Moving house cost/fees. Have I got this right?
Posted by OShucksImLate@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 115 comments
[removed]
Posted by OShucksImLate@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 115 comments
[removed]
OmegaloIz@reddit
Purple bricks can be quite bad, without having a local estate agent who knows the area well and can advertise and push your house sale, often times they will have people on mailing lists looking for properties. It can honestly make the difference between 1 viewing a week or 10.
Johnlenham@reddit
Looks about right. Are you moving from one house, to another?
£500 would probably hire you a removal van team, sod doing it yourself with a van, one place not worth skimping on tbh.
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
Thanks for the response!
Yeah, a 2 bed to a 3 bed house.
You're not wrong, I might get some quotes and ask about.
I've looked at porting but believe I will have to borrow the additional amount at the current rate, I would then have to remortgage my existing mortgage a year later, wouldn't I? I'll phone my BS tomorrow to make sure of this.
I don't mind paying the upfront fee. It's comfortable to do so, luckily!
I don't mind the termination fee, as I will have to end up paying for another mortgage product prematurely when I have to remortgage the mortgage I'd be porting over.
It is a lot better than what I can get right now, but it works out near enough the same P/M due to the initial mortgage being on a larger amount when I took it out. (If that makes sense, I'm crap at this sort of stuff).
dOOmBardhi@reddit
Could you add your stamp duty to your mortgage? Ours was 10k and we asked our solicitor to add it to the mortgage and it increased repayments by about £70 a month but meant we didn’t have to fork out 10k
slb609@reddit
Genuinely, get the removal people to quote for packing, too.
I will NEVER pack myself, ever again. SO worth it (and not a huge increase on the actual moving price).
Only thing I see missing is a line for takeaways. Many takeaways. MANY takeaways.
lgf92@reddit
We moved in September and they managed to pack up our 2 bed flat into about 150 boxes in 4 hours with no damage except a little chip to a side plate.
Me and my wife were doing the kitchen and managed 7 boxes in 2 hours, and I managed to drop two spice jars which smashed.
Get the pros in.
Samuraisheep@reddit
Worth speaking to a mortgage advisor. It might work out cheaper to port your mortgage now, get a year fixed rate mortgage on the remaining amount (given you said you had 11m on your current fix?) then remortgage for the full mortgage in a years time (you can often remortgage a few months before the end of the fixed rate).
Or port your mortgage, then pay the early repayment fee at renewal at a later date as it will be cheaper as your balance will be less.
Assuming no fees for porting etc. I wish I'd ported ours as we had a really cheap rate going for us!
(Caveat I haven't looked into fixed rate predictions etc whether it's due to rise, lower etc in a years time. Also worth considering if your current rate is high and you're better off over the next year on a lower interest rate and taking the short term hit on the ERF).
WrongExplanation1065@reddit
You're looking at 1.5k plus for a removal company
WrongExplanation1065@reddit
Moving costs, I would pay for a removal company to do it all for you. Pay the extra 1k and save some stress and effort
freakstate@reddit
Christ alive those Solicitor fees are high, but it's been 7 years since we bought. Is that about nowadays?
Superspark76@reddit
Don't go to purple bricks, use a proper estate agent who will actually try to sell your property. A rate of 0.5% is quite normal for estate agents as well which would be around the same cost, an estate agent will normally not be paid unless the house sells, purple bricks will charge you no matter what.
tonofun@reddit
Isn’t 1% more ‘normal’ these days?
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
Good point! I'll shop around local the local EAs
Randystarbuxx@reddit
Can you port your mortgage and avoid early repayment
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
I can, but it means I'd have to borrow much more, and have to manage 2 mortgage products in the long run?
brightonbloke@reddit
Do it. We've had two mortgages for the same property for the last few years, it's no issue really. Two payments, two interest rates, but both terms are synced to finish at the same time. We plan to combine them this year when we re-mortgage.
