Stupid question time... how do you move house??

Janiebabes

Hi there

Please PLEASE forgive my ignorance on these matters. We don't have anyone close who can answer these questions so I hope that you guys don't mind!

We have been living here for 8 yrs now, and really could do with moving to a larger property, but which do you do first? Sell this house (which needs a huge amount of time & effort to get it ready for sale, eg garden, fresh paint etc) or find a new place? When do you get the new mortgage sorted?

I have looked at mortgage calculators online etc, there seems to be a huge gap in the amount we could borrow (most of it tipping towards the ouch can't afford that... STAY AWAY lol) but should/could you add on all the fees to the mortgage, or is it more advisable to pay upfront?

Its a complete minefield, I feel so green about the whole issue! Would love some feedback (be kind, Im naive lol!)

Janie xxx

Robert_Sterling_3

Get three different Estate Agents to give you a valuation on your house.
Look on www.nethouseprices.co.uk [ The link is allowed by MSE ] to see the price at which houses have been sold with the same postcode as you.
Decide how much you can afford to pay for a house.
Use www.rightmove.co.uk to see what is on offer in the area you want to live in.
That just about gets you to the starting post.
Other posters will no doubt tell you more.

kunekune

A few thoughts.

I would start by getting a sense of what my budget was. Rather than starting with the calculators, look at what you can really afford on a monthly basis, and then look to find out whether on a conservative calculation, you would be able to borrow that. Think about how much cash you can put in, and do your calculation on an expensive rather than a cheap mortgage product. Don't even think about how to pay the fees. If you are so close to the bone, that it makes a difference whether they are paid up front or added to the mortgage, then you shouldn't be borrowing so much.

Next, do a very basic calculation of what your house might be worth (with or without the work done) - look at sold prices in your area, taken back a few years. And then look to see whether what you want might be affordable.

Once you've done that and if it looks like you will be able to move up, get your house valued. As others said, try different agents. Be pessimistic: if one says 150K, another 160K and another 175K, assume that the 150K estimate is the right one. Does that figure fit with what you would need to get to buy the house you'd like? If not, rethink again. Once you know that a sale would achieve what you want it to achieve, work on the house.

House sorted ... stop for a few weeks and ask whether now it's sorted you still want to move! If you do (and this might be a long time from now), go back to the first of my steps, and only list the house for sale if the answer are still yes.

Hmmmmm. Or you could sell it as it is!

QTPie

This is the way that I have done it... so it makes sense to me:
- firstly worked out why I wanted to move and what sort of thing I was looking for: what is our motivation to move (and is it worth it). Basically want to move because we are trying to start a family: feel that need bigger house and bigger garden, plus want to sell BEFORE messy, demanding little babies come along...
- secondly started looking around at rightmove etc for target properties/market. Knowing the sort of thing that I want, what sort of properties are out there that meet my buying criteria and how much do they cost. Not looking for a specific property at this stage (because not in a position to buy).
- thirdly looked at the affordability: if we sold this house for (a pesimistic slant on what other properties have sold for in the area recently), how much money would we need to borrow to finance the "cost of change" (including stamp duty solicitors fees, removals, estate agent fees - all pesimistically estimated at this stage).
- fourthly (although really started as soon as you consider moving) getting the property ready for market. What do you feel you need to do to make the property attractive to buyers? Yes, any property can sell (at the right price), but an attractive property will sell much more quickly and probably attain a slightly better price. Do you need to fix anything? Redecorate anywhere? If you have a small bedroom being used as a "box room", then clear out the clutter and borrow some furniture to stage it. Declutter and tidy everywhere.
- fifthly, get some Estate Agents around to give valuations and interview them. What are their terms and conditions? Do they come across as good sellers? What have they sold in your area recently? Do they regularly deal in your type of house (no point getting Knight Frank to sell a two bedroom ex-LA house...)? What is their marketing like? What are their tie ins? Can you go joint-agency with them? Those are ALL more important than the valuation... most of them will have some flexibility in the asking price that they will adopt (providing it is fairly realistic). So have a good idea what asking price you want to set (from research), listen to the arguments of the different EAs as to what they would set it at and use that to influence your decision. Then speak to your favourite EA about the price that you would like to set it at.
- Also, at this stage, I checked with a few mortgage lenders (you could use an Independent Mortgage Advisor) to check that we could be lent any additional money required to finance the move. To me this is very important: it isn't worth selling unless you can afford to buy the sort of thing that you want to move to.
- Then redo ALL of your calculations: were they realistic can you really afford to move? Remember, in this market you will be incredibly lucky to get your asking price. So work this into your calculations. ALSO look at the minimum offer you are prepared to accept.
- Assuming yes, instruct your chosen Estate Agent to put your house on the market.
- If you don't already have one, choose and instruct a Solicitor.
- Choose and instruct a HIP provider. This can often be done by your Estate Agent or Solicitor, but shop around.
- THEN you can also start seriously looking at properties to buy.
- However you will not be in a strong position to make an offer yourself, until you are under offer to sell your own property.
- This is why, personally, we have decided (before we put our house on the market) to move into rented accomodation after selling. So we can return to the market as a chain free buyer AND not rush buying.
- When you receive an offer, decide whether it is an acceptable offer. Look at the minimum you had wanted to accept, BUT also factor in other aspects too... Has the market dropped further since you did your calculations? Is the offer only a few £1ks under your minimum (our minimum was £430k, but we accepted an maximum offer of £420k)? Are the people offering cash or proceedable buyers? An offer slightly under your minimum, from a string buyer who can exchange contracts quickly, is a GOOD offer. Is there a point to waiting to see if a slightly better offer comes along?

Hope that helps. Other people will do things other ways (or in a different order), but you get the idea

Selling a house (and moving) is all about good research and preparation - especially in a buyers market. An attractive, realistically priced house will sell. BUT there is just no point in selling if you haven't done your research on the affordability and practicalities of "moving on" as well. Then, as a seller, you need keep up with the market trends, be adaptable and occassionally think laterally (i.e. if you get a good offer from sone who wants to move very fast, then accept it and work out a way around it - even if it means renting for a while and/or putting things into storage...).

Good luck
QT

Janiebabes

many thanks for you time and suggestions! We do need a bigger property which will have to happen soon, but I know that the de-clutter bug MUST appear before we can do anything lol, that and the DIY fairy!

Many thanks to you all once again
J x