Selling and Buying - Advice!

matt1987

Evening all

After lots of pretty sound advice 3 years ago from you lot on here, when me and my partner were FTB, I am now back again for more advice, this time.... were not FTB, and are ready to 'upsize'!

Id like some input on what the costs are for selling and buying. I am aiming to haggle with the Estate Agents over fees, and dont want to pay more than 1% really.

What are the online estate agents like? I have seen a fair few of these popping up over the months, are they gaining popularity?

Basically, as my first mortgage was a special FTB mortgage, we didnt have to pay any legal fees so I have no idea what it actually costs?
I know I will have to instruct a solicitor, pay for searches etc etc but I would love some advice on how much I can expect to pay, and can they be added to a mortgage?

As it stands, we bought the house 3 years ago for £110,000. Since then, we have put in a new bathroom, kitchen, central heating and decorated it throughout. An identical property only 5 doors down sold 2 months ago for £115,000 (asking price) and the property next door to that one (end terrace) also sold in the same month for asking price. I have called the estate agents who sold the two properties on my estate, and they said there was a fair bit of interest in them.

We are looking for get £115,000 for it, I would be made up if we sold it for this amount. We are looking at our next property being around £220,000. As it stands, we owe £89,000 on our mortgage.

We wont have any problems in getting a mortgage for the amount we need, but what id like to know is, will the bank let us add the stamp duty and fees onto our mortgage? The reason I ask is that currently we have £2,000 in savings, and in the next few months will add another £1,200. Is this better being saved for a rainy day, and add the fees on to the mortgage, or is it better to pay the fees off straight away and have no savings?

Id be grateful for any advice, as it seems more daunting this time round than the first time!!!

Thanks

Matt

Atomix

Hi matt,
Have been in your situation, am now in our 4th and hopefully final home. With regards to the extra borrowing, I seem to remember borrowing more than we needed too. However the solicitor for example will need paying pretty much straight away for surveys etc, I would budget a 800 to 1000 for the sale and purchase for solicitor /conveyancing, it does depend on the property, and you might see some change from that. Sometimes a local estate agent will come down in price, especially if its an 'easy sale' ie you said a couple of neighbouring properties sold with ease etc. Don't forget the EA will charge you VAT on top - this caught me out... Also, almost had a nightmare, we had a really keen buyer who sent a surveyor round to ours after agreeing a price etc. Then went cold for a month, but we were £000's in by that time, on the property we wanted, depending on the size of property, budget £300 to 500 for a mortgage survey - per property... So be very picky..., also be aware everyone in the 'game' is out to make money out of you... Stamp duty if i recall, can be factored in with the solicitor/mortgage amount. Our last move cost us £20k, however £12k was just stamp duty... It's scary when you look at the figures.... Anyway, yes is the answer, but bear in mind you will need to pay upfront for some services... Sorry for lengthy rant 1st post too - lol- good luck with it!

Dan-Dan

You cant add SD onto a mortgage

Atomix

Dan-Dan wrote: »

You cant add SD onto a mortgage

Err yes you can - it's very straight forward but not advisable if you can afford it

(www) moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/stamp-duty

Not allowed to put links up as new user. Clearly you can.

Dan-Dan

Atomix wrote: »

Err yes you can - it's very straight forward but not advisable if you can afford it

(www) moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/stamp-duty

Not allowed to put links up as new user. Clearly you can.

oh , ok.....

Atomix

Dan-Dan wrote: »

oh , ok.....

To be honest dan on a 220k property it's only going to be 2k, not a big amount when he's going to be borrowing 180k or so... You could borrow the maximum and blow the difference on the 2.15 at Newmarket if you wanted too... Not advisable though...

hazyjo

Do you have a deposit to put down for the new house? What percentage is that of what you're borrowing?

Jx

matt1987

Thanks for the advice so far! I shall be putting the stamp duty onto the new mortgage then.

Hazy jo, il be in the 90% LTV. My deposit is tied into my current house at the moment. I've got about 20% equity in it.

Matt

Atomix

Hi Matt,

Go to the same EA who sold those x2 properties - they'll know that its an easy sale - then use that to negotiate a better deal on the commission. They may still even have people on their books who were interested in those properties/may be interested in yours? GLuck

matt1987

Atomix wrote: »

Hi Matt,

Go to the same EA who sold those x2 properties - they'll know that its an easy sale - then use that to negotiate a better deal on the commission. They may still even have people on their books who were interested in those properties/may be interested in yours? GLuck

Thanks, I did this as soon as I read your post, and with them literally being round the corner from the house, they came this evening to value it. Valued it at £117,500 as our garden and driveway are slightly bigger and its better decorated as the previous two were rental properties and not as well maintained. Their fee is £1500 plus VAT which is a bit on the steep side?

Iv got a couple of other EA's lined up to value it so we'll see what come of it.

Matt

bylromarha

matt1987 wrote: »

Their fee is £1500 plus VAT which is a bit on the steep side?

Don't forget - don't ask don't get.

If those EAs have got people on their books already interested in properties on your road, then they know it'll be an easy sale.

1% on a sale is better to them than £1500 on a property they haven't been given to sell.