Can You Get By Without a Real Estate Agent?

I hear this question all the time. The answer is of course yes! Saving money on the agent's commission is just as natural as saving money on other things. I know people who are not willing to pay a hairdresser and cut their own hair, or who spend the whole day searching for ingredients and cooking bouillabaisse instead of going to a restaurant.

What's the big deal about selling an apartment — it's quite simple, isn't it? Take some photos, upload them to Willhaben, wait for calls, show the apartment and find a buyer — that's how confident property owners think. In practice, however, it turns out that there are only a few viewings and mainly "apartment tourists" show up — people who want to buy but don't have the means to do so. Eventually a deal seems within reach, the offer is signed, the money almost in the bag! But the bank rejects the loan and all the effort was in vain. The result is almost always a sale below market value: the seller despairs and, after months of exhausting negotiations, hands the apartment over to the first person who can finally pay a somewhat acceptable sum, even if it is far below the desired price. Or another example: an apartment is sold for significantly more than the purchase price from a few years ago. After some time, the happy seller receives a letter from the tax office asking them to pay back €50,000 in taxes, as the apartment was not their primary residence and they therefore do not qualify for a tax exemption.

And what if you want to buy a property without an agent? Buying is easier than selling, isn't it? We look for a "private" listing and if we like it, we go to a lawyer to close the deal. What do we need an intermediary for? Why pay another three percent in commission? We'll handle everything ourselves — that's how some people think. Why not take a risk — risk is an honourable thing. People jump out of planes with parachutes, climb Everest, play the stock market or visit casinos. And here we're talking about an apartment — what could possibly go wrong? In reality — just about anything. I know someone who bought an apartment in Wien for half a million euros; the deal went smoothly, he was satisfied and happy and started ordering furniture. Then there was a knock at the door: a man with a suitcase claimed to have returned from a six-month assignment in Brazil and intended to move back into his long-rented apartment. The contract was open-ended, the rent minimal, but there was no way to evict him. And so the half million didn't turn into a pumpkin, but it did turn into roughly three hundred thousand — apartments with open-ended tenants are significantly below market value. Or less severe cases — you buy an apartment, renovate it, want to rent it out and only learn from prospective tenants that the rent must be significantly lower than desired, because the building was once constructed with financial participation from the municipality and is therefore subject to a rent cap.

The activities of real estate agents in Austria are heavily regulated; every property professional must be aware of all the "pitfalls" and inform their clients accordingly. The agent is an intermediary between seller and buyer in equal measure — it is important to them to maintain a balance of interests between both parties, and for this they receive their fee.

A transaction carried out with the help of a good agent always proceeds faster and more profitably; the agent covers the costs of presenting the property on internet platforms (we have around 60 of them), and commercial listings are always shown in top positions, while private ones quickly sink in the search results. The agent knows potential investors, has regular clients, and there is always a chance that the property will find a buyer without ever being brought to market. The agent has access to information databases that allow an objective valuation of the property, based not only on an analysis of current listings but also on transactions that have already taken place. The agent assesses the financial capabilities of the buyer and, if necessary, seeks financing options for them. The agent advises the parties on questions of the property's energy efficiency, possible uses and tax implications. The agent guides you through the thicket of laws, technical characteristics of the property and the psychological particularities of those involved, in order to achieve the desired result for you.

Alexander Predein, Real Estate Consultant, Doctor of Economics +436607406024 www.4m-immo.at