Costs to consider when you are moving home

When it comes to deciding whether to move house or investing in extending your current home, there are lots of things to consider. It has been something that has been on our minds for a few years as we lived in a 2-bed bungalow, with 2 children who were eventually going to need their own space.

There was a lot of things that we had to consider, some things were things that were not even on our radar at the time. We took the time to look at all the pros and cons of both the house move option or extending our home.

In the end, it made sense, not only financially but for other reasons, to stay in the home we are currently in and then invest in it to make it work for us.

This is not always the case for others though and if you are looking to move or extend, here are 5 costs to consider that come with moving.

Here are 5 costs to consider when making your decision.

1. Rising costs of your new home – You can’t escape the fact that homes across the UK are rising. In fact, they have been for a number of years. It might not seem much at first but every little bit soon adds up. You may find now that your dream home may be a little bit more of a push on your finances and you have to compromise maybe a little on location or size.
2. House removals – For many of us we are not able to move simply due to the size of some of our furniture now. This leaves you a few options which are dependant on your budget. Firstly you can start with removal quotes and get a company to move you to your new home, many of these will offer the service to pack your current home too if that is something you would like. If this is too costly for your budget, you can maybe look to hire a van yourself and move your own home.
3. Stamp duty – When you are buying a new home you need to make sure you have the budget to pay for costs that are required, firstly stamp duty. This has changed since we brought our home however you can see the most up to date costs for these here.
4. Surveys and land searches – Although you can opt-out of having a survey on your house it is not recommended, you don’t want to end up with major building work needing to be done just after you have moved in. With land searches, this is all done through your solicitors but it a cost you will need to be aware of.
5. Solicitor & estate agents fees – These will vary from location to location but also the complexity of the sales/purchases. It is always one of the biggest costs you will need to factor in when moving home.

Moving home doesn’t have to be stressful as long as you are organised and have a good team doing the work for you. It is always worth remembering the costs though before you plough into making an offer.

Just a simple spreadsheet to record your costs of moving and making sure you stick within budget will also help keep the sleepless nights away!

If you are moving soon or have just moved what is your top tips for keeping the costs down?