Real estate: maximize sales proceeds with the right broker
Digital search platforms provide important information for the maintenance and sale of a property. However, the sale proceeds can only be optimized with the help of a combination of digital services, physical presence and the know-how of experienced brokers.
The home ownership platform Liiva supports homeowners in a simple and transparent way in recognizing risks and making the right decisions – from the acquisition to the maintenance to the sale of the apartment or house. When maintaining a property, you can use the modernization assistant (MoA), for example, to find out what measures you need to take to maintain the value of your property – and what needs to be done to increase it.
The innovative MoA determines the current market value of a property and creates an object analysis as well as a concrete renovation plan. In addition, Liiva indicates the energy consumption of the property, provides general information on energy-related renovation and determines the specific potential of the property for energy improvement.
Selling price is more important than brokerage fee
The sale of a property also has far-reaching financial consequences and must therefore be well prepared. For the sale of residential property, Liiva complements its digital services with physical presence and the know-how of experienced brokers. Agents normally charge 2 to 3 percent of the sales price achieved, which is around 30,000 to 45,000 francs for a property with a market value of 1.5 million francs. Agents not only help to find a buyer through their network, optimize the sale price, draft contracts and complete the sale, but also offer other valuable local know-how.
But what criteria do I use to select a suitable broker? The brokerage fee should only have a secondary influence on the decision. When selling a property, the aim is usually to maximize the sales proceeds – and because the sales price can vary by 100,000 to 200,000 francs and more, optimizing the proceeds is more important than the brokerage fee, which is 10,000 to 20,000 francs lower or can be higher. The involvement of an experienced broker is therefore of the utmost importance.
Choose the best broker
A professional broker selection is independent and based on transparent criteria. That means, for example, are there currently numerous similar properties in the brokerage firm's sales portfolio, were such properties recently sold, how quickly were they sold, and at what price? In addition, the selection should be made from a sufficiently broad pool of brokers.
Thanks to Liiva's partnership with the independent real estate platform Bestag, which specializes in finding the most suitable brokers, several competent local brokers can be suggested to customers throughout Switzerland; the final choice is made by the sellers. There is no exclusivity and no special placements for selected brokers – and the quality of the broker's sales work is constantly checked. Liiva personally accompanies the seller through all steps of the sales process.
Transparent incentive system
Specifically, three local brokers are suggested to the customers, from whom they each receive a market value estimate of their property. In addition, Liiva provides two neutral hedonic estimates that give customers a good idea of where the current fair price is. The remuneration of the selected brokers is based on a bonus-malus system that ensures that the broker makes the best possible effort with the sale: If the broker exceeds the target price, he or she earns a higher percentage.
For the sellers there are no additional costs for this brokerage, since the expenses incurred by Liiva are covered by a small part of the brokerage commission. These commissions vary depending on the location, but are always shown transparently. The customer can thus decide for himself in advance whether he agrees with the broker's suggestions and the corresponding conditions, and there are no unpleasant surprises.
The mix of digital and physical services when selling real estate enables the best result to be achieved.