Wanting to Sell my House This Year

Butterfliesarepretty

When I was married in 1990 I moved from a two bed semi to three bed semi, then four bed detached bought at £67,000 in 1994, got divorced in 2001, bought a two bed semi ex council for £34,000 after putting £3k down on it, then nine months later moved to my current house.

So I have had a bit of buying/selling experience.

I bought my current terraced in 2002 at 29,000 after putting five grand down but since then I had the damp proof put in 2002 and retention was put back on the mortage which took it to £31,000. But since then I have put some debt on the mortgage and it went to £46,000 but its now £42,000 with nationwide after two year fixed deal from 2007-2009 - now have been making overpayments of £50 extra each month since april 2008.

In 2008 I had a re-wire and three rooms and the stairs reskimmed and painted, new carpets, lino, and new fire and surround and two new radiators and it probably costed me £6k altogether.
I was able to pay for this using my redundancy money. But had to get contractors in and do the rest of the work myself which was very hard as I live alone.

Lately the house does not feel like home anymore, as my daughter's bedroom is very small 2.9m x 2.26m and to get to the bathroom you have to walk through the bedroom. I want a bigger bedroom for her and private as she is 11 now.
Its a mid terraced with front garden and front path, no cars at the front as railway embankment (now cycle path) and its close to canals, fishing reservoir and sailing club but parking at the rear of the yard on a cobbled street. Also a factory behind us but its a very quiet area.

I want to move to a mid terraced with gch, carpets etc, double glazing, possibly staying close to my area and work but I do not want to do any work apart from the odd bit of wallpapering on the next house I get.

I want to keep my mortgage at £42,000 so need some advice. Have things changed since 2002 with house buying?

Solicitors Fees - can i avoid this?
Estate Agents - can i avoid these fees too?
Home buying report ? What is this?


In 2002 it was a survey and estate agents fees and solicitors fees. I want to save as much as possible to keep my mortgage low or even lower.

Need advice?;)

pie81

A HIP is legally required if you are going to market the property in any way, which you will need to do unless you happen to know someone already who is keen to buy it. It will cost you about £250. I suggest hips4u.

A solicitor is necessary IMO unless you want to have the hassle of dealing with the buyer's lawyer, will be able to understand legal questions, and are willing to take the risk of something crucial being missed in your contract of sale. You can get pretty cheap online conveyancers but they have a reputation for being slow (which can sometimes even cost you the sale).

An estate agent you can definitely do without (and this is the most expensive part). You can get free valuations done by estate agents and then sell the property yourself. You will have to do your own viewings though. Try the Little House Company or Housenetwork to have a look at possible alternatives - these list their properties on the main property search websites (like Rightmove) so you will reach a lot of buyers. Or you could use gumtree or other free sites, but they attract fewer serious buyers. EAs will of course say that they will pay for their fees by getting you a higher offer.

Fire_Fox

Have you looked at land registry sold prices for the street? Do you have sufficient equity to cover the costs of buying and selling AND to put down at least 10% on a new property? Unless you move to a worse area (or perhaps a flat) I can't see how you can possibly move to a larger property and keep your mortgage at the same level. You would be better placed to set aside the several grand it would cost you to move and look into extending your current property, or selling up and renting a new build.

G_M

Solicitors Fees - can i avoid this? yes, if you are willing and able to do the conveyancing yourself. Can't avoid the lender's legal fees though if you get a mortgage.
Estate Agents - can i avoid these fees too? Yes - sell on-line. Might take longer though.
Home buying report ? What is this? A report you now need by law before you can market a property. If you sell privately without marketing ie to your neighbour, you don't need one.

Butterfliesarepretty

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Have you looked at land registry sold prices for the street? Do you have sufficient equity to cover the costs of buying and selling AND to put down at least 10% on a new property? Unless you move to a worse area (or perhaps a flat) I can't see how you can possibly move to a larger property and keep your mortgage at the same level. You would be better placed to set aside the several grand it would cost you to move and look into extending your current property, or selling up and renting a new build.

I am not moving to a larger property ?
I live in a 2 bed mid terraced and want to move to a 2 bed mid or end terraced.
If I say for instance sell mine for £90,000, £42k paid off then whatever is left over i use to buy a property but leaving me with a £42k mortgage again. My street is the only one street in this area, no other streets behind or in front. No other houses up for sale, most are housing association or rented. One other person and her family are putting theirs up for sale soon. Its a pretty quiet area, no vandalism or crime at all.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?sourceid=navclient&hl=en-GB&rlz=1T4DKUK_en-GBGB260__261&q=bl82az&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Bury,+Lancashire+BL82AZ&gl=uk&ei=NMJMS5XYPNKv4Qb7vszqDQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CAgQ8gEwAA


Get it?

I can't spend any more and don't want to. I am moving to exactly the same except two separate bedrooms and a separate bathroom.

Someone will buy my house cause I did and I was single so was not bothered about the bedroom being used for access to bathroom. Been here seven years and now its time for a change.

I earn £1k a month and pay just under £300 a month for my variable rate mortgage with nationwide and will be keeping it with them when I move as they have been so brilliant with me.:T