We’ve all heard the horror stories about moving home and we agree, that without the right planning it can be a stressful time. So, through our many year’s experience in helping people move home we’ve developed the 9 step formula we go into in this blog post, so that when you’re done reading, you’ll be properly prepared for selling your home and be able to do it with the minimum of stress.
Read on for an in-depth look at these 9 steps to moving home stress-free:
- Plan Early
- Check out your motivation
- Appoint experts to assist you
- Value your existing home
- Establish your borrowing power
- Can you afford what you want?
- Determine your timescale
- Get your solicitor into gear
- Survey your own home
A property sale/purchase involves many experts in addition to your estate agent – solicitors, surveyors and mortgage advisers all have a fundamental role in your moving experience and for it to be efficient and successful, each must attend to their respective responsibilities swiftly and diligently. Relying on so many different parties is often where things can go wrong.
Let’s look into these steps in more detail:
What should you do before putting your house on the market?
Step 1: Plan early
It’s crucial to the success of your move. The sooner you can start planning the easier the whole experience will be.
Step 2: Check out your motivation
Be clear from the outset about why you want to move, when you want to move and what you want to achieve from the move.
Step 3: Appoint experts to assist you
You will need an estate agent, a lawyer, possibly a mortgage consultant and a surveyor.
Your expert estate agent will be your ‘go-to professional’ for help and advice. They will also become your coordinator of all the other disciplines.
Once a sale has been agreed, the work has only just begun. Getting the chain lined up and the whole conveyancing process completed can be a challenge – as a result the transaction failure rate nationally is high, only 67% get to completion first time round.
Step4: Value your existing home
Establish the value of your existing home and the cost of anything that may need to be done to it to enhance its saleability/value.
Step 5: Establish your borrowing power
Necessary if a mortgage is needed for your next purchase. Seek this advice from an independent broker who is free to range the whole of the market to find you the very best deal.
Step 6: Can you afford what you want?
Check out that what you want to buy is affordable and available to you in your chosen area(s). Go online, do your research. Search properties for sale and in the areas you want to move to and make sure that what you want is within your price range.
Now you’re ready to put your property on the market
Step 7: Determine your timescale
Finding a buyer for your existing property before offering to buy another gives you the best chance to secure your next property ahead of other potential buyers. An offer to buy something is empty if you have not yet sold what you own.
When ready, place your property on the market before finding an alternative. You won’t be rushed out the door by a buyer if you haven’t found a replacement.
A professional agent will manage this for you.
Step 8: Get your solicitor into gear
When you place your property on the market, instruct your solicitor to immediately prepare the legal papers, provide them with the necessary identity paperwork, put them in funds for any disbursements they will incur on your behalf (not part of their fees to you) and respond swiftly to any communications sent to you requiring information.
Some solicitors will encourage you not to do this “in case you don’t sell”, but if your motivation to sell is so light, then perhaps you shouldn’t be on the market in the first place? Curchods Home Conveyancing operate a no sale no fee* regime and share our philosophy that early preparation is key. You can find out more information about Curchods Home Conveyancing here.
Bear in mind Leasehold sales take longer: If you own a leasehold property, early preparation of the legal work is even more important, as gathering in the necessary papers can be a lengthy process. If you own an older property there is real merit in considering commissioning a Seller’s Survey.
Step 9: Survey your own home
A Seller Survey will highlight any issues with the property, allowing the seller to rectify them or declare them at the outset to any interested parties so that the costs for fixing them can be factored into their offer.
By being up-front and declaring any issues from the outset will avoid them potentially ruining the sale further down the line when the buyer would usually commission their own survey. Currently, this is a major factor in delays, increased stress and the cause of so many sales collapsing nationally.
Ready for a stress-free move? Talk to us
When you engage with Curchods, we’ll give you access to all the experts you need.
We’ll take away the majority of the stress and the hassle of selling your home and be with you every step of the way until the transaction has succeeded.
If you are on the move and would like more information, contact your local Curchods Estate Agency office.
*You would pay for any disbursements in the event of a sale not taking place.
