A lot of people will look at the asking price of a property and decide, there and then, that they can afford it. However, they often neglect to consider other costs associated with the move. And that can leave them in hot financial water.
In this checklist, we run through all of the costs that you’re likely to face in addition to the sale price of the property. The goal is to ensure that you remain solvent and don’t face any unexpected expenses along the way.
Moving Services
Unless you own nothing or are moving out of your parent’s home, you’ll probably need to hire local movers to transport all your stuff.
The prices you pay for these services differ from region to region. However, it is not uncommon to pay more than £1,000.
In general, movers will charge a base cost and then an additional fee for every hour they have to work to move your possessions from one location to another.
Base costs start at around £200. After that, you’ll pay a fee of around £25 per hour for each mover you hire. Most jobs require two or more,
Conveyancing
Whenever you buy an expensive property, it is vital to tick all the legal boxes. Ellisons Solicitors – a law firm that helps buyers navigate the legal complexities of property buying – recommends using conveyancing services.
Conveyancers are people with the legal authority to provide advice about the legal ownership status of a property. Most of the time, there will be no issues at all. However, sometimes, there may be disputes.
Legal professionals help protect you from these, ensuring that if you hand over the cash, you get what you’re paying for.
Cleaning And Repairs
Moving house often requires cleaning and repairs as well – both on your current property and the one you’re moving to. If you’re moving out of rented accommodation, for instance, you’ll often have to hire professional cleaners to make sure you get your deposit back.
Deposits
Speaking of deposits, these are a major cost that many homeowners overlook.
Remember, banks won’t lend you 100 per cent of the asking price of the home. Instead, they’ll offer to provide, say, 80 per cent, and then get you to finance the remaining 20 per cent.
That means that you’ll either need to raise cash or give up some of the equity in your existing home.
Storage Costs
Sometimes you can’t complete a house move in a single day. When this happens, you’ll need to put your possessions into temporary storage.
Storage costs vary between providers, but they can be quite high, especially if you keep your possessions in them for more than a month or so.
Again, therefore, it’s worth factoring this into the overall price.
Average storage costs might be as high as £100 per month.
Transport
Finally, you’ll want to consider transport fees for getting to your new property – especially if it is overseas. If you’re moving an entire family to a new country, the price for air tickets alone could be more than £1,000.
