GUIDE
Sell your home yourself – and keep the commission
Tips for selling your home without an estate agent.
Selling your own home has never been this doable. Get a handful of things right and you can find the buyer, agree the deal and close it without an estate agent.
Doing it yourself doesn't mean doing all of it alone.
You handle the parts you're strongest at: telling people about your home, talking to buyers, running the viewings, and deciding the terms you'd sell on.
Jaakko brings you the buyers, gives the home visibility and hands you the tools for each stage. Where you need a lawyer or a specialist, you bring one in for that stage only.
This guide runs through the whole thing, from working out the price to signing, and flags where Jaakko can take some of it off your hands.
1 Work out what you could get for it
Before anything else, get a realistic number in your head. Look at similar homes nearby, and weigh the area, the housing company, the condition and any renovations.
The price you set has a direct effect on how much interest the home attracts. Too high and buyers stay away – but it isn't worth going too low either, just in the hope of a quick sale.
Jaakko gives you a starting number
Add a selling interest and Jaakko produces an indicative price estimate automatically, using AI, market data and whatever you've told it about the home.
You can also ask for an estimate before you've decided anything – on a home you're not selling, even. Three a day, free, and the price estimate page explains how the number is built.
2 Build the listing you want
You don't have to open with a full public listing. Start as lightly or as thoroughly as you like, and fill in the rest later.
The light version: just say you're open to it
Press Sell here on your own home. That's the whole step – no photos, no price, no description unless you want them.
It commits you to nothing and you can remove it at any time. That way you can find out whether there are buyers for your home at all, before you do anything more.
The full version: when you mean it
To find a buyer, make the listing as informative and as interesting as you can. Beyond the basics, say what makes the home good – as the owner you often know the home, the housing company and the area better than anyone.
Worth covering:
- the layout and what the home does well
- renovations that have been done
- balcony, garden, sauna, storage
- views and how the light falls
- what a buyer should know about the housing company
- local services and transport.
Say what you've liked about living there, too. A good listing lets someone picture the life, not just count the square metres.
Good photos make a big difference
Tidy the place before you shoot, shoot in daylight, and show each room as clearly as you can.
No perfect photos? Use Jaakko's photo clean-up. Add ordinary pictures as they are and Jaakko turns them into listing photos. The originals stay available.
The first 60 photos are free, and the photo clean-up page covers what the tool touches and what it leaves alone.
3 Publish your listing
Once the listing looks right to you, publish. From that moment buyers can see the home.
It appears on the map and on your building's own page. A traditional sale means posting to a portal and waiting. Here, buyers have already said which building or area they want – the demand is sitting there before you arrive.
What happens next
- Your home shows on the map and on the building page.
- Buyers watching the area find it.
- When two interests meet you get a match, and you can open a conversation.
- You can edit or remove your interest at any time.
4 Get the papers together – and know what you're selling
Selling shares in a housing company means selling a stake in the company as well as a home. That's why buyers care about the company's condition and finances, not only your flat.
Gather the documents early, and read them yourself while you're at it.
Which documents do I need?
Usually you'll want at least these ready for the buyer:
- an up-to-date property manager's certificate
- the articles of association
- the latest financial statements and accounts
- minutes from the most recent general meeting
- renovations done, and renovations coming
- the maintenance needs assessment (PTS)
- the energy performance certificate
- details of any significant work done to the home itself.
Exactly what you need depends on the property. Most of it comes from the property manager or the housing company's online service.
5 Talk to buyers and show them round
Once a buyer turns up, the rest is a conversation – and on Jaakko it's between the two of you, with nobody in the middle.
Buyer and owner, talking directly
A buyer opens with Ask more. As a seller you can go the other way: find a buyer whose criteria fit and use Suggest to put your home in front of them.
From there you can answer questions, share photos and documents, and agree a viewing. Bring in a partner or anyone else involved.
Making a viewing go well
Before they arrive:
- put the clutter out of sight
- let in as much daylight as you can
- air the place out
- have the documents to hand
- be ready for questions about the home and the housing company.
Selling yourself, you agree the time directly with the buyer – whenever it suits you both.
Reaching buyers outside Jaakko
If you're selling in earnest, you can push the home to potential buyers beyond Jaakko as well.
A visibility boost is paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram. €49.90, running for 14 days.
The visibility boost page has the detail on how a campaign runs and what it delivers.
6 The offer, and closing
With the right buyer found, you're into price and terms.
Ask the buyer to put the offer in writing. That way you both know exactly what has been agreed.
An offer should set out at least the price, how long it stands, when you'd close, and any conditions – getting the financing, for instance.
Accept an offer and the next document is a written deed of sale.
What the offer should cover
Write it down as plainly as you can:
- the price
- how long the offer stands
- payment terms
- the planned closing date
- when ownership and possession transfer
- any financing or other conditions.
An offer and its acceptance carry legal weight. If a term isn't clear to you, check it with an expert before you accept.
What the deed of sale should cover
The deed records who's buying and selling, the shares being sold, the price and payment terms, when ownership and possession transfer, and anything else you've agreed.
Put the material facts you told the buyer in there too.
Closing and the transfer of money usually run through the banks, particularly when a mortgage or collateral is involved.
7 Tie up the loose ends
The deal is done. A few practical things remain.
- Hand over the keys at the agreed time.
- End or transfer your electricity, insurance and other contracts.
- Keep the deed of sale and the rest of the paperwork.
- Notify the housing company of whatever it needs to know.
- Work out what the sale means for your tax.
Registering the new ownership is the buyer's job.
What about tax?
Profit on a home sale can be taxable.
Selling your own permanent home is usually tax-free if you've owned it for at least two years and you or your family have lived in it continuously for at least two of those years.
Report the sale to the Finnish Tax Administration even when the profit is tax-free.
Always check your own situation against the Tax Administration's current guidance.
Good luck with it. Selling your own home is entirely doable when you take it a stage at a time and decide for yourself where you want help.
If something here doesn't make sense, or you'd like a second opinion, write to us at support@jaakko.com – we're happy to help.
Curious who'd buy your home?
Add it to Jaakko for free. You're not committing to sell, and you can remove it whenever you like.
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