Can I sell my property in Dresden without an estate agent?
In my initial conversations, about one owner in five has tried selling alone first. Most do not fail at the marketing, they fail at the starting price: the flat sits for three months, then comes the first reduction, and from that point buyers only negotiate about the discount. Anyone who wants to avoid that has to know, before the first listing, what comparable properties in their street actually sold for.
What selling without an agent asks of you
The following list comes from transactions I have handled and from conversations with owners who sold on their own before. The times are experience-based figures for a normal Dresden condominium, not a tariff.
| Task | Time needed | What matters |
|---|---|---|
| Establish the value and set the price | 5 to 10 hours | Notarised comparable prices instead of portal listings. The real figures are held by the city's valuation committee (Gutachterausschuss) in its purchase price collection. |
| Obtain the documents | 8 to 15 hours | Land register extract, cadastral map, living space calculation, energy certificate, and for condominiums the declaration of division, the minutes of the last three years and the managing agent's statement. |
| Exposé, photos, floor plan | 6 to 12 hours | With phone photos in poor light, buyers filter you out in the results list. A photographer costs less than the first price reduction. |
| Filter enquiries and hold viewings | 15 to 25 hours | For every serious buyer there are several enquiries without financing. Without sorting beforehand, you are running viewings for an audience. |
| Negotiate, check creditworthiness, prepare the notary appointment | 8 to 12 hours | A financing confirmation from the bank before you reserve. Otherwise the appointment collapses and your property is back on the market, this time as a returner. |
That adds up to 40 to 75 hours spread over three to six months. The effort is not evenly distributed: during the active marketing phase, 15 to 25 hours a week is normal.
What you save, and what you still pay
What you save is the seller's commission. In Saxony it is customarily 3.57 per cent including VAT, with the buyer carrying the other half. That rate is not fixed by law and is negotiable in the individual case. On a purchase price of €300,000 that is €10,710 staying in your pocket.
3.57 %
seller's commission in Saxony: customary, not fixed by law and negotiable in the individual case
€10,710
saved on a purchase price of €300,000
7 to 9 %
higher asking prices from private sellers than from agents
These items remain
The amounts below are experience-based figures from Dresden sales, not fixed prices. Only the fine for the energy certificate is set by law.
- Energy certificate: €80 to €500 depending on the type. Compulsory since 2014, to be stated in the listing, with fines of up to €10,000.
- Land register extract, cadastral map and managing agent's documents: usually under €100 together, but journeys and waiting time.
- Photos and floor plan, if you want to do it properly: usually €250 to €600 in Dresden.
- Portal listings: a three-figure sum depending on duration and reach.
- Deletion of the land charge: usually €200 to €500. With a running loan, the early repayment penalty comes on top.
In Saxony the buyer pays the notary and the land registry, together roughly 1.0 to 1.5 per cent of the purchase price. The property transfer tax of 5.5 per cent is also on the buyer. Doing without an agent changes none of those items.
The most common costly mistake is the starting price
An analysis of listings on immowelt between April 2022 and July 2025 shows that private sellers ask 9.1 per cent more than agents for flats, and 7.3 per cent more for houses. Not because they negotiate better. They read the market differently.
The wishful price costs marketing time. In our experience the first reduction comes after six to eight weeks without a serious offer, and from then on buyers negotiate against the history of the listing rather than the value of the property. In the sales I handle, the notarised purchase prices are usually 5 to 10 per cent below the portals' asking prices.
Where the real prices come from
What appears on the portals are offers. What was actually paid is recorded in the purchase price collection of the valuation committee of the City of Dresden. It is fed by every notarised purchase contract. For pricing, that is the only reliable source, and it is open to anyone who can show a legitimate interest.
Three duties private sellers overlook
Energy certificate before the first listing
Compulsory for every sale since 2014. The key figures belong in the advertisement, and the certificate must be produced at the viewing at the latest. Failing to do so is a regulatory offence carrying a fine of up to €10,000.
Disclose what you know
Damp in the cellar, a renovation resolution passed by the owners' association, a boundary dispute with the neighbour: anyone who conceals a defect they know about remains liable despite the exclusion of warranty in the contract. That exclusion does not cover fraudulent concealment.
The ten-year period runs to the day
If you sell within ten years of buying, the gain is taxed under Section 23 EStG. It is counted from notarised contract to notarised contract, not in calendar years. A notary appointment two weeks too early costs the exemption: in the worked example on our ten-year-period page that is around 34,200 euros.
When selling without an agent works in Dresden
There is a case in which I advise owners to go it alone. It is more common than an agent likes to admit.
When selling without an agent works in Dresden
- A standard property in a sought-after location: a renovated two- or three-room flat in Striesen, Löbtau or the Neustadt almost sells itself.
- You have time and a calm head, so you are not under pressure from a moving date, a follow-up loan or an inheritance.
- Ownership is straightforward: one owner, no community of heirs, no divorce proceedings under way.
- The property is empty or will be occupied by the buyer. Let property gets complicated immediately.
- You already know a specific buyer, for instance the tenant, a family member or the neighbour.
When I advise against it
- Community of heirs or divorce: here you are not negotiating with the buyer first, but with each other. A third party with no stake in the dispute gets the process to the finish faster.
- Let property: viewing appointments, the tenant's right of first refusal on conversion, tenancy agreements as a price factor. Every one of them a separate reason to get it wrong.
- Deferred maintenance or energy class F and worse: buyers calculate deductions you cannot counter without figures.
- Time pressure from a follow-up loan, a care home or a move away: anyone who has to sell negotiates from the weaker position.
- You do not live in Dresden. Organising viewings from a distance costs more than the commission.
Before you list: secure the price
You do not have to choose between going it alone and instructing an agent before you know what you are talking about. A valuation from us is free and without obligation, even if you then sell privately. It costs us an hour and may save you the first price reduction.
Still undecided? The trade-off with costs and effort on both sides is set out under private sale or agent.
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