this, he will be able to reasonably bargain with the seller to reduce the price.
Arguments against"
- An agreement with a realtor does not guarantee 100% purity of the purchase and sale transaction. You will have to check all the details yourself.
- You are losing money. Depending on the complexity of the transaction, the realtor’s commission ranges from 1 to 6% of the amount. That is, when buying an apartment for 6,500,000 rubles, you will pay the intermediary from 65,000 to 390,000 rubles. Agree, they would be useful to you yourself.
- A realtor can only offer you those options where he is offered a commission from the seller. These are so-called “affiliate deals”, when the developer or seller pays the buyer’s realtor from 0.5% to 4% for the referred buyer.
note
It is your right to decide which option to choose. You can choose and buy an apartment yourself, saving money. The main thing is to be careful. After reading our instructions, buying an apartment without a realtor will not seem so difficult.
Experts spoke about the pitfalls when buying a secondary home
Properties on the secondary housing market can have many pitfalls that are not so easy to recognize. Lawyers and realtors told Izvestia on Friday, July 9, how to identify risky transactions in the real estate market.
Fraud or mental problems?
All risky transactions in the housing market can be divided into three categories, said Stanislav Galkin, director of the real estate agency OBMENKVARTIR.RF.
The first category is openly fraudulent schemes, when the organizers of the transaction deliberately commit deception in order to obtain financial gain. For example, they involve people suffering from mental illness in the transaction and persuade them to sell their real estate. As a result, such a transaction is challenged on the basis that the seller did not and could not understand the consequences of his actions due to mental illness. The home is eventually returned to the seller, and most of the money remains with the scammers.
You can protect yourself from such actions only after a thorough check of documents, sellers and the history of the apartment.
Maternal capital
The second category of risky transactions are cases when the seller knows that there are factors that could lead to a challenge to the transaction, but for some reason hides them from the buyer, said Stanislav Galkin.
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For example, he sells an apartment for the purchase of which or for early repayment of the mortgage funds from maternity (family) capital were used. If the parents sold such an apartment without giving shares to their children, the transaction may subsequently be challenged by a statement from the competent authorities or even by a claim from the children who have grown up and learned that their rights were violated.
This also includes transactions for the sale of housing, during the privatization of which persons who have the legal right to do so were not granted ownership rights. Especially if the rights of persons who were minors at that time were violated.
If you see that the apartment was purchased through a paid transaction, especially with a mortgage loan, request a certificate stating that maternity capital funds were not used - even if the seller’s passport does not contain a record of the presence of children.
“We once had an interesting case when it turned out that the children were not indicated in the passport, but the maternity capital was used. If you have suspicions that at the time of purchasing the apartment the seller was married (for example, the purchase was old, but the passport is “fresh”), request a certificate from the registry office that the seller was not in a registered marriage at the time of purchase,” the realtor advised .
The most dangerous deals
The third category of dangerous transactions refers to cases where the parties did not know and could not know about the presence of factors that could subsequently lead to termination of the transaction. The most common category of such transactions is the sale of an apartment that was inherited, says Stanislav Galkin. When registering an inheritance, the interests of persons who are legally entitled to their share may not be taken into account, and it is not possible to find out their existence. For example, a man dies, his children enter into inheritance rights and sell the apartment. Then it turns out that the deceased had another child (or several children), the existence of which the family of the deceased, as well as the notary who formalized the inheritance, did not know and could not know. And these new heirs are challenging the deal.
This category also includes the consequences of the recently adopted law on bankruptcy of individuals. According to the law, you can challenge a real estate sale transaction, even if the sale took place three years before the start of bankruptcy proceedings. Sometimes in the history of an apartment there are factors that can subsequently lead to the termination of all subsequent transactions and the presence of which the parties were not aware of when making the transaction. For example, once upon a time an apartment was sold using forged documents or during its sale the interests of third parties were infringed. After even a very long time, such a transaction can be terminated, as well as all subsequent transactions. In such cases, it is quite difficult to protect the buyer from the risks of losing the apartment.
In cars in front of the MFC
When preparing a purchase and sale agreement, an important factor is the financial terms of the transaction, the form of payment and calculation of the cost of housing, the transfer of money, which is recommended to be done in official places, for example in banks, said Yulia Savinykh, Skolkovo resident, General Director of Inkom LLC, President of MTK LLC.
