10 Ways To Avoid Stress When Moving Home
Day 6: Everything You Need To Know About Buying and Selling a House or a Flat in 31 Daily Bite-Sized Chunks
Welcome to Day 6 of our special series of blog posts running every day in March “10 Ways to Avoid Stress When Moving Home”
It’s never to early to think ahead when you are planning on a buying or selling a property.
Here’s a heads up, if you are thinking buying or selling a house or a flat this Spring.
1. Give yourself as much time as possible before you actually put your property on the market for sale. This will allow time to declutter: touch up; redecorate and carry out minor repairs in order to present your home in the best possible condition
2. Get 3 valuations or market appraisals from Estate Agents as you should be able to smooth out any anomalies between the top price and lowest price.
3. Instruct the right Conveyancing Solicitor at the very beginning, even before you have found a buyer. This way you get to know who you are working with, how they will work with you and the relevant paperwork can be prepared (excluding the sale price) and ready to send to the buyers solicitor as soon as you have a buyer, avoiding any delays right from the start
4. Get your mortgage offer(s) in place; talk to mortgage lenders as soon as you think you are moving. By having financials in place early on will make you a more attractive and credible buyer for any vendor
5. Be Realistic; don’t get too carried away with reported increases in house prices. . Pricing to sell will get people through the door to view and sell your house faster. Remember the property you buy should be cheaper too!
6. Be upfront with your Conveyancing Solicitor, they are on your side after all. Share with them any potential problems or possible issues, however small or insignificant they may seem to you. Your Conveyancing Solicitor can then judge any impact they may have on your Conveyancing transaction
7. Avoid same day exchange and completion; this is a recipe for potential disaster and for maximum stress! You may be encouraged to do this BUT most house sales involve a chain of transactions and sometimes a lengthy one. You may not actually move on the day proposed because one person in the chain may change their minds. So for your sanity avoid it at all cost
8. Ensure you visit the property you want to buy several times, and at different times of the day to be sure it really IS the property for you before exchange of contracts. It’s a bit late to find out once you’ve move in for example that you get no sun in your garden after 3pm, if a sunny garden was a definite must!
9. Keep in regular contact with your Conveyancing Solicitor and Estate Agent, after all they are working for YOU! Regular and clear communication is vital. So whether you have good or bad news, pass it on as soon as possible.
10. Don’t skimp on the survey; this is probably the largest single purchase most people make, so don’t be caught out by always opting for the cheapest option! Even new houses can have major faults (we’ve all seen TV shows on this) . . . so opt as a minimum for a Homebuyers Report for peace of mind, and wallet!
We have already covered some of the tips in “Everything You Need To Know About Buying and Selling a Property- in 31 Daily Bite-Sized Chunks” and will investigate the others soon
Be sure to sign up for a chance to have your Conveyancing carried out by Clutton Cox, free of charge.
