selling home, moving abroad,

info33

Hi,
I would like some advice please. My wife and I have finally decided to sell our home and move to Germany to be with our children. I'm 76 and have joint ownership with my wife. I would like to sell the property when it's empty and move abroad. The problem is that, if I get rid of all the content of the house, i.e. sofa, beds, furniture, then obviously we cannot live in the house. so how would we move? we have nowhere where we can stay temporarily only my children in Germany. My questions are:


1. Do we give the keys to the estate agent when the house is empty and move abroad? and who will be responsible for the house whilst it is for sale? will it be the estate agent?
2. As we will not be physically be in the country, will we be able to sell the house easily?
3. do we have to pay any fees upfront to the solicitor or estate agent? or can we pay the fees after the house has sold?
4. will a solicitor charge for any intial advice first?
we are so confused as to how to start the process and go through it, we know it is a big step, but we are very lonely here and my children have asked us to move in with them.


Please could someone advise us. Many thanks.

SmashedAvacado

1. Do we give the keys to the estate agent when the house is empty and move abroad? and who will be responsible for the house whilst it is for sale? will it be the estate agent?

Yes re keys
You will remain responsible unless they are negligent
You should make sure your lender and insurer know

2. As we will not be physically be in the country, will we be able to sell the house easily?

Stupid question

3. do we have to pay any fees upfront to the solicitor or estate agent? or can we pay the fees after the house has sold?

No and no. You dont need to instruct a solicitor before you have an agreed sale. You will be able to find an agent who wants no money up front. most will work on this basis.


4. will a solicitor charge for any intial advice first?

what initial advice do you want?

gettingtheresometime

Is there any urgency to move to Germany?

saajan_12

info33 wrote: »

Hi,
I would like some advice please. My wife and I have finally decided to sell our home and move to Germany to be with our children. I'm 76 and have joint ownership with my wife. I would like to sell the property when it's empty and move abroad. - do you need the sale proceeds to move and buy a house, or will you be renting / living with the children? Why do you need to sell when its empty, rather than living there during the viewings / enquiries etc and moving when the deal is done. The problem is that, if I get rid of all the content of the house, i.e. sofa, beds, furniture, then obviously we cannot live in the house. so how would we move? we have nowhere where we can stay temporarily only my children in Germany. - so just leave it there during viewings and enquiries.. you only need to empty the house upon completion. My questions are:


1. Do we give the keys to the estate agent when the house is empty and move abroad? and who will be responsible for the house whilst it is for sale? will it be the estate agent? - Yes, give them the keys to come in for viewings. They should act reasonably eg not damage the house or leave the door unlocked, but its still your house. Unless the agent criminally damages the property or leaves something unlocked with sever neglect, you have no recourse agaisnt anyone but yourself. You should ensure the property is insured and notify them that you will not be resident.

2. As we will not be physically be in the country, will we be able to sell the house easily? - most things can be handled by post / email, but you may need to attend in person to get IDs checked, etc. Will you still have UK bank accounts?

3. do we have to pay any fees upfront to the solicitor or estate agent? or can we pay the fees after the house has sold? - typically a high street agent will take their fee upon completion, and your solicitor will arrange it out of the sale proceeds, however check (a) your contract states commission is due upon completion, not when they find a 'ready able and willing buyer' as that may happen before completion, even if the sale never materialises. Also note some agents, mainly online ones charge a flat fee upfront. Typically solicitors will ask for an amount on account ~£500-1000 and then the balance upon completion. Note their fee is still reduced if the sale fails.


4. will a solicitor charge for any intial advice first? - yes, some offer a 30 min free session but this is rare for simple conveyancing and house buying/selling. What advice do you want?
we are so confused as to how to start the process and go through it, we know it is a big step, but we are very lonely here and my children have asked us to move in with them. - if you're moving in wiht your children, will you even need your furniture? Then you can move anytime and sell the property empty.

Please could someone advise us. Many thanks.

Why do you need wait for the property to be empty? It is very common to get advertising, viewings, enquiries, surveys etc going while you're still living there. You can specify in the contract whether you will be leaving any fixtures / fittings / furniture. When the sale is formally agreed (contracts exchanged) you can make arrangements and move on / before completion. A removals firm will be able to help you move entirely in 1 day.

spadoosh

SmashedAvacado wrote: »

1. Do we give the keys to the estate agent when the house is empty and move abroad? and who will be responsible for the house whilst it is for sale? will it be the estate agent?

Yes re keys
You will remain responsible unless they are negligent
You should make sure your lender and insurer know

2. As we will not be physically be in the country, will we be able to sell the house easily?

Stupid question

Why is it? Are you suggesting it is easy or it isnt easy?

Its just that my parents have just sold a property in france and it was a bit of a ball ache with the paperwork tooing and froing. Took longer than it needed to thats for sure.

And then there was getting the money to where it was needed in this case from france to uk where as in ops case its uk and presumably they want to access it easily in germany. It wasnt easy in the sense that they had to spend some time researching the matter, work out what was the best way of doing it at minimal cost but also securely.

Sounds more like a stupid answer to me. Meh.

SmashedAvacado

There are many factors that will determine whether your house will sell easily. None of them are impacted by your location. The added complication of being abroad can be solved by couriers.

spadoosh

SmashedAvacado wrote: »

There are many factors that will determine whether your house will sell easily. None of them are impacted by your location. The added complication of being abroad can be solved by couriers.

Of course they are, my parents where reliant on an estate agent, one which they couldnt easily keep track of. Purely because they wherent on location, it was only because they took an impromptu visit that they found the estate agent just wasnt doing the viewings they where saying they where. Thats one of the many problems that can happen when trying to sell a property you arent close to.

Another might be the condition of the property and the increased likelihood of problems arising due to not being lived in, this can make it more difficult to sell. Youre not solving that with couriers.

I agree any of the added complications can be solved, but you cant add complications without reducing ease. So maybe some explanation instead of insinuating someone is stupid or asking a stupid question.

xylophone

Sell the house and on the day that you move out, the belongings you want to keep are packed up by a removal company for transportation to Germany, the rest taken away by a house clearance company.

While the house was for sale, you will have dealt with opening a bank account in Germany etc - will you keep your UK bank account for receipt of your pension(s) etc?

Stay in a hotel for a month or so to give yourself time to make any final arrangements.

Move to Germany.

SmashedAvacado

Its a stupid question because:

we don't know anything about the house, the intended price, the condition, the location, the market in that location, any legal issues with it yet are being asked whether it will sell easily. The admin involved in the sale makes no difference in comparison to these factors.

Let's be less precious.

spadoosh

SmashedAvacado wrote: »

Its a stupid question because:

we don't know anything about the house, the intended price, the condition, the location, the market in that location, any legal issues with it yet are being asked whether it will sell easily. The admin involved in the sale makes no difference in comparison to these factors.

Let's be less precious.

I disagee, it seems then that apparently stupid can be somewhat subjective. Ergo, youre just being pretentious.

Lets be less rude?

Flugelhorn

The solicitor will give you a quote for the selling of the house - call a few and they should tell you the amount / send you the details

On the whole best not to empty it until it is sold.