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Real estate agencies actively advertise their services, promising to find housing much faster than if the client did it himself. Moreover, this is exactly the kind of housing that a person needs. At the same time, they promise transaction support, guarantees, reliability, quality, and so on. How true is all this and what are the benefits of real estate agencies (real estate agencies) - read in this article.

How to check and choose a real estate agency when buying an apartment

If you plan to purchase a home through a real estate agency, the most important thing is to choose and check the company correctly. This is how scammers are usually identified, or simply not particularly conscientious NAs who prefer to simply receive money but not do anything on their own.

Real estate agency check

The first thing you need to pay attention to is the company’s documents. If the Academy of Sciences really works officially, it will be able to provide an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, certificates, attestations, and so on. The more information an agency provides to a potential client, the greater the likelihood that all work is carried out in strict accordance with the law.

If the company is a fraudster (and, often, such a company is not registered in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities at all), then there is nothing to provide it with. It should be remembered that only official, original documents are valid; copies are not suitable in this case.

A company that refuses to provide documents should arouse suspicion. Considering the number of NAs in any locality, it is recommended to contact another agency rather than take risks where they cannot even show all the papers.

In addition to all of the above, you need to check the following points:

Checking for violations . If this is possible, it is worth contacting the tax office and the court to clarify possible problems associated with the AN in question. For example, the presence of encumbrances on assets due to debts, investigations of tax violations, bankruptcy, and so on. In practice, an ordinary person is unlikely to be able to obtain all the necessary information and, most importantly, interpret it correctly. It is recommended to seek assistance from experienced lawyers.
List of agency responsibilities . Often what a company promises is not reflected in its responsibilities. It is recommended to clarify whether a check is carried out on the history of the apartments, the authenticity of the sellers’ documents, powers and other features. Often this is done by an in-house lawyer, and if there is none, this is not a good sign.
Agreement with a realtor . It is important to understand what exactly the realtor will do. It’s one thing if this is a full-time employee who is officially looking for housing and performing some other functions. It operates on the basis of internal regulations and legal requirements. And it’s a completely different matter if some other agreement is concluded between the realtor and the Academy of Sciences, for example, for the provision of specific services. As a rule, such services are extremely limited: searching for housing and showing it to the buyer.
Agreement with the client . You should also very carefully study the contract concluded between the agency and the client. You should check that it really includes all the obligations advertised by the agency, rights, responsibilities, and so on. Ideally, this document should clearly spell out each point of future cooperation, without vague formulations and phrases that can be interpreted in two ways.

Example : The contract may state that “The Company undertakes to provide the client with a choice of 10 potentially suitable properties.” This is a very streamlined phrase. Obliges to provide - may mean that AN will simply give the client a link with objects, for example, to Avito. Provided? Provided! What are the complaints? Next, 10 potentially suitable objects – what exactly does that mean? Suitable for whom? Agency or client? What parameters are suitable? And lastly, based on this wording, after the provision of 10 objects, the contract with the agency is considered completed. As a result, AN is not obliged to do anything more to ensure that the client can buy an apartment.

Choosing a real estate agency

What do you need to know about choosing an agency? First you need to check it, as described above, but the selection procedure does not end there. Many companies operate completely officially and in strict accordance with the law. But the result of their work is such that it is better not to contact such NAs. Thus, you should pay attention to the following factors:

Work experience. The longer an NA operates in the market, the more likely it is that business is conducted fairly and the efficiency satisfies clients. Otherwise, it is almost impossible to stay afloat for more than 1 year. However, “older” agencies usually have a higher price per . Thus, this point is important, but should not be decisive; many newly formed companies also work quite successfully, and sometimes better, than the “old” ones.
Staff. If an agency employs 10 managers and 3 realtors, this is suspicious. A large number of people are more likely to perform their jobs better. Ideally, it is worth clarifying the positions; it would be good if the Academy of Sciences has its own lawyer, but this is rare, in fact.
Prices. You need to check the cost of the company’s services in comparison with competitors. A price that is too high is more or less normal; it may indicate that the company has been in business for a long time and charges more money because of its good reputation. But the cost of services is below market prices - this is a reason to think about it. It is quite possible that these are scammers who deliberately lowered the cost in order to attract as many customers as possible. Typically similar. A customer base is formed, each of them pays relatively little money, after which such a fake NA simply quickly disappears with all the money. Of course, they are not going to fulfill their obligations.
Official site. You should definitely check the company's website. If it is not there, this is a bad sign (albeit not too critical; small ANs may not have a separate website). You should also study everything that is offered on the site. Particular attention should be paid to how well it is made. A frankly bad start page, clumsy font, low-quality graphics - all these are signs of either a very young company or a scammer.

