There is no right way to sell a house. There are at least three, and they cost you different things. Price, timing and peace of mind rarely travel together: each road favours one and sacrifices another, and it is worth knowing which before you sign any mandate.
What actually changes, road by road
With an estate agent you put the house on the market and look for the buyer who pays most. It is the road that usually leads to the best price, for a simple reason: it makes several buyers compete for the same property. The typical cost is the commission, which in Italy often falls on both sides of the deal, though the percentages and the split are set in the mandate and should be asked for in writing. The other cost is time: the listing, the viewings, the offers that come in and fall through, the buyer who has to get a mortgage approved.
Selling privately saves you the commission and in exchange you do the work: the photographs, the listing, the phone calls, the viewings, the vetting of whoever turns up, the paperwork. It works well if you have time, patience and a house that sells itself. It works badly if you are hoping to save the commission by starting from a higher price: buyers compare, and a property priced outside the market simply sits there.
With an instant buyer you are not looking for a buyer: the house is bought by whoever makes you the offer. It removes much of what depends on the market, meaning the wait, the steady stream of viewings and the risk of the bank saying no to your buyer. What stays is the paperwork, any regularisations and the notary’s timing: nobody skips those. In exchange there is one offer, and it does not come out of competition between several interested parties.
There is also the judicial auction, which is not a channel you choose like the other three: it has its own rules, timing and costs, and people generally end up there through proceedings already under way.
The three roads side by side
| With an agent | Privately | Instant buyer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you are looking for | The buyer who pays most | The same, on your own | Nobody: the one making the offer is buying |
| Who brings strangers into your home | The agent, at every viewing | You, with whoever answers the listing | Nobody: one visit, at a time you agree |
| What you pay | Commission: who pays and how much is set in the mandate | Listings, time, your own mistakes | No commission |
| What sets the timing | The market and your buyer’s mortgage | The same, without help | The paperwork and the visit |
| Work before selling | Often recommended | Up to you | Nothing done to the property: the paperwork remains |
| How predictable it is | Not very: it depends who turns up | Not very | More so on the steps: visit, then a possible offer within 48 hours. The deed depends on paperwork and notary |
The sum that matters is not the price
The comparison usually gets made on a single number, the sale price. But the numbers that decide are three: how much you are left with, when, and how certain that outcome is.
What weighs on the first is the commission, which should be asked for in writing before you sign any mandate: it is usually expressed as a percentage of the price, how it is split between the parties is set in the mandate, and VAT has to be counted on top. It is a negotiable item, and worth negotiating.
What weighs on the second is something people often miss: an empty house that waits costs money. Service charges, property tax (IMU) if it is not your main home, minimum utilities, and the maintenance that piles up. Six months of waiting on a property that is not moving are not free, and they come off any better price you achieve.
What weighs on the third is the risk nobody budgets for: the accepted offer that collapses because the bank says no to your buyer. It happens, and when it does you start again from zero with months gone.
When each one is the right choice
The agent makes sense if time is not a problem and you want the most the market will give. If the house is in good condition, in a sought-after zone, and you can afford to wait for the right buyer, that is the road that pays best.
Selling privately makes sense if you have time, competence and an easy house. Anyone who has sold a property before and knows what to ask a notary starts with a real advantage.
The instant buyer makes sense when a firm date matters more than the top price, and when the property is hard to showcase on the open market: needing renovation, occupied, or with a documentary situation to sort out.
It does not make sense if your only objective is the highest possible price and you have months to wait. In that case a traditional sale gets you more, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling you their service, not your interest.
What certainty costs
It is the question every intelligent seller asks, and few people answer. An immediate purchase offer is normally below the best price you would get from a private buyer after months on the market. That is not a detail to bury at the foot of a page: it is how the model works. Whoever buys straight away takes on the time, the risk and the cost of putting the property back on the market, and that risk has a price.
So the sensible comparison is not between two prices, but between two complete scenarios: on one side a certain figure on a certain date; on the other a potentially higher figure, less the cost of holding the property through the months of waiting, less the commission, and with the possibility that the first accepted offer falls through. On an easy house in a sought-after zone the first scenario loses. On a difficult house, or one with a deadline to meet, it often wins.
What to ask anyone offering to buy from you
If you choose the third road, four questions to ask before signing anything:
- Are you buying, or are you looking for a buyer? They are two different trades. If the answer is ambiguous, you are talking to an intermediary.
- Are there any commissions, fees or costs charged to me? The answer belongs in writing, not on the phone.
- From what moment does the timing you are promising start? From the online valuation, from the visit, from signature? The difference is worth weeks.
- Is the offer binding, and what makes it lapse? Ask which conditions can change it after the visit.
How we work
We buy directly and we do not act as intermediaries, so there are no commissions: we are the ones purchasing the house. The online valuation gives you an immediate estimate, with no account to create. We then arrange a visit, look at the paperwork and the real condition of the property, and if it fits our buying criteria we make you a purchase offer within 48 hours of that visit. You are free to turn it down, at no cost and with no strings.
We buy the house as it stands, in Milan and in the provinces of Monza and Brianza, Como, Varese, Pavia and Lodi. If the visit shows that a traditional sale would serve you better, we tell you so.