ImTalkingGibberish@reddit
You have 6 months to port and claim your fees back
Randystarbuxx@reddit
Can you not coordinate so as in x months they will finish at same time? Not a lot of hassle to save a grand ..
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
Can I do that? Say I've got 11 months on mortgage one and 24 on mortgage two, how would I get them to finish at the same time?
I'd then have to pay another product fee earlier than I would have done had I got a 5 year deal? Which would end up costing me another grand.
So I'd save £600, correct me if I'm wrong?
jimicus@reddit
Have them both take the direct debit on the same date. Ask the bank if you can refinance into a single mortgage if it bothers you that much - they may well be okay with that.
FatBloke4@reddit
Moving costs might be higher if you need storage. Sometimes it's cheaper to rent the van for more days, if you can't get everything unloaded. If you haven't got a grandad licence, consider borrowing someone's dad to drive a rental 7.5 tonne box truck, to get everything done in one go.
FishUK_Harp@reddit
Seems sensible. Though I'd add a few thousand - perhaps even round your total figure up to £100k - because there's always odd things here or there, and things that need doing once you move in.
Errror_TheDuck@reddit
Costs for those activities seem ok. Personally I’d budget another 1-2k for unexpected issues when moving.
Is the mortgage termination an actual cost if you port your mortgage over?
Competitive_Pen7192@reddit
Was thinking that, I believe numerous lenders would allow you to port. As they would be losing your business otherwise and you're already a proven customer to them.
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
The mortgage is portable however with my product ending not long after the anticipated move it wouldn't be worth it, plus it actually costs more as I'll be a few years into my mortgage by that point.
CarpetPedals@reddit
I really don’t follow. It’s pretty much always worth just porting your mortgage. Especially for £1,600
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
Wouldn't I have to manage 2 mortgages after that, which means I'd have to remortgage when my initial term was over twice as much?
CarpetPedals@reddit
Yes, you’ll have two mortgages but they’d be treated completely separately despite them both being towards the same property. They’d renew separately, and take payments separately.
But in the grand scheme of things if really worth doing to avoid a £1,600 early repayment charge.
I have a ported mortgage, so have two parts to my mortgage. It’s absolutely no bother. The way I handle them is I only overpay on one.
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
Fair enough, that's a good way to chip it down if you have the spare cash!
Will it cost more in the long run if you didn't overpay as you'd have to pay more in product fees?
Joestartrippin@reddit
One downside of having two separate mortgages is you can't switch providers with only one of them when it's time to renew (well, you can but if the renewal date on your other part is a long way off you'd have to pay through the nose on early repayment fees). This effectively locks you into your current provider and means you don't have the full market available to you, meaning you do miss out on the best deals.
Samuraisheep@reddit
The early repayment fees would be less than doing this at the time of moving house at least as the value of the remaining mortgage is less (fees are usually based on a percentage of this). So if nothing else porting then paying the early repayment fees at a later date at renewal would still be cheaper. Especially if the rate on the existing mortgage is better than a new rate on the full /part mortgage balance.
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
Thank you, wasn't aware of that initially.
MunrowPS@reddit
My preference was port existing mortgage, take out additional lending on a variable rate tracker. Wait until first mortgage term is up, then i can bundle and fix the lot in one product.
That way not managing 2 mortgages, 2 product fees, and not paying ERCs for moving house.
Head_University_4327@reddit
This is what I’ve always done, esp in OPs case where the 1st finishes soon
moose_nut@reddit
We're in a similar situation at the moment with porting out mortgage. We didn't want to manage two, so we're going with a tracker for our further advance which allows us to merge the two together when our existing fix comes to an end in around 18 months. Worth checking if this is possible with your lender if it interests you.
paper_zoe@reddit
I ported my mortgage when I moved, but my lender temporarily charged me for the early termination, then reinbursed me, so might be worth checking how it works with your lender, just in case there's no nasty surprises (even if it is just temporary)
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
Wow, I didn't even think of that. Thanks!