“You definitely shouldn’t do this in cars in front of the MFC, in apartments that are for sale and in dubious offices of real estate agencies. Be sure to check all the powers of the director of the company, employees must have a power of attorney, the length of service of the company, the actual and legal addresses of registration of the company are important,” she advised.
Husband or accomplice
There is also a frequent practice of presenting false passports when accepting deposits and advances for the preparation of sales contracts, said Yulia Savinykh.
“I had a case when a young family came to the office wanting to sell an apartment under an agreement on the assignment of ownership rights. They presented the owner’s passport, the contract, and then it turned out that it was not the husband, but the wife’s accomplice, who was like two peas in a pod and came to the deal with his passport. Since then, I’ve also been checking passport photos,” she said.
Scheme with deposit
The purchase of an apartment on the secondary market can be overshadowed by a scheme when the seller asks the buyer to confirm the seriousness of his intentions in the form of a deposit, while the contract states that the deposit will not be returned if refused, said Olga Turenko, a lawyer at the Borodin and Partners law firm.
In what other cases should you not buy real estate?
It is impossible to completely eliminate risks when purchasing real estate, but they can be minimized, says Olga Turenko. In her opinion, you should not purchase an apartment if the seller has owned it for less than three years; agree to transactions by proxy. Among other things, she advises to beware of apartments that are too cheap, not to buy housing with children, the elderly, or disabled people registered in it, and to have the seller’s statements certified by a notary and not to skimp on insurance.
A problem may arise if the apartment is sold by proxy, said Nadezhda Korkka, managing director. The agreement is considered valid only until the end of the validity period or the moment of its cancellation. Often such documents are drawn up on behalf of incapacitated people, single pensioners, orphans, or even the deceased. However, in the latter case, the power of attorney will be invalid, even if its validity has not yet expired.
It is worth checking whether the rights of minors, as well as persons who were serving sentences at the time of privatization, were not violated, she added.
How do you still buy an apartment?
When purchasing a property without the participation of a recommended realtor or real estate agency, the most important thing is the legal and factual verification of this property, its exact address and location - sometimes scammers show one apartment and present documents for another, says Yulia Savinykh.
At the same time, the most important document when buying a home is an extract from the Unified State Register; it must be current in date and without any encumbrances on the rights of the owner. If there are encumbrances in the form of a mortgage, by virtue of the law the transaction must be completed with a specialist who will provide documented support for the process of repayment or transfer of the mortgage.
The director of the agency OBMENKVARTIR.RF recommends carefully studying the entire background of the apartment and, if possible, requesting information about the persons registered in it for the entire period. It is also a good idea to make sure that the seller is not experiencing financial difficulties that could prompt him to subsequently file for bankruptcy.
Stanislav Galkin also recommended checking before purchasing not only the seller’s passport (which is often forged), but also other documents: driver’s license, SNILS, international passport. After all, as a rule, fraudsters limit themselves to forging only one document.
It is also necessary to request certificates stating that the seller is not registered with a psycho-drug dispensary.
If the transaction is carried out under a power of attorney, you need to check its validity: call the notary who issued this power of attorney, check it in the register of canceled powers of attorney.
When preparing a purchase and sale agreement, the transfer of money should be made in official places, such as banks, advises the general director of Inkom LLC. It is necessary to check all the powers of the director of the company, employees must have a power of attorney, the length of service of the company, the actual and legal addresses of its registration are important.
The act of acceptance and transfer of the object is drawn up in simple written form with a mandatory inventory of furniture, equipment, and household appliances. It is mandatory to check housing and communal services charges, meters, their verification period and operational documents. In the purchase and sale agreement, it is important to stipulate the fact that the seller has received money and the absence of financial claims, Savinykh concluded.
In April, the Federal Chamber of Notaries reported that in 2019–2020, notaries prevented the commission of illegal actions in relation to property worth more than 639 million rubles in only 45 regions of Russia.
Over these two years, notaries, while certifying transactions in these regions, identified 680 cases of fraudulent activity. Scammers tried to notarize transactions, for example, to take possession of someone else's home.
After the transaction was completed, the apartment began to look different
At the final stage before purchasing, you meet with the seller in your future apartment or house. Everything is fine, you are happy and looking forward to moving, imagine how beautifully you arrange the dishes in the kitchen and hang the curtains in the living room, and place the chair and lamp in a cozy corner next to the socket.
