The cost of moving house.. TBC!

dealio123

TL;DR - it’s not cheap! 

Hi Everyone, been a long time lurker of this forum so felt it was only right that I contributed and share what i know so far! 

Caveat to say this is just my personal experience of what i know so far for my circumstances and of course these will differ from person to person depending on your situation so please take with a pinch of salt! By no means is this meant to scare/put anyone off. I’m just one of these people that like to know as much upfront as possible ☺️

I am still early doors of the selling/buying process. My property is sold subject to contract, awaiting exchange and new build reserved, completion date looking like early next year. 

For info, I am moving from a new build leasehold flat (purchased using HTB 20% equity loan) to a new build freehold house. Very grateful that i’m able to do this and although it’s a big jump, i’m somewhat glad, as it means I won’t have to move again for a very long time! 

I will be completely honest and say although I knew it wasn’t going to be cheap, I didn’t quite realise how expensive it would actually be! I was fully aware of the big ticket items (stamp duty/estate agent/legal fees) however as this is only my 2nd purchase, I was previously a FTB, so I’ve never had to pay SDT/EA fees and only paid legal fees on a purchase. In fairness you can’t really calculate figures until you’re in a position where you know the sold price of your property and your onward purchase price. Equally things like my lender wants a 15% deposit as ive now chosen a new build, which i wasn’t aware of and was working on the assumption 10% would be sufficient. So again some things you just don’t know until you’re in the situation.

Unfortunately the time i’ve chosen to sell/buy landed right when the mortgage rates shot up. However, worth noting one positive was the stamp duty was reduced in the same period so swings and roundabouts ☺️

——— 

Costs I am aware of to date  (note some are just provisional quotes)

▪️Estate agent fee 0.95% - £3192 (total includes VAT) 

▪️Legal Fees (buying and selling using same solicitor) - £4200 (total includes VAT)

▪️Stamp Duty Tax - £7250

▪️Mortgage Fees - £2655

- £995 broker fee (using a specialist)

- £995 product fee (chosen to pay up front)

- £470 valuation

- £195 lending fee 

Total £17,297

Other 

▪️Leasehold management pack - £432!!

▪️Help to Buy RICS survey - £295

▪️Help To Buy redemption fee - £250

▪️New build reservation fee - £500

▪️Post completion engrossment doc - £250

▪️Early Repayment Charge 2% - £3420 (required for porting and topping up my mortgage - should hopefully be refunded but still need the money in the first place) 

▪️Deposit shortfall - £6250 (didn’t have enough to cover the 15% from equity alone)

▪️ New build optional extras - £2000 (as I am buying quite late on a lot of the choices were already chosen/included) 

Total - £13,397 

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As you can see the above totals around £30k and this doesn’t even account for things like furniture/movers etc! Let alone the new mortgage payments, higher council tax and energy bills 😂. I know people will say it’s a very bad time to move right now, but hey we all have our reasons. 

Good luck to anyone else buying/selling at the moment it’s a very stressful time so fingers crossed all goes well for you ☺️ 

RM_2013

It’s so expensive and one of the reasons we’ve stayed put for 19 years!!! However now is time for us to move.  

Fortunately we saved on some costs.  My husband is a mortgage advisor so he was able to do all the research and get our mortgage applied through the company he works for.  We used an online EA (pros and cons) so have saved on fees.
Our deposit and legal fees, SDLT etc will be paid from the equity in our current home.  

We are costing up removals at the moment.

we are fortunate that we have been here long enough to have the ability to move again and I really do worry how hard it might be for my kids to get onto the property ladder 

good luck with your move hope all goes smoothly 

dealio123

Thanks for sharing! 

Great news you were able to save on some fees and that you have enough equity to cover the rest. 

As you say it’s very difficult for FTB, with the current salaries, cost of living, mortgage rates, house prices etc. 

However equally difficult for anyone moving house as there’s additional fees to cover with no assistance from any schemes as you’re no longer a FTB (eg Help to Buy)

I think my take away from what i’ve learnt so far is how important savings are. (no matter how big or small) sounds obvious, but when moving house there’s a lot of £250 here £400 there and they really add up so good to have a warchest available! 

Best of luck to you ☺️

matthew91822

Wow that's so much! Definitely a lot more costs in moving when you already own compared to FTB.

I'm a FTB currently renting. Assuming nothing changes before exch/comp.

- £1,149 conveyancing flat fee
- £350 mortgage advisor - 0 fee for mortgage
- £500 Homebuyers L2 Survey
- £900 approx. for removals

Thank god for the stamp duty cut!

dealio123

Absolutely, when I was a FTB my costs (excluding deposit) was around £4000 - legal fees, developer fee, product fee, and a broker fee). 

Congratulations on getting on the property ladder hope all goes well 👍🏻

TheJP

I deduct you deposit from your costs as this will form part of your equity in the property. However those are big costs.

powerful_Rogue

I would say this is not a common experience. £30,000 to move is an exceptional case.

dealio123

Valid point re. the deposit, thank you. I guess this isn’t classed as a “moving cost”, but I added it anyway based on the fact I wasn’t aware I would need 15% instead of the standard 10%. 
Similarly the ERC is a bit of an anomoly. 

Totally appreciate this is not a common case! But I guess with these things there’s no one size fits all. 

user1977

The reservation fee and "optional extras" are both just part of the price too, not buying costs as such.

lookstraightahead

dealio123 said:

Valid point re. the deposit, thank you. I guess this isn’t classed as a “moving cost”, but I added it anyway based on the fact I wasn’t aware I would need 15% instead of the standard 10%. 
Similarly the ERC is a bit of an anomoly. 

Totally appreciate this is not a common case! But I guess with these things there’s no one size fits all. 

I think it's good to deduct it so you don't rely on it short term if house prices fall (especially in new builds). Not such an issue if you're staying there longer 

hazyjo

That's a pricey solicitor!