How to sell your house without a real estate agent
- May 1
- 5 min read
Selling or renting a property is an undertaking that requires time, effort, and, above all, market knowledge. The competition is fierce.
"I'm ready: I know I have the best house in the area, it has a few minor flaws, but I'm sure the prospective buyers will love it just the way it is, and I'm also sure that my house is worth more than my neighbor's, even though it's not as big."
We all have a high sentimental value for our homes: our families have grown up in them, we have many fond memories, and we've invested a lot of time, effort, and money in them. We feel very confident about going on the market and being able to sell them without any problems, right?
The market
In Mexico City, there are approximately 3,000 real estate agencies, 150 construction companies, at least seven real estate directories, and countless independent agents. This means that when your property goes on the market, it faces fierce professional competition : all these players in this sector are highly qualified, professional, and experienced (for example, they have the budgets to create successful marketing campaigns to sell their properties).
I always compare this situation to running a 100-meter dash at the Olympics against Usain Bolt and the other top athletes (who in this analogy would be all the real estate professionals in the market), and all my experience boils down to running after my one-year-old son who's going down the stairs before he can even walk properly. My chances aren't great.
"I searched on inmuebles24.com for a typical urban apartment: $6,000,000 price, Condesa neighborhood, Juárez, Cuauhtémoc, two bedrooms with one parking space. I found more than 250 listings. How do I advertise my property so it stands out from the rest?"
Average sales time
According to data from AMPI (Mexican Association of Real Estate Professionals), the average time it takes for a person to sell their property is 1 to 2 years. This timeframe depends heavily on the type of property, the price, and especially whether or not it is marketed by a real estate professional.
The legal dossier
You'll need to gather a complete file of all the documents required to finalize the sale with a notary (both property documents and the owner's personal documents), and another file for the bank if the buyer is financing your property with a mortgage. This list depends on several factors, and at Metroplex Real Estate, we can help you compile it, free of charge and without obligation. Contact us; our contact information is at the end of this article.
You probably don't have all the required documents (in our experience, 70% of the cases we handle require processing the missing documents with the relevant authorities). We can also advise you on where to obtain them.
It is also necessary to ask the buyer for a series of documents in order to generate the purchase and sale contract.
Taxes
This is a somewhat tricky point: nobody likes paying taxes, and selling a property often generates these very unpleasant charges. It's important to know exactly how much you'll pay in taxes when you put your house on the market and to seek professional advice to develop a solid strategy and avoid paying unnecessary taxes.
Sale price
This is a very delicate point; it's crucial to define the market value of your property. As we discussed at the beginning, there's a lot of competition, and if we list our property above what the market is willing to pay, it simply won't sell. Therefore, we must set aside our emotions. Real estate agencies should have very scientific valuation tools that determine the true price; guesswork isn't very useful here.
The promotion
In sales, we must always put ourselves in the customer's shoes and use their perspective: today, people looking for a property are hyper-connected, checking their mobile phones more than 100 times a day and using multichannel communication. Brands now engage in dialogue with customers; they no longer rely on traditional advertising. Our customers demand immediate answers, and most importantly, they no longer buy products, they buy experiences .
For this reason, the old practice (still incredibly common) of taking three photos with your cell phone, uploading them to the internet and waiting for customers to pour in, doesn't really work anymore.
Today, it's essential to use new promotional tools: home staging, professional photography, an effective marketing plan, social media, and more. The strategy is tailored to the client's needs and the type of property being sold. Even the sign we put on our front door has evolved.
Look at the difference when we were given a house to sell in Chimalistac (San Ángel). It's a beautiful house that needed a little love to make it presentable: After our intervention, we increased the value of the house by almost 15%, with an investment of only 2%. A good deal, right?
And in the age of artificial intelligence, Home Staging is even more spectacular, and very fast.
Prepare your house for sale
You've probably sold a car before, and to do so, you took it to the body shop to have the dents fixed, the car polished, and waxed. You took it to the mechanic to get rid of the squeaking suspension, and you also checked the Blue Book to find out the selling price.
Selling your house is similar: you have to make it presentable, paint it, fix any defects, modernize anything that looks outdated, and with all this, you're sure to increase the selling price. At Metroplex Real Estate, we have a guide to preparing your house for sale with many recommendations for doing this very effectively.
The purchase and sale agreement
If everything goes well and you manage to sell our property, using a good sales contract is essential. The most important thing here is to avoid any legal problems that could not only jeopardize the transaction but also lead to a larger legal dispute. Never use template contracts; it's important to consult with a lawyer, preferably one with experience in real estate matters, as every case is different.
Basic security
Keep in mind that selling a property requires showing it, and this means letting strangers into your home. To avoid any problems or risks to your personal or family safety, it's best if the client doesn't identify the person showing them the property as the owner. A criminal could enter your home, assess its contents, determine your asking price, and then monitor the transaction until the sale is complete. This person will know how much money you have and when, and could potentially extort you. Take preventative measures, such as asking for a copy of their ID before showing the property, and never identify yourself as the owner.
At Metroplex Real Estate, we can advise you on your purchase or sale. Call us, and we'll discuss a strategy tailored to your needs.
+52 55 4174 6906 , info@metroplex.mx
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