Some scammers invest a lot of money in order to look like real agencies. Even their website is made very high quality. That is why you need to check everything as a whole, and not just limit yourself to individual points.

Office. A normal real estate agency must have its own office. And, ideally, more than one - in different parts of the city, or even in different cities. The more offices, the larger, and therefore more reliable, the company. But it’s not enough to know that the office is there, you need to visit it. This, firstly, will allow you to communicate with the managers and employees of the company, and secondly, you will be able to look at the office itself. If it looks high quality and neat, this is also a good sign.
Participation in organizations. It will be great if the real estate agency is actively involved in social activities. For example, he is a member of the RGR (Russian Guild of Realtors). Fraudsters are clearly not allowed there.
Awards. It will be good if the agency and/or its realtors have awards, certificates, licenses, certificates of training and other similar documents. In fact, they don’t make any sense, but the very fact that the company is actively concerned with its own prestige and/or the level of professionalism of its employees is very good.
Reviews. Feedback from other clients plays an important role. In some cases, this is better to start with. It’s clear that there are always dissatisfied customers who leave angry reviews, but you need to look at how adequate they are and what the ratio of bad to good comments is. Too many bad ones - this means that the agency is really working “carelessly.” If there are no bad ones at all, that’s also suspicious. There is a suspicion that negative reviews are simply deleted and therefore it will be impossible to understand the whole picture.

Responsibility of a realtor when purchasing an apartment on the secondary market

The level of responsibility of the realtor and the real estate agency itself is a sore point. Such companies usually only engage in searching for housing and “matching” the buyer with the seller. Everything else is either not done at all, or done casually, which does not guarantee quality. In fact, this is exactly what lawyers are for. They, accompanying the transaction, help resolve or anticipate controversial issues, and the procedure itself is left to the professionals from the agency. An approximate list of what a company should do looks like this:

Search for suitable objects . When concluding a contract, the client describes what specific housing he wants to ultimately receive. It is best if a detailed description appears in the contract or an appendix to it. The agency, through its realtors, is looking for a suitable apartment in open sources and in its own database. Actually, it is the internal base of sellers/buyers that is one of the main advantages of using an agency. It contains a lot of interesting offers that are not publicly available.
Search for lending opportunities . If a client wants to purchase an apartment on credit, then some NAs offer various options. They usually cooperate with one or more banks and can “beat out” more favorable conditions than if a person contacted the bank directly.
Property inspection . If a suitable property is found, the realtor negotiates an inspection with the seller and buyer. It should be borne in mind that it is usually important for a realtor to sell an apartment as quickly as possible, so he may remain silent about various potential problems. Therefore, the inspection should be carried out very carefully, without relying on anyone.
Negotiations with the seller . The realtor must also take charge of organizing negotiations between the buyer and seller. Usually he can even advise something, but at a minimum, he is obliged to agree on how and when the meeting will take place.
Home inspection . This is the point that is performed very rarely or not very well. Formally, a lawyer should check the property. If he is not in the Academy of Sciences, then a realtor does this. He may not know the key features and important factors to pay attention to. As a result, such a check can identify only the most obvious problems and violations.
Preparation of documentation . This should also be done by a lawyer. If the contract and all the necessary documents for the purchase and sale of an apartment are prepared by a realtor, then everything depends on his experience. Some NA employees are well versed in their work and can do everything quickly and efficiently. But the majority may omit details and features that are not important from their point of view. This can subsequently lead to serious problems and increased risks for the client.

Example: An apartment has 3 owners.
During all negotiations, only one of the owners communicated with the buyer. The ownership documents were poorly checked and, as a result, the purchase and sale agreement was concluded with violations - only 1 person out of 3 required was acting on behalf of the owners. Ultimately, the remaining two co-owners may sue and invalidate the transaction.

