It can all add up, and that is one of the main issues when it comes to selling your home. There are so many extra fees that you may not be getting as high a profit as you calculated. There are a lot of costs involved.
Your biggest fees will be your estate agent’s commission and the Stamp Duty fee. Be prepared to face some sticker shock when you see that your expenses reach almost £15,000.
The amount of money you will pay your estate agency will vary. There are different influences that determine what their fee will be. Your home’s location will be one of those influences.
If you are in a nice neighbourhood, expect to pay more than if your home was located in a not-so-nice area of London or other popular cities. Then each agency will have its own fee rate, and those can range between 0.5% to 3% + VAT of the total selling price.
Those percentages can reach almost £2000 in some cases. Or that fee can get as high as £5000 depending on the total selling price, neighbourhood, and so on.
Those figures are based on approximations and the upper end of the percentage scale. Before you sign any contract, you will have to negotiate with your selling estate agent and make sure the fee does not get too high.
Of course, the estate agent is worth the money as they do a lot of work for you and help you sell your home quickly. You may not save any money if you do a for sale by the owner.
There are different expenses involved with selling your home, and using a good selling calculator in advance will help you prepare for the inevitable. There is a good calculator at this link. Just follow the instructions to give yourself an idea of your total expenses.
All expenses will depend on different factors, and some will not be as expensive as you may have calculated. For example, your preparation costs may not be that high if you have kept your home in great shape over the years.
The fees that you can expect to pay are as follows:
Stamp Duty fee, estate agency fee, conveyance fee, EPC costs, removal fees, and house survey fee. These can all add up. For example, their costs in order are 6,500 + 4544 + 2003 + 55 + 649 + 456 = 14,207. This total does not include any house preparation expenses you may have to pay out.
Make sure to ask about any other fees that you may not know about but may be applied when the sale goes through. Knowing these costs in advance helps you budget and be prepared for the big expense.
It will certainly take the shock out of the sticker price when the sale goes through.
One of the hidden fees is not really a fee until the situation arises. This is called the property chain, and it is where you are selling your home in order to buy a new one.
The cost arises when your home sells first and the home you want to buy is not ready to finalize the transaction. You will have some residential costs involved while you wait for your new home to be yours.
This can be a burden when you factor in rent, utilities, and other expenses at your temporary home. Then you may have to pay a mortgage exit fee, which can be as high as £300.
Or, if you are repaying your mortgage early, you may be charged an early repayment fee. That charge may run you between 1 and 5% of the total loan amount. These fees will depend on your mortgage company and the small print in your mortgage contract.
Another hidden cost may be in the form of incentives. This is where you sweeten the deal if your home is slow to sell. You may lower your asking price, which will cost you a lot of money if you go too low.
Or you can create incentives like free rent for 3 months for a buy-to-let purchase, free legal or high street voucher, and so on. Those incentives will set you back some, especially if you are in a hurry to sell.
This may be a more expensive route to take over going with an estate agency. Some solicitors will charge by the hour for their services. Others will charge a fixed fee depending on the selling price of your home.
Each solicitor will have its own rates, so you need to discuss this with them before you sign a contract. Then before you sign, make sure you decide if a fee will be charged or not if the home fails to sell.
The amount you pay will depend on many factors as well. If the solicitor completed all their duties and the buyers backed out, you are on the hook for their fee.
The duties involved when you hire a solicitor are as follows:
It is wise to make sure all the details are worked out before you sign a contract.
When you are thinking of selling your house, the expenses can be daunting. What you need to do is call our office for guidance. We have over 10 years of selling homes in the UK, and we know how to get you from listing to the point of sale as easily as possible.
Take the time to call our office and see what we can do for you.
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