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Homesealed home improvement expert Liz Dooley looks at the costs involved and how to get organised when moving home.
As well as making sure your house looks as appealing as possible, there are many more practical considerations when it comes to selling your house.
Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
If you are selling, you will need to have an Energy Pertormance Certificate that rates the energy efficiency of your property using A to G ratings. A is the best and G is the worst. This certificate must be available before you put your property on the market and an estate agent will ask you for it.
If you have one, it is valid for 10 years. You can see if a property has a valid EPC by visiting gov.uk/find-energy-certificate. If you need to get one, you'll need to book an independent energy assessor - find one at gov.uk/get-new-
energy-certificate
Setting the asking price
Before you sell, you will need to know how much you want to get for your property. You can ask an estate agent to give you a valuation - ask two or three agents before you decide how much you want for your property. But before you do this, it is worth doing any repairs and decorating that may impact the asking price.
Check out sites like Zoopla or Rightmove to see what similar properties on your road have sold for and estimated prices.
Estate agent fees
The cost of selling will depend on your property price, Estate agent fees can be anything between 0.9% and 3.6% of the value of your property. The average high-street estate agent fee is 1.42% based on a no sale, no fee agreement, so on a £285,000 house you can expect to pay fees of around £4,000. Online estate agents do not have the same overhead costs; they have fixed fees in the range of £O to £999.
You may be able to use an estate agent that sells properties using a tender process - this usually involves having an open day for property viewing, and the buyer would make an offer through a sealed bid and pay the estate agent fees.
Conveyancing solicitor fees
There are also legal costs to consider. Conveyancing costs can average between £600 and £950**, The fee is split into two parts: legal fees (charged by the conveyancer) and disbursements (third-party charges for services like transfer of ownership
documents). If you are selling a leasehold property, there may be additional costs.
Removal costs
It's easy to underestimate how much stuff you have, but a good removals company can take the stress out of moving.
But be ready to pay hundreds if you're hiring a small van and thousands if you're hiring a firm to do it all for you.
The actual cost may depend on the size of your home and distance, but expect to fork out an average of £4,000.
Expert Advice
Top tips to make your move smooth
COUNCIL TAX COSTS Don't assume your old home and new one are in the same council tax band. Check here:
gov.uk/council-tax-bands
REMOVAL COSTS Get an idea of removal costs at
comparemymove.com. And wherever possible, choose a company that is a member of the British Association of Movers (bar.co.uk) as they have a strict Code of Practice that their members must adhere to, which will give you peace of mind.