Is it possible to get a mortgage without a realtor?

No one disputes the fact that real estate transactions continue to be the riskiest in Russia. Realtors convince their potential clients that they will protect the client’s interests, know how to choose the right apartment, and save him from any potential risks. As a rule, the buyer does not contribute more than 25% of the cost of the apartment. So whose money is really involved in the deal? Of course, we are talking about the funds of the bank, which assumes the main risks. And such institutions do not want to lose their resources. You can also find apartments on free websites, of which there are hundreds on the Internet, and then submit them for consideration to employees of a financial institution. Its specialists will independently study the proposal and make their decision on the possibility of obtaining a mortgage.

As practice shows, the purchase of an apartment secured by the purchased real estate is checked by the bank inside and out: the “cleanliness” of the object is analyzed, the identity of the seller is studied, and the encumbrances imposed on the residential premises are established. Therefore, the services of a realtor in this part are not mandatory. Drawing up contracts and collecting certificates also does not cause any particular difficulties. In Russia, despite stereotypes, legal literacy is quite high, and potential apartment buyers will definitely not refuse to read the contract. Thus, a bank may well act as an assistant, which will check the legal cleanliness of the apartments and make its decision on the possibility of lending. Apartment purchase and sale agreements with a mortgage are standard; samples of them are also available on the Internet. Insurance of the transaction is mandatory, and the buyer should not have any problems in this regard.

Agreement for the purchase of an apartment with a real estate agency

There is no strictly defined form of agreement with a real estate agency. Each company has its own standard versions of such documents, which may differ significantly from each other. However, it is worth considering the main elements that should be present in such documents:

Information about the parties to the agreement . Client and real estate agency, passport details, name, information about the company.
List of services, rights and obligations of the parties . Separately, it is necessary to note what exactly the AN is responsible for.
Cost of services provided . If the price varies depending on some factors, then this point should also be reflected.
Contract time . Often simply 1 year is indicated, but there may be other options. For example, until the client buys an apartment, no matter how long it takes.
Information about the work done . It is usually assumed that the company quickly finds everything the client needs. But if this does not happen, there should be a separate provision in the contract that the client has the right to demand a report on the work in one form or another.
Termination of contract and force majeure . It is imperative to specify under what conditions one or another party can terminate the contract (those points that involve unilateral termination are especially important) or not fulfill their obligations.
Signature and date . It is important to check who exactly signs on the part of the company. This person should have the right to do this. It is usually carried out in the form of a power of attorney, but can also be a decision of the meeting of founders. The date must correspond to the real one.

An example of such a document might look like this:

Important features of a contract with a real estate agency

In addition to all of the above, you need to pay attention to the following elements in the contract:

Small print or links . Ideally, the contract should not contain any small print or links to third-party resources. If they exist, then they should be studied with special care. Labels are not so bad, but links are the real problem. The fact is that if they lead to various Internet pages, then such pages can then be easily edited and it is almost impossible to track subsequently made changes.

Example: Instead of a specific price for services, the contract states that payment is made according to the real estate agency tariffs posted on the website, using such and such a link. The client signs an agreement, expecting, for example, to spend more than 1,000 rubles on the company’s services. But after signing the contract, the tariffs change dramatically and now, let’s assume, the same service that previously cost 1000 rubles now costs 10 thousand rubles.

The difference between the purchase and sale prices . Some unscrupulous companies include a clause in the contract according to which the difference between prices goes to AN. This is unacceptable, as the client may overpay too much.

Example: An apartment is sold for 3 million rubles. The agency agrees with the buyer that he will purchase the property for 3.5 million. The person, naturally, does not know how much the seller is willing to sell the apartment for. As a result, he overpays these half a million rubles and still has to pay for the agency’s services.

Prohibition of direct interaction . The contract should not contain clauses that stipulate that all communication between the client and the seller is carried out through agency representatives. This greatly delays the procedure for discussing a deal and allows the company to insert its own conditions that do not suit either party.

Companies introduce such a ban so that the client cannot, bypassing the Agency, contact the seller and buy a home without paying for the company’s services. As a result, the ban is quite logical, but it all depends on the honesty of NA, the seller and the buyer.