CarpetPedals@reddit
I never choose the products with fees, I prefer the slightly higher interest rates that have no fees. They typically work out better in the long run - worth working out.
elchet@reddit
It doesn’t make the fee zero but you can also have the lender add the fee to the loaned amount so it isn’t an up front cost.
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
I'll have a look into it, thanks!
Comfortable_Love7967@reddit
I did this and it’s an absolute nightmare trying to relink them again.
IllegitimatePopeKid@reddit
Still better then paying £1600? Or just leave them separate?
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
Thanks for confirming, and good point about the unexpected issues as I'm a big fan of playing it safe. I've compared the cost with porting and overall it'd be more, and the initial rate will end shortly after moving anyway.
tincrumb@reddit
Variable rate mortgages often have 0 exit fee. If your move date were to fall shortly after your current mortgage deal expires, you may save some money.
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
It's soon after the anticipated date but not that soon (11 months).
dbxp@reddit
You can put the mortgage price on the mortgage amount, that way if it falls through for some reason you don't pay anything
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
I never thought of that, thanks! Are you saying I can add the mortgage product fee on the balance of the mortgage?
What would you anticipate for the survey/solicitor costs?
dbxp@reddit
Survey would typically be £600, conveyancing in it's entirety maybe more towards £3500. The problem with solicitors is that they lull you in with these cheap rates but that doesn't include disbursements which is half the cost.
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
Thank you, so £600 more overall! I'll keep it in mind.
Melodic-Variation916@reddit
If you add the mortgage product you'll pay interest on that
dbxp@reddit
This is just for a purchase last year but I should have gone with a better solicitor:
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
Wow, that's a lot!
And that was for just a purchase?
dbxp@reddit
Yeah, shitty lawyer which the estate agent 'recommended'. They go by the name Premier Properties but I think they have a number of brands all selling the exact same service, IIRC if you looked at their business address there were a bunch of companies registered there. The prices looked nice at the outset but then they only tell you about the file opening and purchase fee upfront so it looks like it will cost about a grand.
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
Jesus wept. Was the EA purple bricks? I'm sure I used Premier Property Lawyers (same company as you?), when I initially moved in.
danjimian@reddit
Yeah I thought the solicitor costs looked too low. When I moved 2 years ago, I had to get the conveyancing fees for the sale and purchase separated as the sale costs were split with my ex-wife. Mine came out at \~£2,000 for the sale and \~£2,400 for the purchase, including all searches etc. Outer London if that makes a difference.
Used-Fennel-7733@reddit
If it falls through you can get a refund (most of the time)
dbxp@reddit
You can but that can take time and messing about which you don't want to do especially if you're then waiting on the refund to purchase another property
Longjumping_Pilot840@reddit
Costs other than moving seem ok- we were £1500 for a 3 bed house of stuff doing 40 miles.
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
I'd literally be moving down the road and doing it myself in a Luton van with maybe some storage inbetween
Longjumping_Pilot840@reddit
That makes sense now ;-)
Punemeister_general@reddit
Having moved twice in the past 3 and a bit years, both times I said I’d clean myself and both times wished I had paid a cleaner, if you can stretch to include it then I would to make life easier!
Other than that things look good to me, as others said worth having a budget for things you just ‘need’, small things like changing toilet seats, door locks, odd tools you need or anything cleaning or basic decorating/fixing small things that are bound to be broken etc
metal_jester@reddit
A grand survey would suggest a level 1, if it's any older than 10 years get a level 2 which is about £1250
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
And yet people said that's too much for a survey! It's all over the place, but the feedback is mostly positive.
BillWilberforce@reddit
The cost of actually moving (removal men). Whose normal quote is actually an estimate and usually goes up on the day as it took longer than estimated.
The cost of any cleaners, redec, refurbishments.
MrCard200@reddit
I'd say yes you're close to reality here. I spent £15k on moving 6 months ago with a similar situation but also paid for a moving company. I bet you're within £1k of your actual costs.