The deal goes through, you move into your new home and discover that all the sockets have been ripped out, the baseboards have been stripped, the wallpaper has been scratched, and all the beautiful cabinets and nightstands have been taken away. You see bare walls and understand that repairs and additional expenses await you.
How to prevent
The contract must additionally specify what remains untouched after the keys are handed over and the previous owners move out. For even greater reliability, you can attach photographs of the apartment to the document at the time when you made the decision to purchase and signed the papers with the seller. In this case, when you receive the keys and move into the apartment, there will be no surprises for you.
The previous owner is in no hurry to check out
You bought an apartment and really want to complete the transaction and move to a new home as soon as possible. In addition to the seller, several other people are registered there, and the former owner does not have time to check everyone out of the apartment. You agree that they will be deregistered within a month. A month or two passes, people don’t check out, the seller doesn’t want to get in touch.
How to prevent
Before purchasing, it is best to wait for the complete legal release of the apartment. But if you are in a hurry, be sure to include in the purchase and sale agreement the deadlines for when everyone registered in the apartment will be deregistered.
If problems do arise, there is no need to be afraid: you can always write outsiders out through the court. Competent lawyers will help.
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After signing the contract and making an advance payment, the seller refuses to sell
The agony of choice is over: you have selected an apartment that suits all parameters, started preparing for the transaction, and submitted an application for mortgage approval on your own or through a realtor. And suddenly the owner says that he has changed his mind about selling the apartment. Or I found a buyer who is ready to purchase it on more favorable terms: for example, he pays in cash. The owner of the apartment returns the advance and literally slams the door in your face.
How to prevent
The advance agreement additionally stipulates that after receiving the deposit, the seller of the apartment guarantees that it is assigned to you, and in case of violation of the terms of the agreement, he not only returns the advance, but also pays you a penalty.
It is clear that situations can be different and it is impossible to provide for everything within the framework of the contract. But you will receive an additional guarantee of your seller’s integrity: few people will want to pay a penalty.
Seller and buyer have disagreements over additional costs
You started the transaction, took into account various details, paid for the appraisal and insurance. And at the same time, you need, for example, the services of a realtor or lawyer to add additional clauses to the purchase and sale agreement. Or you transfer money through a cell or letter of credit. A dispute arises between you and the seller about who should cover such expenses.
How to prevent
Agree in advance with the seller who will bear the additional costs and how. It is best to fix them in the advance agreement: you will save your nerves, not spoil your relationship with the seller and not spoil your joy from buying a home.
Check list
This small list will help make sure that you do not miss anything important when preparing for such a significant event as buying an apartment.
- Take into account in the contract and record in the photo the form in which you receive housing.
- Check the people registered in the apartment before drawing up a purchase and sale agreement.
- When preparing for a transaction, take into account all the risks in the advance agreement, and not in words.
- Ask the seller for certificates from the IPA and ND.
- Discuss covering additional costs in advance.
- Decide in advance on the terms of mutual settlements.
- Make sure that all participants in the transaction are aware of what is happening.
Extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate on the main characteristics of the object
This is a very important document with information from the Unified State Register of Real Estate, which will give you a lot of useful information.
Who are the owners
They all must agree to the deal, otherwise it can be challenged.
Are there any encumbrances?
The property may be pledged to the bank due to a mortgage, leased out with registration of the agreement in the Federal Property Management Agency, or seized for debts. If so, the owners have no right to dispose of it. The transaction will be invalid.
What are the characteristics of the apartment
The extract from the Unified State Register will contain the exact address, cadastral number, and area. The technical plan of the apartment is printed on the last page. You can evaluate the footage of the rooms and notice the presence of redevelopments. The latter is especially important if you are applying for a mortgage loan - it may not be approved.
From what date do owners own an apartment?
Compare it with the date in the title documents (more about them below).
Based on what document does the owner own the apartment?
In some cases, the risk is initially higher - this is also discussed in the paragraph on title documents.
The owner will provide you with an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate. You can get its stripped-down version yourself.
To do this, you need to order an extract on the Rosreestr website. To provide a document in electronic form, you will have to pay 250 rubles Obtaining information from the Unified State Register of Real Estate. You should also order an extract on the transfer of rights to the property - it costs the same. In this document you will see how often and on what basis the owners of the apartment changed.
If over the past year or two real estate has changed hands several times, this is a reason to be wary. This is usually how fraudulent transactions are disguised. If the deceived owner can challenge the chain of transactions through the court, the apartment will be returned to him.
