Selling a flat - recommendations on a Makler

[hiphapa 0]

We will be selling our Altbau in Cologne, and I'm curious if people think it makes a difference to choose from a local Makler (in the same neighborhood/quarter) or one that maybe specializes in "higher end" Altbau Wohnungen? I guess ideally, the Makler would be both local and a specialist.. but any thoughts on this? Would we be better served by one over the other? Maybe one knows the local market and buyers better versus the other who might know people looking for something in a higher price range?

 

Or maybe I'm just looking at this all completely wrong.. Appreciate your ideas.

[engelchen 12,593]

There are very few good Makler in Germany who actually earn their commission. You might want to first try advertising as a private sale and see if you can get a better price from buyers looking to save on the commission. 

[hiphapa 0]

Thanks.. I was also wondering this, but I guess I'm a little nervous about the process and doing everything correctly.

[catjones 1,260]

Given the size of Cologne, are the two (local vs high end) mutually exclusive?

[hiphapa 0]

No, I think we might be able to find both specialties within a single agency... We will see! Thanks for commenting.

[maxie 398]

Do you have any friends/colleagues etc. that you can ask for a recommendation? 

I am not sure if a local one necessarily has much of an advantage as any Makler needs to constantly do their research in terms of prices and the market anyway. 

There are some large companies that have a decent reputation. Engels & Völkers, for example. I never had any dealings with them directly because none of the houses they had on offer were what we were looking for, but they had a lot of more upscale properties listed and the advertisings were all pretty good (nice photographs, texts pretty normal language, almost no typos etc.) Maybe worth a look. You could also have a chat with them and see what their ideas are for selling your property and what price they would be aiming at, before you sign a contract. 

 

We had a brilliant Makler that I have recommended before, unfortunately not really local for you (ca. 300 km).  

[claudeyc 34]

On 22/02/2021, 14:31:58, hiphapa said:

Thanks.. I was also wondering this, but I guess I'm a little nervous about the process and doing everything correctly.

 

You could try going it alone. The Notar will make sure that everything is in order from a legal point of view.

 

Get access to an example of a good exchange contract (from a friend etc) and proceed from there.

 

Compare any prospective contracts against that.

 

There are guides online which specify what you need (or ideally should) provide to Maklers or private purchasers when you are selling.

 

There has been a shift towards providing more formal documentation over the last ten years, so start early so as to minimise delays. You'll need a new Grundbuchauszug, Kasterliegenschaft etc but there are guides for this.

 

You might want to check out McMakler. 

 

As always caveat emptor etc etc. 

[hiphapa 0]

Thank you all. This is helpful info and guidance.

[DoubleDTown 294]

 

On 2/22/2021, 2:50:38, engelchen said:

You might want to first try advertising as a private sale and see if you can get a better price from buyers looking to save on the commission. 

 

I agree with this.  The Notar will make sure everything is "correct".  The hardest part is to get the right price, just be sure to not offer it too low and the market will let you know if you are asking too much.

 

I suggest buying "Immobilien verkaufen für Dummies" or a similar guide for background info.     

[Feierabend 928]

There's a site called Ohne Makler through which you can easily access the main property selling portals.  

Ohne-makler.net