On another note: the way you presented your data was confusing as you included a lot of figures that weren't related to your up front costs (e.g. product fee). Some separation or formatting would improve it ☺️
mantsy1981@reddit
Moving costs seems low, unless you don’t have much stuff. It is surprising how much you can get in a Luton van, but at the same time furniture is awkwardly sized and you can’t fill 100% of the space. Last time we moved the mover decided to turn up in a Luton van despite being told it was a 200sq/m 4 bed house. We had to hire another 2 LWB sprinters… which one of them then scratched. So great fun all round. Fucking AnyVan.
Ok-Personality-6630@reddit
Seems a bit excessive doesn't it? The stamp duty scales up quickly too so if you were buying a 5 bedroom house for a larger family it's eye watering.
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
It does! Unfortunately it's the price you have to pay, though.
pruaga@reddit
Based on the quotations we have been receiving for a full removals company that estimate for Moving Costs seems crazy low. But maybe if you are looking for a simple small can hire for a day for a small move?
Just remember that you need to have absolutely everything out of the house you are leaving before you'll be able to get keys for where you move into. Multiple trips are not normally an option if you are selling and buying.
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
I'll keep it in mind, thanks!
DeeHayze@reddit
Get your calculator out. I've never seen a "product fee" on a mortgage be worth it!
Save a few quid each month but cash saved per month, multiplied by number of months in the term is almost always less than the product fee. ..
Ok-Personality-6630@reddit
It almost always is worth it on longer term mortgages.
gaspoweredcat@reddit
conveyanceing/solicitor seems a shade high but i cant say for certain how much it varies, ours was like 1400 or so, survey (level 2) was around 600, we did pay £1000 for our mortgage broker, we were 1st time buyers so didnt pay stamp similar with mortgage cancellation so aside from solicitors fees (unless it varies heavily depending on area or chain etc) it looks about right to me
BigFaithlessness618@reddit
Solicitors costs seem low for both buying and selling a home.
Beartato4772@reddit
Sounds about right and it’s a big reason people don’t trade up and end up blocking “starter homes” for decades. The next step costs 20k when you have more stuff and more stamp duty.
London-Reza@reddit
Shouldn’t your total by 96,0045? Not 94,445
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
My bad, I didn't add the mortgage early repayment fee!
GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit
I never paid a "mortgage product cost" - what the actual fuck is that?
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
The set up fees on a mortgage
GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit
As if all their interest isn't enough!!
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
It's quite common now, most of the products on MSE have them
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
I'm going to have a chat with my current BS tomorrow about porting the mortgage, I didn't look into this before as:
I didn't want to manage 2 mortgages
Paying product fees on 2 mortgages come renewal doesn't make sense to me
It wasn't that much cheaper P/M
I could have this wrong though, if i do, correct me as I'm an amature when it comes to this.
paper_zoe@reddit
when I ported my mortgage, I still had less than a year left on it, the extra money I was borrowing went onto a tracker mortgage, rather than a fixed rate one, so when my old mortgage runs out, I can put all the money I've borrowed on one mortgage when I remortgage. I don't know if that's something you'd want to do, but worth discussing with your lender.
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
Good idea, I'll have a chat about it.
Whalex84@reddit
Remove the decimal points dude
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
Sorry man, I'm using a free spreadsheet app that I've not used before.
bopeepsheep@reddit
We did most of the moving ourselves in 2021 and it still cost nearer £1200 for van & storage.
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
Oh bloody wow. How long was your stuff in storage?
bopeepsheep@reddit
A week, maybe? But I do live in an expensive city.
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
London?
Sylvester88@reddit
We did ours by ourselves 3 weeks ago and it was less than £500
Something like £400 for the van for a week, we did loads of tip runs, moved all the stuff to storage and then moved it all back out.
£30 for locks for the storage, maybe £20 diesel
Storage was free for the first month so we just cancelled it but it was less than £120 a month
This is in Northamptonshire
Available-Spray2576@reddit
I see you have a predicament. Here are your options in terms of quality in the advice you'll receive.
