The costs involved when selling your house
We had been planning to sell our house this year in order to fund a move to somewhere bigger. Because of the current pandemic and all the financial uncertainty at the moment though, we’ve decided to hold off until next year. I’m trying to look at this as a positive, as it gives us more time to prepare ourselves financially. There are a lot of costs involved in selling a house and I don’t want us to hit any unexpected stumbling blocks along the way.
We currently live in rented accommodation and rent out the small house we own. We did this because we desperately needed somewhere bigger but we weren’t in a position to be able to buy. It’s worked for us for a few years but we’re now ready to get out of renting and move into our own home. I’ve been looking into the cost involved with selling a house and I thought it might be handy to share them in case anyone else is thinking of selling up any time soon.
Conveyancing Fees
A conveyancing company is needed in order to take care of all of the legal requirements when selling your house. A conveyancing solicitor will make sure that the transfer of ownership is done properly and that legal and administrative checks are completed thoroughly.
The property we will be selling is in the Manchester area, so we’ll be looking for conveyancing solicitors in Manchester to help us complete our sale.
Costs vary from area to area, but you can expect to pay around £550-£1,000.
Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
An EPC measures the energy efficiency of a property and you have to have one when you’re selling a property. EPCs last for 10 years and we had one done when we started renting out our house which I think will still be valid.
An energy performance certificate usually costs between £35 and £150. I think we paid £60 for ours a few years ago.
Estate Agent Fees
I’ve been ringing estate agents to get an idea for their fees and they really do vary a lot. Usually, an estate agent will ask for a percentage of the sale price, but they do sometimes agree on a fixed fee too.
I’ve been quoted 1.5%, 1% and two fixed fees – one at £1,000 plus VAT and another at £1,800 plus VAT. You can see from these few agents that fees vary a lot. It’s a good idea to shop around to find the best deal. It’s also a good idea to look for agents that offer no sale no fee, so if you decide not to sell you’re not caught out with any hidden costs.
Removal Fees
When you finally get the sale and the day arrives for you to move out, you need to think about the costs of moving all of your belongings to the new house. Think about how much furniture you’ve got, how many white goods you’ll need to move and make sure you arrange for a removal firm that can accommodate all of your stuff.
Removal firms vary a great deal depending on where you live, how far you’re moving and how much stuff you’ve got to shift. Again, shop around to make sure you’re getting a good deal.
*This is a collaborative post.
