1. Dealing With A Broken Chain
The biggest fear of most sellers and buyers is a chain that collapses en route to completion. It can be devastating, but the involved parties frequently give up all too easily without looking for a possible solution.
Quite often the problem lies at the start of the chain where a first-time buyer cannot raise enough additional funds to make the purchase. The sum involved is often below £1,000. In such circumstances ask your solicitor to investigate the chain and, if possible, seek an agreement from all others involved to collectively finance the first-time buyer’s deficit -an outlay of just a couple of hundred pounds each could secure your sale and all other transactions involved.
2.Viewing Your Home As Others See It
When analysing your home before and after making improvements, take photographs and examine them in a mirror. This will help you avoid the problems associated with familiarity as the resulting images will appear alien to you
and, as a result, you will be able to view your home as others see it.
3.Maintaining Security
Research from insurance companies shows that burglars are 50% more likely to strike while people are moving house! Routine security measures can easily be overlooked in the chaos. Be certain to inform your insurers and check the cover afforded under any existing policies. Employ a reputable removal firm and use their insurance as this will give them a vested interest in taking care of your possessions. Always change locks to doors and windows as soon as you move into your new home.
4.Planning Ahead When Taking Garden Plants
Transplant any favourite plants and shrubs into pots at the appropriate time of the year so that you won’t have to leave them behind should a sale be achieved when the soil is frozen solid.
5.Taking Meter Readings
Always take the time to obtain your own meter readings for water, gas and electricity for the property you are selling and any property you are buying, then pass these on to the appropriate companies. If you don’t you may find that you become liable for part of the prior owner’s bill if they also failed to take readings.
6. Avoiding Delays On Moving Day
Arrange ahead of the completion date who will hold the keys once you have vacated the property. This is normally the estate agent but an arrangement can be made with your solicitor or with the buyer’s solicitor. There is nothing to prevent you handing them over personally, but are you sure you want to wait around at your old home on the day of moving should they be delayed?
7. Asking For A Reduction
In the unlikely event that you employ an estate agent to sell your property at some stage in the future, always ask for a reduction in the normal fees they charge. Most agents will be prepared to lower the percentage a little, or they may even offer a fixed fee to secure your custom. If there are several agents operating in your town explain to each that you are visiting the others to secure the best deal.
8. Saving On Removal Fees
Dispose of all unwanted or unnecessary possessions before you move rather than taking them with you and then having to sort them out in your new home. This will save space in the removal van and may even reduce the number of trips needed, resulting in a reduction in the time and cost of moving.
9. Avoiding High Rents
Be certain to meet the completion date proposed by your purchaser. If it seems increasingly unlikely that the dates for your sale and any new purchase will coincide exactly, consider temporarily moving in with friends or relatives and storing your furnishings instead of renting. Many landlords will only let property for a minimum six month term and where shorter periods are agreed it is often at the expense of an increased monthly premium.
10. Putting Your Mobile Phone To Good Use
If you have a mobile telephone make sure that the battery is fully charged before your vacating day and give the number to your solicitor, the buyer and their solicitor, and to your removal firm. By doing this you can safely arrange for any landline to be disconnected in advance, preventing the new owners using the phone at your expense should they move in before disconnection takes place.