Buying and selling a house independently saves money but involves a lot of risks
Would you buy or sell a house on your own to save agency fees?
□ Reporter Han Dandong
□ Wang Jing, our intern
Gao Tian (pseudonym), a native of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, recently bought a house of his choice in Hangzhou through independent house sales. He saved at least 18,000 yuan in agency fees, which is equivalent to giving himself a "year-end bonus."
This experience also made many friends around Gao Tian envious and even eager to try it.
The reporter recently visited the real estate market and found that at present, in the process of buying and selling houses, more and more people are beginning to consider the new transaction method of buying and selling houses independently in order to save high intermediary fees. Many of them are doing so on social platforms. Post or video about buying or selling a home.
So what is it like to buy and sell a house independently?
How do buyers and sellers avoid risks during the buying and selling process?
Are there relevant government platforms that can support such transactions?
With these questions in mind, the reporter conducted an in-depth investigation.
Buying and selling a house without an agent
Standing in front of her window, looking at the busy crowds and traffic outside the window, Ms. Ming, a resident of Huairou District, Beijing, was very emotional, because this house was directly traded between her and the previous owner, including the loan, transfer and other processes, without an intermediary agency. Participation.
"Houses in the school district are for sale urgently, with excellent location and no agency fees." In May last year, a small advertisement posted on the door of a unit in a community in Yangsong Town, Huairou District, Beijing caught Ms. Ming's attention. This community has a good supporting facility. of kindergarten.
Previously, Ms. Ming and her family had visited many houses in Huairou District in order to enable her daughter to attend a better kindergarten.
However, what gives her a headache is that the price of housing in the school district on the market remains high, and there are also high intermediary fees. Therefore, she has not been able to find a house with a suitable location and price.
After seeing this small advertisement, Ms. Ming immediately contacted the homeowner according to the phone number left.
After viewing the house, Ms. Ming was very satisfied, but she and the homeowner had differences on the price and whether to find an agency.
Ms. Ming told reporters that it is normal for the two parties to have differences in price. The homeowner did not choose to sell the house through an agency to save agency fees. She initially wanted to buy the house through an agency because of the security of the transaction and the convenience of obtaining a certificate.
"However, the agency fee is also a big expense for me. According to the market conditions, the agency fee is at least 0.5% of the transaction price of the house, and the higher one is 2.5%. If calculated based on the transaction price of 3 million yuan, the agency fee is less Then 15,000 yuan, or as much as 75,000 yuan." After consideration, Ms. Ming also felt that the agency fee was a large expense, and decided to agree to deal directly with the homeowner.
After consulting a staff member of the lending bank, the Huairou District Branch of the Postal Savings Bank of China, and other friends in related industries about home purchase, loan and transfer procedures, Ms. Ming and the homeowner completed the transaction without the involvement of a real estate agency. House sales and transfers.
During the interview, the reporter asked Ms. Ming, without the help of these professionals, would she still consider buying a house without an agency?
Ms. Ming thought for a moment and said, "I can try to go to the administrative hall of the housing and construction department for consultation. After all, there is an open and transparent process for house sales."
Ms. Ming said that her independent house purchase went smoothly this time, but there were also some potential problems.
For example, the homeowner did not transfer his household registration after selling the house, which may affect Ms. Ming's future sale of the property or her children's schooling.
If she needs to sell this property in the future, she will also need to contact the seller to negotiate and resolve the household registration issue.
Currently, Ms. Ming's new home has been renovated and her daughter has successfully entered her favorite kindergarten.
Ms. Ming is not the only one who buys and sells houses independently.
Gao Tian, 26 years old, recently owned her own house through independent house buying and selling, and it only took one month to complete all the processes from house selection to transfer, with "zero" agency fees.
Gao Tian had previously seen a house selling post posted by the homeowner Chen on a social platform. After she inspected the house on site, the two parties hit it off and agreed not to buy or sell the house through an intermediary agency.
Previously, Hangzhou already had a precedent of independent house buying and selling.
Chen was already married, so the couple first contacted the Hangzhou National Notary Office for consultation. After receiving a confirmed answer, they and Gao Tian worked together under the guidance of the staff to inspect the house, sign online, notarize, apply for a loan, and transfer the ownership online, step by step. Completed the independent house buying and selling process.
For a house with a transaction price of more than 1.8 million yuan, the notary fee is 0.15% of the total price. In addition to the house due diligence fee of 1,800 yuan, the total cost is more than 4,000 yuan. The buyer and seller negotiate to share more than 2,000 yuan each.
In Gao Tian’s view, compared with the 1 point (1%) commission, buyer’s loan service fee and other fees for both parties in the transaction through an intermediary agency, the two parties save a total of at least 45,000 yuan, and they share half less, which is equivalent to paying themselves. received a "year-end bonus" of more than 20,000 yuan.
Government platform processes are open and transparent
Ms. Yun from Wuhan City, Hubei Province moved from the suburbs to the city as she wished at the beginning of this year. She was the one who sold her house independently, without the involvement of an intermediary agency in the whole process. After she reached the purchase intention with the buyer, she completed all the procedures in one and a half months.
"I have been busy for nearly two months in order to sell a house. I didn't take a good rest during my maternity leave. I studied strategies for selling and buying a house every day," Ms. Yun told reporters.
