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Moving Home - the mortgage advice bureau guide
There are two questions you will ask yourself when you've decided to move and you need to sell your current home. How much is my home worth? How long is it going to take to sell? In both instances your local estate agents will be the best people to talk to. They will give you a free estimate of the value of your home - it is probably worth getting at least two agents to do this for you. The price you decide on may vary if you want to sell quickly. You will also be able to ask them for a quote on their professional fees. When you have a home to sell, it is the estate agent who will be working on your behalf to market and sell your home. The estate agent is working for a commission based on the actual price they get for your home, and varies depending on whether you instruct only one estate agent (sole agency) or more (multiple agency). If you choose not to use an estate agent, you can try to sell your house privately. There are books available which outline how to do this, some of which may be available in on-line bookstores. Once you have put your home on the market, you may choose to start looking for your new home immediately or decide to wait until you are made an offer. It is probably wise to obtain an offer, subject to contract, before seriously looking for your new home. This shows you are serious when viewing properties as you've got an offer on your home. When you have agreed to sell your home for an agreed price (which may or may not include carpets, curtains and other fixtures and fittings) you will need to inform your solicitors who will handle all the legal work. They will, whenever possible, arrange for you to move out of your existing home and into your new one on the same day. How long this process takes is dependent on the housing market, your asking price, and how hard your estate agent is working. We can tell you all you need to know about what's involved in buying or selling a home.

Estate Agents
Estate agents earn their money from the seller. If you are buying a property, their role is to respond to your needs by giving you details of properties that meet the profile of your ideal home . They will then arrange for you to visit the properties you like the look of. Once you have chosen a property that you would like to own, you make an offer through the estate agent. The estate agent usually acts as an intermediary between you, the buyer, and the seller. Always remember that the estate agent's role is to get the best possible price for the seller. Helpful hints Contact all the local estate agents for details of the properties for sale in your price bracket which meet the profile of your ideal home - this service is free to you, the buyer. Get the estate agent to answer your detailed questions about the area, the facilities, the street, even the particular property you are interested in. Check how much major work needs to be done (if any). You can often negotiate a lower price dependent on the amount of work to be done. Take a notebook with you to record what you think of properties you visit.

Solicitor
What Your Solicitor Does Legal Fees Legal Costs and how to control them What Your Solicitor Does The Solicitor is your legal representative whose job is to complete the legal side of the purchase. His role is to ensure that you are protected under the law during what will be one of the biggest purchases you will ever make. The seller will also have a solicitor acting in their interest. The solicitor's job is to ask the right questions and carry out a series of checks for your protection. These divide into two groups. Questions that affect the particular property, such as: Does the seller have the legal right to sell the property? Are there any restrictions on that right? For example, an unsettled marriage dispute may give a wife or husband the right to stay in residence. Planning problems; has the existing owner built an extension or made any other change that hasn't been approved? Are there any disputes with neighbours over boundaries? Are fixtures and fittings included in the price, and what exactly do they comprise? Are there any existing rights of way affecting the property? Can you benefit from any guarantees, say, for a central heating installation? Many of these questions are handled through a standard form. Answers which indicate a problem can prove costly to resolve. Your solicitor will aim to have them resolved at the seller's expense wherever possible. Questions that affect the immediate area, such as: Are there any plans for widening the road where your new home will be? Do building developers have any plans for the locality? These are usually answered by another set of standard forms: the Local Authority 'Search.' Some of the answers may be vague, others affect your chosen home directly. That's why some people think it is worth taking the time to visit the local council offices in person to ask about any overall schemes. Helpful Hint When choosing your solicitor, you may find local solicitors advertising fixed price offers for conveyancing. Shop around and telephone several firms for quotations. Make sure the figure you are quoted includes: the legal fees of buying the legal fees for the mortgage VAT on the legal fees Local Authority search fees Land Registry fees Stamp Duty (if applicable) an estimate of the solicitor's costs (e.g. postage and telephone calls) any other fees. Legal Fees All mortgage lenders will also need to have work done by a solicitor, and you will have to pay these fees in addition to your own. You can usually cut the legal costs by arranging for the same solicitors to work both for you and the lender and, in some cases, the lender can do the legal work for you. You should never use the same solicitor as the seller. Legal Costs and How To Control Them With open competition between solicitors now a fact of life, you may find local firms advertising fixed price conveyancing offers. Or you could telephone several firms to compare their quotations. Either way, make sure the figures you're quoted include: the legal fees of buying the legal fees for the mortgage VAT on the legal fees Local Authority search fees Land Registry fees Stamp Duty (if applicable) an estimate of the solicitor's costs (e.g. postage and telephone calls) any other fees.