How can you best sell your property?

What are the steps involved in selling your property?

If you decide to sell your property through a real estate professional, ask them about their strategy. What are their references? What marketing efforts will they implement to sell your property as quickly as possible?

Are you selling your property yourself?

If you decide to sell your property on your own, list it on real estate portals. Highlight its strengths. Remember to tidy up your home before taking photos. Make sure to take photos during the day. Showcase the natural light in your apartment or house.

Don’t forget peer-to-peer sales sites or social media. In Luxembourg, there are specific Facebook pages. Spread the word through word of mouth. Luxembourg is a big village—don’t forget that!

Prepare your home to sell it effectively

To sell your apartment or house, it’s not enough to just post an ad. You need to stage your home so that a potential buyer can envision themselves living there during a visit.

Of course, everything must be clean and tidy to clearly show that you take good care of your home. A neglected home will give the impression that you don’t maintain your interior. The potential buyer will think you aren’t doing the necessary work to keep your property in good condition. Subconsciously, the buyer will assume they’ll have to tackle numerous repairs once the property is purchased.

Additionally, your decor should be sufficiently neutral. This will make it easier for visitors to imagine living in your home. Now is the time to think about home staging. Wall colors should be neutral. The decor should not be too personalized.

Also remove any photos that might allow buyers to recognize you as the sellers. Luxembourg is a small country. And sometimes, people simply don’t want to live in the home of someone they know, whether closely or distantly… Even if it’s just because their children attend the same school.

Put together the sales file for your property

Prepare all the necessary documents for the sale of your home in advance. These documents will be requested either by your potential buyer or by the notary handling the sale. Here are the documents you need to prepare to sell your property:

• Condominium statements and bylaws, including the latest minutes of general meetings for an apartment
• Statement of co-ownership fees, gas, electricity, and heating oil bills.
• Proof of boiler maintenance.
• Insurance policies for the property being sold
• Plans and building permits for a single-family home or multi-unit building, if available
• Proof of ownership
• Energy performance certificate required for sale and rental

Show your property to potential buyers

Is your apartment or house on the market and you’re getting requests for viewings? Here are some professional tips to keep in mind during viewings.

Create a “wow” effect at the beginning and/or end of the tour. Impress your potential buyer right from the start of the tour. Win them over at the end. They’ll leave on a positive note. A buyer who sits on your couch or turns off the lights when leaving a room? That’s a pretty good sign…

Also, remember that visitors’ questions and comments are nothing personal. They’re just asking all the normal questions that come with buying their future home.

Do you have an offer to buy? Congratulations! However, don’t hesitate to check the financial standing of your potential buyers. Pricenegotiation is an important factor, for them as much as for you. Do the buyers already have a loan approval from the bank? Do they have sufficient down payment funds? Don’t hesitate to request financial documentation before signing a preliminary sales agreement with a buyer. You’re just as committed to this as they are.

Sign a preliminary sales agreement

The preliminary sales agreement is a very important step. It seals the agreement between the parties. A preliminary sales agreement is a binding contract between the buyer and the seller. The preliminary sales agreement must include at a minimum the following elements:

• names and addresses of the parties, seller and buyer
• description of the property for sale: address, cadastral reference, property details, etc.
• sale price and payment terms
• existence of any easements
• date of signing of the notarized deed and name of the notary, along with the scheduled date of taking possession and handover of the keys
• any compensation for continued occupancy in the event of a delay in handing over the keys
• Loan contingency clause whereby the buyer is not obligated to purchase if a loan is not approved within 4 to 6 weeks. To be released from their commitment, the buyer must provide you with at least one, or even two, bank rejections within the specified timeframe.
• Penalty clause requiring the prospective buyer to pay compensation to the seller if they withdraw from the sale. This compensation is generally set at 10% of the sale price specified in the preliminary sales agreement.

Register your preliminary sales agreement

Registering the preliminary sales agreement with the Registry and Domains Administration makes it enforceable against third parties. This registration must take place within 3 months of its signing. Registration fees are approximately ten euros for a preliminary agreement with a suspensive clause and 7% of the sale price if no such clause is included. The 7% represents an advance on notary fees.

Sign the notarized deed of sale for your home

The preliminary sales agreement formalizes the contract between the buyer and the seller. The notarized deed formalizes the transfer of ownership. In Luxembourg, this is generally completed within two months of signing the preliminary agreement if everything is in order.

The deed of sale may be executed by any notary within Luxembourg. This applies regardless of the location of the property in question. Legal warranties take effect from the date the notarized deed is signed.

Notary fees will be paid at that time. They are generally the responsibility of the buyer, but may be subject to a different agreement between the parties.

Our advice for a smooth sale

Do you want the sale of your home to go as smoothly as possible? Are you already thinking about your future home? If you’re already preparing to move abroad again, save yourself the stress.

To do so, we recommend hiring a real estate expert. You’ll save time and, above all, avoid a lot of stress. A real estate agent has in-depth knowledge of the local, commercial, legal, and financial landscape related to real estate sales. They will guide you through the entire sales process and provide advice that best serves your interests. The agency commission should not be a deterrent. It is more than offset by the value a real estate agent can bring to you.

Learn more about housing in Luxembourg