Ms. Yun said that after reaching an agreement with the buyer, you first need to pay a deposit, then both parties sign a house sales contract, and then the buyer's bank loan interview.
After these are completed, the buyer pays the down payment and the seller releases the mortgage.
"The buyer particularly trusted us. Both parties did not go through the fund supervision process. The buyer paid us 30% of the down payment and paid the remaining balance of the house. The house was released one week after the payment was completed."
"After all this is done, all that's left is to transfer the property, which mainly involves paying taxes, and then paying a cost of 80 yuan to apply for the real estate certificate." Ms. Yun said.
During the interview, the reporter found that in the process of buying and selling houses, more and more people began to consider the new transaction method of buying and selling houses independently in order to save high intermediary fees. On a certain social platform, the reporter used house selling as the keyword A search was conducted and the results showed many listings posted by homeowners.
Posts such as "On the 13th day of selling a house, the number of people viewing the house finally exceeded double digits!" "I heard that houses sell quickly here, so I will give it a try. The house introduction is as follows" and other posts, and there are a large number of messages under each post asking questions.
Many interviewees who bought and sold houses independently told reporters that the reason why they were able to buy and sell houses without using intermediaries was because the house buying and selling process announced by the relevant departments was open and transparent, and the relevant agencies provided information inquiry, model contracts and other services to both buyers and sellers. Create a more convenient and secure trading environment.
The new functions launched on the Hangzhou Second-hand House Transaction Supervision Service Platform are an epitome of this.
This feature allows individual buyers and sellers to conduct real estate transactions directly on the government platform website without going through an intermediary platform.
This innovative move has attracted widespread attention and is believed to have the potential to change China’s traditional real estate transaction model in recent years.
According to public information, this feature solves the two major pain points of selling houses online.
First, all houses have been verified by the housing management department to ensure that they are genuine houses and avoid the proliferation of false house information.
Second, the housing information is only open to users with personal real-name authentication and cannot be viewed by intermediaries, thus effectively preventing intermediaries from harassing customers.
According to Gao Tian, this feature undoubtedly brings many benefits to consumers.
For example, it saves tens of thousands of yuan in intermediary fees and saves people’s housing transaction costs.
Since the government provides a trading platform, buyers and sellers can conduct transactions with more confidence and do not need to worry about encountering unscrupulous intermediaries and scammers.
In this regard, Sun Jianrong, chairman of the management committee and senior partner of Beijing Deheng Law Firm's Suzhou office, believes that the government's launch of a house purchase intermediary platform will indeed help standardize the real estate transaction market and improve transaction efficiency.
It is recommended that the government, while launching intermediary platforms, improve the construction of supporting mechanisms, such as establishing a real estate transaction fund custody platform, to improve transaction security and reduce disputes.
There are many risks that need to be guarded against
As a new thing, the risks involved in independently buying and selling houses have also attracted the attention of the interviewed experts.
Li Liang, associate professor at the Institute of Comprehensive Law-Based Governance at China University of Political Science and Law, believes that there are certain risks in independent house sales, which mainly involve two aspects: property rights and creditor's rights.
For buyers, they should pay attention to the ownership, mortgage, preservation and seizure of the property rights of the house to ensure that the transaction is legal and safe.
For the seller, it is necessary to ensure the fulfillment of the price and avoid subsequent disputes.
Sun Jianrong mentioned that although independent transactions can save a lot of intermediary fees, the risks involved cannot be ignored.
Such as home purchase payment and house transfer risks.
If there is no professional intermediary agency to act as an intermediary for risk control matters such as fund custody or real estate deeds, the buyer may face the risk of not being able to transfer the house, while the seller may face the risk of not getting the purchase money.
Both parties may not be able to effectively protect their rights and interests in the house purchase contract because they are not legal professionals after all.
Moreover, the house sale and transfer process also involves matters in other professional fields.
In fact, in reality, there are many disputes caused by independent house buying and selling.
According to public information, in May 2020, Wang and Liu from Jieyang, Guangdong signed a contract. Wang purchased a commercial house for 1.2 million yuan. On the same day, Wang paid a deposit of 30,000 yuan to Liu.
After the contract was signed, Liu did not deliver the house to Wang, but resold it to others.
In desperation, Wang filed a lawsuit in court.
“In addition, intermediaries themselves have the important function of discovering the value of real estate and can help buyers and sellers determine the market price of real estate relatively fairly. Finally, due to incomplete or incomplete understanding of property market control policies by buyers and sellers, independent transactions may lead to failed transactions. It went smoothly but caused disputes," Sun Jianrong said.
Regarding how to reduce the risks of independent house buying and selling, Li Liang suggested that buyers and sellers make full use of the institutional services launched by the government to ensure the legality and safety of the transaction.
At the same time, buyers and sellers can also refer to the model contract to clarify the rights and obligations of both parties and avoid potential risks.
“One possible solution is for the government to lead the establishment of non-profit intermediary platforms and fund custody platforms. These platforms can hire professional lawyers to provide services, guide buyers and sellers in real estate transactions, and publish market transaction prices of houses in different sectors to provide Price guidance. At the same time, strengthen the supervision of intermediary fees and the supervision of the compliance and integrity of intermediary agencies." Sun Jianrong said.