Selling your holiday home abroad privately: what to settle first
If you sell your place by the sea yourself, you save the commission and take on the work instead. Six things that make the sale faster and safer.
7 min read
All information without warranty. This text is orientation and replaces no legal, tax or investment advice. What applies in your case depends on the country, the property, your nationality and your personal circumstances, and can change at any time. Take advice from a professional qualified in the country concerned before any decision.
Paperwork first, listing second
The most common reason a private sale stalls is not the price. It is paperwork that is missing when a buyer gets serious. Have it ready before the listing goes online: a current extract from the land registry, the building permit and completion certificate, proof for later extensions and the pool, the energy certificate and, for apartments, the documents of the owners’ association with the current service charge.
In the EU an energy certificate is required for a sale, and in some countries it has to be stated in the listing itself. And if an extension was never approved, it is better that you find out before the buyer does. Then it can be settled or reflected in the price, instead of the sale falling apart at the notary.
The price comes from the market, not from memory
What you paid and what you put in means nothing to a buyer. Look at what comparable properties in the same area cost today: same size, same distance to the water, similar condition. Asking prices are a ceiling; most homes sell below them.
A price that is too high at the start costs more than a few per cent. A listing that sits for months reads as unsold to buyers, and every later reduction confirms it.
Who is actually going to buy your house?
On the coast, many buyers come from another country. In Spain, Germans, Britons, Scandinavians, French and Poles buy alongside the Spanish; on the Adriatic, Austrians, Germans and Czechs. Each of them searches in their own language.
A listing that exists only in the local language reaches only part of the possible buyers. List at least in English as well, and ideally in the languages of the people who actually buy in your area.
Good photos are half the viewing
A buyer from abroad sees your house in pictures first, and often for a long time only in pictures. Photograph in daylight and tidied up, every room once, plus the outside, the terrace and the way to the water. Show the sea only if you can really see it. A buyer who travels for a view that is not there will not buy, and will tell others.
A floor plan, even drawn by hand, and a short video walking once through the house save a lot of questions.
Who shows the house when you are not there?
If you do not live nearby, you need someone with a key who can open up, air the rooms and answer questions about the area: a neighbour, the property manager, a friend. Agree beforehand who does it and whether they are paid for it.
Many buyers now do a first viewing by video call. It saves both sides a journey that would not have been worth it.
Tax, contract and money: do not cut corners here
A gain from the sale can matter for tax both in the country of the property and in the country where you live. What each country asks for, and how the two fit together, is something a tax adviser who knows both sides can tell you. Ask before you agree a price, and ask specifically whether part of the price is withheld at the sale. Some countries do this when the seller is not resident there.
Have the preliminary contract and the deed drawn up or checked by a lawyer in the country who represents you, not the buyer. Settle with them which account a deposit goes through. Cash and payments on a handshake have no place in a property sale.
When you are ready
With us you list your property yourself, in your own language. We translate it and show it to buyers in several languages. You pay a fixed monthly fee, no commission, and every enquiry comes straight to you. The page for owners explains how it works.