Go to a trained, qualified IFA who knows what they are talking about
Research yourself with no experience whatsoever
Ask randoms to decide for you on reddit
Choose - choose wisely
ukbot-nicolabot@reddit
A top level comment (one that is not a reply) should be a good faith and genuine attempt to answer the question
Routine_Ad1823@reddit
"It's not tying yourself to a debt for a life, it's getting one step up the property ladder.
And honestly — that is worth it's weight in admin fees"
Available-Spray2576@reddit
AI will always tell you to go to a trained, qualified, experienced seasoned expert and not go to random hurpa durpers on reddit
hamlamthelamb@reddit
Have anything actually useful to say?
Available-Spray2576@reddit
I see you have chosen the poorest quality option 3: ask total strangers on reddit with no expertise to motivate an critical life decision. Excellent choice.
It is crazy why people avoid professional guidance because of a nominal fee but I accept getting you to trained, qualified advice is like dragging mount everest to the sea with bare hands until you experience across enough catastrophic mistakes to learn otherwise. Fuck it just cross your fingers and hope for the best. Because that to your understanding is the idea of "useful".
Takklemaggot@reddit
£500 moving cost is way too low.
Get a firm in to do the lot, probably looking at £1500-£2000 depending on distance and load, but would be worth it to save all the stress and effort of doing it yourself.
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
Probably will save me a bunch of stress, I'll have a look into it.
MoarCheddars@reddit
Based upon when I looked at this a year or so ago, I’d expect higher solicitor costs. I believe you’ll be paying twice: the house that you’re selling and for the house that you’re buying. You could phone some up and get quotes to inform your estimate.
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
Thanks! I'll get on the blower tomorrow
jimicus@reddit
Your bank may well let you port your mortgage to your new property (and take out additional borrowing if necessary).
If you do this, you won't have to pay the mortgage termination fee.
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
That would be the ideal solution, I'll give them a call tomorrow, thank you.
ChooChooBananaTrain@reddit
Solicitors fee seems high, no?
OShucksImLate@reddit (OP)
Some people are saying it's too low!
iffyClyro@reddit
Maybe port your existing mortgage to save on the early repayment fees.
Specland@reddit
I'd say double moving costs if you're using a firm to move everything. Also use an online estate agent (purple bricks for similar). We used Strike when they were around and made our own advert, took our own photos so we had zero cost for estate agemts. Obviously online agents will try to up sell everything but just refuse them, make your advert and manage the viewing through an app.
dbxp@reddit
Purple bricks are criticised a lot for being extremely slow moving
rossburton@reddit
Oh my god they were the worst when we moved and used them to sell. The agents from the house we moved into became our main contact…
Specland@reddit
They could be, I only have experience with Strike (purple bricks bought them out) and they were faultless.
FREESHAVOCADO0@reddit
You can often roll your mortgage product fee into the mortgage instead of paying that upfront!
k20vtec01@reddit
I don't think the survey will cost that much.
Me personally, I would put the extra into the moving costs and pay someone else to do it, it's one less stress.
JeffSergeant@reddit
Are you sure the product fee is paid up front and not added onto the mortgage?
Have you looked at porting your existing mortgage? Might save the product fee and/or ERC.
Megalomania192@reddit
Not sure about your numbers but paying £2595 in ‘Mortgage costs’ is going to be massively more expensive than any saving you make changing to a better product mid deal, definitely for a 2 year fixed deal (unless your current deal is horrendous) or for this loan amount probably even a 5 year rate won’t actually be a saving.
You should definitely ask your mortgage provider about porting the mortgage, cost will be roughly equal to the Product Price but with no penalties involved. Finish your currently mortgage deal and then make sure your next one is a better deal!
AutoModerator@reddit
Please help keep AskUK welcoming!
When replying to submission/post please make genuine efforts to answer the question given. Please no jokes, judgements, etc. If a post is marked 'Serious Answers Only' you may receive a ban for violating this rule.
Don't be a dick to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
This is a strictly no-politics subreddit!
Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.