Prohibition on contacting other NAs . The agency cannot prohibit the buyer from contacting other companies. If such a prohibition is present in the contract, this should be alarming; it is likely that something is wrong with the apartment or agency.

The contract should not contain clauses that allow either party to make changes to the document unilaterally. Any changes must be drawn up in the form of an additional agreement to the contract and signed by all parties.

How to buy an apartment with a mortgage without a realtor

If the process does not involve a complex procedure for selecting options, you can do without an agent. Find a seller on your own and negotiate a sale on the terms of a mortgage loan.

The scheme is usually as follows:

We are looking for a bank with good conditions;
we get approval;
we find a suitable object;
we make a deposit (don’t forget to take a receipt);
We collect documents for the apartment, take them to the lender, sign a loan agreement;
We make a down payment, sign a purchase and sale agreement, and register it with Rosreestr;
the money goes to the seller - our relationship with him is over;
We arrange a mortgage for the lender, pay the loan according to the schedule.

Buying an apartment with a mortgage without a realtor carries minimal risks. After all, bankers already meticulously check collateral housing. In addition, insurance companies are involved in the inspection. Even a banking institution will not give a 100% guarantee. But in general, a mortgage is a certain guarantee of the reliability of an apartment.

Recommended article: Electronic mortgage note

Important: Which is better: annuity or differentiated mortgage payments?

Buying a secondary apartment with a mortgage: step-by-step instructions

Buying a new building with a mortgage: instructions

Lawyer or realtor?

Who is better to contact, a lawyer or a realtor? It is difficult to answer this question unequivocally, since different responsibilities are performed. Ideally, you should address both. Moreover, it is desirable that these people be representatives of different companies (this eliminates or minimizes the likelihood of collusion).

The realtor must find suitable housing for the client and help in completing the transaction. The lawyer checks the documents, the apartment, prepares the purchase and sale agreement, and so on. Working together, they can solve almost all problems and eliminate the possibility of fraud on either side. Thus, a realtor can control the activities of a lawyer, and the latter, in turn, checks how correctly the realtor acts.

Is it possible to change realtor when buying an apartment?

You can change both the realtor and the real estate agency. If the NA itself is completely satisfied with the client, but the work of the realtor is not satisfied, then you can demand that the company management replace the employee for this transaction. The reasons usually don’t even need to be explained; it is enough to threaten that the client will terminate the contract.

Typically, realtors are replaced when they do not perform their duties or do them poorly. Alternatively, the client and the realtor simply might not see eye to eye.

The entire agency should be changed only when it really does not fulfill its obligations.

Termination of an agreement

Based on Article 450 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the client can unilaterally terminate the contract at almost any time. The following reasons are considered grounds:

Services are not provided or are not provided in full.
The client has already purchased real estate and no longer needs the services of NA.
The client changed his mind about buying an apartment.

The last point is actually a universal justification for terminating the contract. It should be taken into account that all of the above must appear in the contract. Alternatively, a link to an article of legislation may be provided.

Advance to realtor

It is strictly not recommended to give an advance to an NA or, especially, to a realtor. Firstly, the client can always terminate the contract and it turns out that the money paid will be lost (usually the advance is never returned).

Cost of real estate agency services

In the vast majority of cases, the cost of the company’s services directly depends on the price of the apartment. The percentage varies from 3 to 9%, rarely higher or lower. Often the company receives this amount after the deal is closed. That is, the agency will be interested in doing everything as quickly as possible.

Example: Let's assume that the apartment costs 3 million rubles, and AN asked for 5% for its services. In such a situation, the buyer or seller (depending on the agreements and who exactly contacted the company) will be obliged to pay 150 thousand rubles.

The best option for purchasing a home is to simultaneously contact a real estate agency and a law office. Experienced specialists will analyze all controversial issues and important features of the transaction during a free consultation. They can also accompany the entire procedure of searching and buying a home, thanks to which it is possible to minimize almost all existing risks.

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Author of the article

Natalya Fomicheva

Website expert lawyer. 10 years of experience. Inheritance matters. Family disputes. Housing and land law.

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