Fees involved when moving house? (First Time)

[Vini]

We're going to a 2nd viewing of a house on Saturday and we're both really excited, to the point of really wanting it.

If we decide to put in an offer, get it accepted, what kind of fees could we be looking at?

House is 130 with a 15k deposit.

[chrestomanci]

I moved house for the third time about 6 months ago, so this is off the top of my head.

You will need a solicitor to do the paperwork for the purchase. They will charge you a bunch of other fees for thing like searches, same day electronic money transfer, and their time. Total cost is likely to be around £500

Your morgadge company will charge you various setup fees and the like, especially as you have a relatively small deposit. When shopping around always consider the total cost, as some sneaky companies will try to tempt you with a low rate, and then sting you with 2 grand in fees.

You might need a removal company if you have a lot of stuff to move. If your are moving out of rented and you have a week or so of overlap, then you should be able to get away with a transit van and some strong friends, but if you don't have any overlap, and you need to be out of your old place and into the new in one day, then there is no way you can do it yourself, so either get a removal company in, or empty your home into self storage a couple of weeks in advance so come moving day there is nothing to shift.

When we last moved, the vendors where trying to move themselves, and they could not get everything out in time. They ended up annoying us, and parking loads of stuff in a neighbor's garden where it got ruined by the rain & snow. Our full service removal company cost 2 grand, but we have lots of stuff, and they packed it for us.

You should not be liable for stamp duty, because you are a first time buyer, and the house is less than £250k

[megah0]

I'm in the same situation as a first time buyer.

You'll have solicitors fees from £500 to £1200 dependent on location and solicitor.

Bank/mortgage lender fees for valuation, "product" fees, money transfer fees etc

Factor in at least £2k for fees and things and you should be ok.

[Vini]

Cheers guys, we've been working around 2k, so thats fine. I just wanted to make sure I'd not missed anything.

I think we'll be doing the 'moving' ourselves, as we rent at the minute, and don't have that much stuff... Also, we will probably overlap for a month anyway.

[badass]

A person at work recently moved into a £190k house. Total costs - fees for everything including stamp duty (now not necessary) added up to £10k
Beware. People always underestimate cost.

[cptwhite_uk]

Vinster, you know I'm in Sheffield and my house (that you collected from last) cost £131k. I think we ended up paying about £3000 in costs above that of the house, however that included £1300 stamp duty (which you aren't eligible to pay) so I think a budget of about £2500 would be a comfortable guesstimate. It will be affected by the setup fees of your mortgage - I can give you contact details for a local (free) mortgage broker if you like. I'm financially aware and know how to find a good deal, but she's always found the best one for me. PM me if you'd like her contact details.

[mycarsavw]

Whatever you do DO NOT use the Solicitors recommended to you by the Estate Agents.

You WILL regret it if you do, I promise

[Bugbait]

Whatever you do DO NOT use the Solicitors recommended to you by the Estate Agents.

You WILL regret it if you do, I promise

Generally I would agree but we used one recommended by a real estate agent (although not the real estate agent we eventually bought from) and have used them since with nothing but excellent results. The set fee was higher than some others (bit over £1k I believe) but they didn't nickel and dime us (ie. When contract went missing) and the report they produced was very comprehensive, which we appreciated since it was our first property purchase in the UK at the time. We completed and handed over in about 4-5 weeks from the initial offer.

Get a local solicitor if you can. Heard too many horror stories about cheap, but remote solicitors to even contemplate it.

[Vini]

2nd viewing went well today, next thing to do is work out how to make an offer!

[Jay]

just a quick heads up... its well worth paying for a full survey when moving house, it saved me a small fortune. Never think the adverts are actually true, "new roof" etc, this need to be looked at by your own guy that you pay.

[Bugbait]

just a quick heads up... its well worth paying for a full survey when moving house, it saved me a small fortune. Never think the adverts are actually true, "new roof" etc, this need to be looked at by your own guy that you pay.

Agree, very good tip. Also opens up possible doors to knock the price down a little if minor problems are found.

[Vini]

At what point do you get a survey?

If we were to call them tomorrow and say "subject to survey, we would like to offer X. we have a mortgage agreed in principle"

Is that how it works?

[megah0]

You ring up, state your offer and inform your mortgage lender that you are making an offer.

The lender will then make a valuation (with an attached fee usually) and you will have to instruct a solicitor to have a survey carried out.

This is currently the stage I am at. Valuation complete just waiting on the legal beagles.

[Vini]

We've been quoted 4-6 weeks for the mortgage to be "drawn down"

Any ideas what this means, what happens after and when we might be likely to complete? (The house we're after is empty)

[Bugbait]

We've been quoted 4-6 weeks for the mortgage to be "drawn down"

Any ideas what this means, what happens after and when we might be likely to complete? (The house we're after is empty)

That's when the money for the mortgage can be drawn on, ie. Time when you can complete the transaction. Prior to this (or sometimes the same day if you prefer) you should "exchange", which refers to the signing of the official purchase contract (usually 10%+ of purchase price paid at this time). The sale is only legally binding at this point. This is important under (stupid) English Law since there is no legal requirement for either side to proceed until this point.

Sorry if any of the information above is old news to you.

[Vini]

That's when the money for the mortgage can be drawn on, ie. Time when you can complete the transaction. Prior to this (or sometimes the same day if you prefer) you should "exchange", which refers to the signing of the official purchase contract (usually 10%+ of purchase price paid at this time). The sale is only legally binding at this point. This is important under (stupid) English Law since there is no legal requirement for either side to proceed until this point.

Sorry if any of the information above is old news to you.

Thats not old news, thats great. So in theory we can be all done and dusted and as soon as the money is transferred across, get the keys?

I know it wont happen like that, but in theory!

We honestly werent sure if it was 4-6 weeks for the M to be drawn, then another 4-6 weeks for Solicitors to do their bit... then more time etc... etc...