- By my estimate, selling an apartment yourself takes about 80 hours.
- Viewings and calls from interested parties take up the most time.
- With an agent, the owner spends about 8 hours, mostly on decisions and signatures.
Selling an apartment is rarely a weekend job. I broke it down into tasks and estimated how long they take an owner who does everything themselves, and how much of their time is left when an agent runs the sale.
| Task | Selling on your own | With an agent (your time) |
|---|---|---|
| Documents: land register, certificates, owners' association or cooperative | 8 h | 2 h |
| Photos, description, publishing and refreshing listings | 10 h | 0.5 h |
| Calls and messages from interested parties | 20 h | 0 h |
| Viewings, including the wasted ones | 27 h | 0 h |
| Negotiations, preliminary agreement, the buyer's bank, the notary | 15 h | 4.5 h |
| First conversation, valuation and approving the strategy | 0 h | 1 h |
| Total, estimated | approx. 80 h | approx. 8 h |
Where the hours go
Documents, about 8 hours
A land register extract, certificates from the owners' association or cooperative, a certificate of registered residents, an energy performance certificate and, with a mortgage, a bank statement. Each one requires an application, a visit or a wait. I list them all in the article on documents for selling an apartment.
Listings, about 10 hours
Photos, a description, publishing on several portals, answering questions and refreshing the listings so they don't drop down the results.
Calls and messages, about 20 hours
Dozens of conversations, most of which end with a question about the price or commission. Some callers are other agents, some are people who can't get a mortgage.
Viewings, about 27 hours
Getting the apartment ready, travelling, waiting for latecomers and cancelled appointments. With a dozen or so viewings, this is the biggest item.
Negotiations and paperwork, about 15 hours
Price negotiations, the preliminary agreement, dealing with the buyer's bank, preparing for the notarial deed and the handover report.
What is left for you with an agent
The first conversation and viewing, approving the price and materials, signing documents, deciding on the buyer's offer, the preliminary agreement and the deed. About 8 hours in total, spread over several weeks.
This is an estimate for a typical apartment sale with a dozen or so viewings. The actual time depends on the property and the market.
Premium real estate agent in Wrocław. She sells apartments and houses, handles off-market transactions and works with clients from abroad. More about me
