Everything You Need To Know About Legal Costs When Selling
The average cost of moving house in the UK has more than tripled in the last ten years. The actual price of the house your selling and then buying are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to working out the real cost of moving home.
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In many cases you have to factor in stamp duty, estate agents fees and solicitors costs amongst a multitude of other costs. If you’re thinking about these questions then you are more than likely on the right track to accurately predicting how much selling your home will cost.
What costs are there?
1) Mortgage Lender Charges.
If you are selling a house and moving in to a new one, it is vitally important that you get in contact with your mortgage lender. Some mortgage lenders charge an exit fee for leaving the mortgage before the end of the agreement. This is typically a charge of between £150 and £300.
Whilst that may seem like a few pennies compared to the price of your new home, you’ll also have to arrange a new mortgage in most cases. The cost of the new arrangements can be anything up to £1000, significantly more.
2) Solicitors Fees
Solicitors fees can be the next highest expense when it comes to selling a property. The fee covers the cost of processing the sale, and the part of the purchase by the new owners, who of course have to pay their own fees.
You can expect solicitors fees to start at around £400, but they could rise to approximately £1000. You may also have to add in land registration fees for your new property, which can be as high as £500.
Those are the main costs that you will have to plan for. There may also be some side costs that you should bear in mind., which may spring up at various stages of your sale and the purchase of your next home.
3) Side costs
These are the small charges that might crop up when you least expect them. They could include the cost of getting mail redirected to your new property, or the possible increase in council tax at your new location.
Energy Performance Certificates may also fit into this category. It is essential that you have an EPC for your new home when you are selling it. The rating has to be provided within seven days of the property coming onto the market, you can be penalised £200 by Trading Standards for failing to provide one.
When will these costs appear?
Many of these costs will be fairly obvious and as a result their timing will be expected. You’ll need to pay solicitor costs and mortgage lender charges after you have had the relevant meetings.
The side costs listed above will have to be paid once the relevant arrangements have been made.
In other words, you, as the property seller, can dictate when many of the costs arise and deal with them as and when it is appropriate.
If you want to seek further assistance on selling your home, it might be an idea to log on to the Citizens Advice Bureau website and look at the information they provide about selling a home..
You might also want to take a look at the comprehensive Government’s site about buying and selling property.
