What Costs Should I Expect When Selling a House?

Selling your home is a trying experience – from negotiating agents to befuddling contracts, there’s a lot going on. If you’re considering selling, you’re probably wondering most of all about the costs involved. Don’t worry, we’ll break it down. However, if you’re purchasing a new home as well, you might want to have a look at our useful buyers guide, because there are hefty costs associated with buying a home, too. For now, let’s explore house selling costs in detail.

Costs before accepting offers

If you watch any property selling shows, you probably know about home staging; it’s the process of creating an ambiance and desired look through interior design, and it can increase your offer value by 10%. According to the HSA Report 2019, “85 percent of estate agents report that a staged home sells up to three times faster than a non-staged property.” This is because people can see themselves in the space and visualise living there. It’s not a cheap service, however. Staging can run you between £500 and £5k. This is determined by how many rooms you have and the condition of your existing furniture.

Additionally, you may want to do some standard improvements to the home, such as replacing carpets, painting, and pressure-washing. A professional cleaner can get the grime off of those hard-to-reach places. If your garden is tired, get to the garden centre for a spruce-up ASAP. You don’t have to spend much, but anything you can do to improve the roadside appeal will increase the value of offers you receive. Budget to spend around £1.5k -£3k on these improvements. Your estate agent may be able to suggest improvements that will net you the best return for your investment, so it’s worth asking.

Costs before sale completion

You’ll need to provide your buyer with an EPC rating. According to Which?, “you can expect to pay somewhere between £50 and £120 for an EPC - but they're valid for 10 years, so if you bought your home less than a decade ago you may be able to use the existing one and save yourself some cash.” Plus, you’ll need to hire a conveyancer (we can help with that). Costs for conveyancing when selling a home can range between £400 and £1.5k. Then there are other incidentals like money laundering checks, transfer fees and title deeds which cost under £75 in total. Check to see if they are included in your conveyancing fees.

Costs after sale closing

The single biggest selling cost is estate agent fees. In terms of fees, estate agents charge a percentage fee, which can be anywhere between 0.75% and 3.0%+VAT of the agreed selling price for your home depending on the type of contract you opt for with your estate agent. This is why you should always negotiate. Give them a sliding scale where they get more when your house sells for more money. This will keep them hungry to get you the best deal. Lastly, read the contract carefully and make sure you know what other fees are included in the rate. Oh, and check for VAT inclusion – you don’t want an extra 20% sneaking up on you.

Lastly, you’ll need to move somewhere else. You could look to port an existing mortgage, or, alternatively, you could re-mortgage. Re-mortgaging could give you thousands off in interest if you can bag a more attractive rate, so it’s worth a look. If you own your home outright or are planning to rent, you’ll still have removal fees which can be as high as £1.5k, so shop around.

Other costs that might apply

• In addition to the standard costs, you may have some of these:
• Costs to kennel a dog or hire a dog-sitter during moving day
• Childcare costs on moving day
• Takeaway, delivery, or restaurant costs on moving day
• Increased fuel costs due to longer commutes
• Renovations required in your new home
• TV license fees (if you have one)
• Increased utility, council tax or other bills
• Any parking, pest control, or cleaning costs unaccounted for
• Bespoke insurance products
• If not bringing all your items, storage costs
• Cost of buying new appliances and furniture

How can you prepare?

The best way to prepare is to have a formal budget set up for your house selling project. Making it formal makes it serious, and that’s a good thing. Take all the cost items above and put them as budget line items. Allocate savings to each item if they apply to you; and where savings don’t currently cover it, estimate the time to save. There are loads of free tools for budget-planning spreadsheet and paper methods available online with a quick search.

If you’re struggling to save, the Money Advice Service says, “if you’re spending more than you have coming in, you need to work out where you can cut back. This could be as easy as making your lunch at home, or cancelling a gym membership you don’t use. You could also keep a spending diary and keep a note of everything you buy in a month. Or, if you do most of your spending with a bank card, look at last month’s bank statement and work out where your money is going.”

How can you keep track of costs?

Before, during and after the sale, use your budget planner to track your outgoings. You’ll notice that sometimes the actual costs are lower than what you thought they would be. (That’s great, and likely means you created a conservative budget.) If there are some excesses, make note. If it looks like you’ll finish with a negative variance, look for a line item you can cut to make up for the difference. If you track your actuals in this way, you’ll stay on top of your house selling spend from beginning to end.

Ready to start the sales process and need a top conveyancer by your side? We’d love to help. Our search tool is fast, free, and easy way to find an expert conveyancer near you.