When it comes to buying and selling property, the processes can be tedious and financially challenging. The search for buyers and sellers, the appraisal of property value, the negotiation process, the availing of home loan, the paperwork involved so on and so forth.

You can see from the number of steps that successfully buying a residential property is no small feat. And this extends to the selling of property also. However, times have changed and much of these processes have gone virtual. Though it is still recommended that property inspection is conducted by visiting the site in person, the other processes can be conducted online. This article seeks to explain the process regarding the sale of a property and address some questions related to the topic.

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Which site is best to sell a property?

The selling of property is being simplified with the use of the internet to conduct the transactions. 

  • Websites like 99Acres, MagicBricks, OLX Homes, Housing, etc. are initiatives to virtualize and simplify the buying and selling of real estate property. 
  • Sites like 99Acres and Magicbricks list down properties area-wise that are found in different cities.
  • They provide area wise or project-wise search, allowing you to select details like budget, the BHK for flats, and allow you to check who placed the advertisements for the sale of a property.
  • These online initiatives are of recent origin with OLX Homes and Quikrhomes being new entrants in the online market.
  • These initiatives save a lot of time and energy with a database of properties in different cities available to you to browse, compare, and select.

How do I sell a residential property?

The advertisements for residential property can be listed online on sites like 99Acres, MagicBricks, etc. where you have to list down important details of the property like nature of the property, number of rooms, age of the property, facilities of the property, etc.

  • You can also list the total value of the property, the price per square feet, your contact details, or buyers to contact you.
  • Once interested buyers begin contacting you, you can individually determine the buyer you want to interact with and carry the transaction forward.
  • The buyer may want to appraise the home value, inspect the property, and check the property documents. Make sure you have all this to ensure the smooth conduct of the transaction. 
  • The price you have quoted may be subject to negotiation. This may be a contentious issue that may lead to the breaking down of negotiation. So tactfully deal with this situation.
  • Once you have completed the process, get a clear and unambiguous sale agreement drafted that records all that has been agreed upon, and clearly outline the transaction.
  • After completing the registration process and receiving the consideration, you have successfully sold your house.

Is selling your house to an investor a good idea?

People who want to purchase your residential property for residential purposes are known as homebuyers. On the other hand, the people who want to purchase your residential property for commercial reasons are called investors. The following are the pros and cons of selling your house to an investor:

Pros

  • Investors are more likely to pay in cash or other liquid options than a homebuyer who may resort to availing a home loan to purchase a house.
  • Due to the more liquid nature of an investor’s payment, the time taken to conclude a sale transaction may be lesser than the time taken by a homebuyer to make payment. This is because lenders lending money to homebuyers may take time for accepting home loan applications and sanctioning loans. 
  • Investors are not very particular about the condition of the house, unlike homebuyers who inspect the house for quality checking. Investors, on the other hand, purchase houses in the condition they are for fixing or modifying the property as they see fit for resale purposes. This saves the seller expenses of fixing and repairing the house to make it presentable. 
  • Since investors do not need to inspect the house or conduct other quality checks they may close the deal faster than homebuyers who need to appraise the house, inspect the property, etc. thus extending the duration of the transaction.

Cons

  • Despite investors paying in cash, they want a deal struck at a bargain. This effectively means a lower than market-value consideration for the home seller. The seller may have to bear a financial loss to receive faster payment.
  • Many a time, investors hide behind registered real estate agents to purchase the property. Since home sellers deal with the agent instead of the principal, they do not know who exactly they are dealing with. There are RERA provisions that require real estate agents to mandatory register themselves under the RERA Act, home sellers may still find it hard to ascertain the true identity of the investor. This may also lead to scams which may cause the home seller to be cheated. Hence, you need to know who you are dealing with and conduct a background check on them before progressing further.

What money do you get when you sell your house?

When you sell your house to a buyer, you can choose to have the money directly wired to your account or you can get a banker’s cheque or draft for the money to be encashed.

  • However, if you have a home loan outstanding on your property, you need to repay the money via pre-payment before the property ownership is transferred to the homebuyer. This is in the case if a home buyer himself is availing a home loan for purchasing the house.
  • However, if the buyer wants to purchase the house using cash, he/she can take over your outstanding loan amount and repay, the quantum of which will be deducted from the consideration amount decided.

How can I sell my property quickly?

The best way to sell your property quickly is preemptive action.

  • To successfully sell your property quickly you need to keep your documentation up to date like the property papers, title deeds, etc.
  • Hiring a broker or a lawyer to overlook the transaction saves time for they can manoeuvre through the nitty-gritty promptly.
  • You can bypass several unwanted steps by listing your property on an online property site which allows for finding interested buyers directly. 
  • Another step would be, to be honest about your objective from the prospective buyer and be accommodative towards him. Confrontation will either lead to the deal being broken or the emergence of contentious issues that will extend the duration of the negotiation process.

How to attract buyers to real estate?

Nowadays with the reach of the internet, you can list your property on real estate sites where potential homebuyers throng to browse, compare, and finalize prospective houses.

  • Through the medium of the internet, you can get in touch with interested homebuyers who can contact you for initiating the transaction.
  • Make sure your house is in the best condition possible for ensuring a hit from potential buyers. 
  • Another option is employing a broker who interacts with everyone in the market and who can get prospective buyers for your house. A real estate agent or a broker can capitalize on contacts to get references of prospective homebuyers for his client or principal.
  • You can also advertise your property on other offline platforms like the classifieds in newspapers or via word of mouth. This may involve some expenditure, however.
  • These are some of the methods that can also be employed in tandem to yield the desired results.
  • When it comes to payment, there are times when the seller does not get the price s/he wants. In such cases, the sellers can negotiate with the buyer to reach a price that does not vary greatly with the price s/he had in mind. Sometimes to succeed you need to compromise.
  • You should ask for a prompt payment to be made for the protection of your interests. If the buyer does not have the funds to be given immediately, provide him or her a reasonable time to arrange the funds but not too much time.

Conclusion 

The selling of property via online platforms has proven a big boon for real estate buyers and sellers who wish to purchase or sell the property. These online sites also serve as a medium for facilitating comparison of similar properties and give homebuyers the element of choice along with convenience. This way of advertising, facilitation of buyer-seller interaction, and listing of several properties on a single platform serves as a virtual real estate. However, this type of online activity comes along with some warnings.

Be sure to confirm the credentials of the buyer or seller for virtual platforms can be sites of financial scams and frauds. Fake buyers or sellers can deceive their honest counterparts and swindle them of money to the tune of lakhs of rupees. Therefore, avail the benefits of online platforms to sell your property, but make sure to exercise caution when you deal with the party on the other end of a computer terminal.