How To Be A Smart Mover

It is often said by clients that moving house is a stressful time with the process pushing and pulling them in directions they are not familiar or even comfortable with. In our experience clients feel insecure because they do not necessarily understand the implications of the choices they are being asked to make and this insecurity feeds their stress levels.

A Smart Mover recognises this and understands that the three principal causes of

stress are lack of time, a lack of communication and a lack of certainty. If you view these three as the cause of most stress, then a Smart Mover makes sure that at every turn they have as much time, and as much information, as possible.

In Particular

Weigh-up your Buyer and/or Seller

Take a long, hard look at your buyer’s and/or seller’s circumstances. You should think about the likely additional costs they might cause you if they are part of large chains themselves or if they have set impossibly tight deadlines. How are they funding their purchase? Is their mortgage agreed in principle? Have they got to sell their own house? Have your sellers already found a property or are they simply “fishing?”

Moving Dates

We recommend that you do not order any new carpets, kitchens, bathrooms, furniture or any other items designed for your new house, or even book removal arrangements, until you exchange contracts. If exchange does not take place, and the date you had hoped to move cannot be legally confirmed for this reason, you could find yourself significantly “out of pocket”.

If You Are Buying

Mortgage Offer

If you are buying and require mortgage finance then hopefully you will already be well on the way to agreeing your mortgage offer in principle with your chosen lender. Lenders do take time to satisfy themselves that you are worth lending to. If you have not found a property yet, you can still ask your lender to approve an offer in principle, possibly from more than one lender, so that you can at least look at a range of properties safe in the knowledge of what you can afford.

If you do know what you need to borrow, then do not leave your application to the last minute. Clients’ mortgage offers typically take four to five weeks to be received from the time an application is submitted to a lender. The strong message is please do not delay submitting your mortgage application and always return all relevant paperwork to them as soon as possible.

If you are arranging your own building insurance, or your mortgage is dependent upon suitable life insurance, please make sure we are provided with all relevant details at the earliest opportunity.

Property Survey

The survey is the buyer’s responsibility. You should seriously consider arranging a “Homebuyer’s Survey” from your surveyor in addition to the lender’s own valuation. These are usually sufficient for modern “estate” housing but on older properties you may need to consider having a full building survey instead, as the potential for structural problem is that much greater.

Your mortgage lender will insist on a valuation being done. You should liaise with them if you want any other type of report/survey carried out, as they may be able to carry out both at the same time.

If You Are Selling

Put Your Home In Order

In order to speed up the process it is in your interests as a seller to collect as much relevant information about your home as you can. This would include any necessary planning permissions or building consents, damp proof or timber treatment guarantees etc. Providing these at an early stage will undoubtedly save time when your buyer asks for them (as he surely will).

Order A Home Information Pack (HIP)

Since 14 December 2007 it has been a legal requirement for you to compile a HIP relating to your property before you can start marketing it for sale to the general public. Spratt Endicott can produce HIPs for you quickly and at a competitive price. The sooner you instruct us, the sooner your estate agent can start selling your house. To instruct us on line click this link.