Advice on buying & selling

deefadog

Hi all, been read alot of articles on here which have proved very usefull.

I am just about to sell our first house and buy our second bigger house. And am completely clueless at the moment, so i would like to ask you kind people for some pointers

I need to know the costs involved, i have a list, not sure if i have missed anything, please advice.


Estate agents fees - @ 1% = 1500 +VAT

Surveyors fees - £400

Solisitors fees - £? please advice on this, a rough figure would be much appreciated

Moving costs (20 miles maximum, averge loads) - £? please advice on this, a rough figure would be much appreciated


Anything I missed?


Also, how do the house hold bills work? i.e gas, electric, council tax? will these just get trasfred to the new property and we carry on as normal, or do we have to settle up in full and start fresh with the new property?

With all the costs involved, can we add that to the new mortgauge? or do we have to find the money seperetely?


Sorry for all the questions, but as i hope you understand, i need to do my homework drastically.

Thanks and take care

dougk_2

Hi - just going/gone through the same thing!

Estate agents fees - @ 1% = 1500 +VAT
If you get a 1% deal thats good - normally its 1.5% or 2%

Surveyors fees - £400
If for homebuyers report this varies - currently for us was £550 through Abbey!
(normally done as part of the mortgage application)

Solisitors fees - £? please advice on this, a rough figure would be much appreciated
I would guess £1,200 to £1,500 (including local searches) as both selling and buying but it varies regionally and if you have a good solicitor already etc.

Moving costs (20 miles maximum, averge loads) - £? please advice on this, a rough figure would be much appreciated
Don't know doing it ourselves but expect £300 to £500 if you are doing the packing!

You missed mortgage fees (Arrangement, legal fees, valuation etc). This can be anything from Nothing to £1200 depending on lender and mortgage type.

All utilities - you take on the suppliers from the previous owner, so you need to change all these yourself if you wish once there. Your current house - remember to let the suppliers know your leaving date and inform them of meter readings on the moving day (and keep a note and it poss. evidence - i.e. a photo of the meters in case of disputes!)

Also notify the local council(s) of your moving out/in for council tax (unfortunately!)

Adding the fees to the mortgage varies and depends on the lender. The application fee for the mortgage needs to be paid up front as does normally the survey and valuation. The solicitors will normally want the search fees up front to. I would say make sure you have access to at least £1k of funds. Most mortgage lenders accepted credit card payments for the fees.

Hope that helps

frugal_dougal_3

STAMP DUTY ?

deefadog

Great stuff there doug, it gives me a great head start!

frugal_dougal - Stamp duty - can you maybe elaborate a little more on this???

frugal_dougal_3

Stamp duty is payable to the Inland Revenue at the rate of 1% of the purchase price for properties between £60,000 and £250,000 and 3% between £250,000 and £500,000 and rising further after that.

If you are buying in a disadvantaged area you can get away without paying it.

Go to www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk for further information.

deefadog

Thanks mate, O well that's another £1500 to mr blair

deefadog

Wow, just calculated and thats shocking, looking between £5300 - £8500 for moving costs!


Is that the normal?

Woby_Tide

probably about right, sadly

deefadog

Let's hope our Mortgage provider will allow the extra!

How do people normally work this? Maybe get a loan and pay it off with the extra you take out on the mortgage to cover for it?

dougk_2

Normally most people use equity in their house i.e. they only use part of the equity as a deposit and use the rest to pay the bills.

I have known some friends to use Credit card stoozing (Super Balance Transfers to their bank account).

With our move luckily I have had £3k of savings to pay the upfront things. the rest has come from equity in our two houses - one being sold and one remortgaged for BTL!
well thats paid the bills and deposit!

frugal_dougal_3

If you search around the board you will find lots of posts relating to trimming your costs but a few briefly are:

Estate Agents - If you aren't in a hurry you might like to have a go at selling without one ie stick a board up, advertise in local paper and websites etc.

Surveyors - You don't have to use the Estate Agents' "in house" surveyor who is normally more expensive. You should be able to get a basic survey for around £200. Do you have any builder friends who would be able to go and look at the house with you and check for possible problems?

Solicitors - again don't use the "in house". They are more expensive.



Do search for more tips, other people have put some good ones on.