As anyone who has been involved in the house moving process will testify, it is anything but stress-free.
Even if you are not part of a dreaded chain, unexpected hiccups can occur and something which should have supposedly stretched out a couple of months is suddenly six months old.
There are of course plenty of matters that are out of your control, with a whole host of different professionals involved in the process. At the same time, there are things you can do to accelerate proceedings, which we will now take a look at.
Prepare your home accordingly
In truth, we could write a whole dissertation about this first point. There are various ways and means to prepare a home for a quick sale; ranging from boosting its curb appeal to decorating it in neutral colours. These are the exact things that can tempt buyers who might otherwise be sat on the fence.
Not only that, but your choice of agent can help as well. Delve into their selling data and find how long their listings typically stay on the market. Unsurprisingly, the general rule is the shorter the better, although you may sometimes have to pay a premium for this.
Be shrewd about who you sell to
OK, not everyone is going to have the luxury of choosing a buyer, but if you happen to reside in a really popular area you might be lucky enough to fall into this category.
As it turns out, not all buyers are equal. Far from it in fact. As we alluded to at the start of this article, once house chains enter the picture anything can happen. Ultimately, the best advice for you is to try and avoid those buyers who are part of a chain. It sounds harsh in some cases, but this is one point in your life where being selfish might be the best way to keep things moving.
It’s not just about house chains, either. The next best thing is a cash buyer. One point which can delay a move is when the mortgage provider starts to ask for too much information, or if they are quite stringent with the days in which they release money to solicitors. As such, if there is a cash buyer waiting around, snap their hand off.
Calculate your moving plans
You might be on top of all of the necessary paperwork, but when it comes to moving time you need to be ready practicality.
Suffice to say, you need somewhere to move into, and whether it is a temporary rented option or a house you are buying, the dates need to tie up. If it is the former, there’s every chance you will need to arrange some self-storage through somewhere like Safestore to help you along your way.
Not only that, but you’ll need to arrange help to physically move your belongings. Removal companies do get booked quickly, so planning this plenty of time in advance is essential as well.
Learn how to pack properly
Sure, you may have arranged the paperwork and got the moving plan in place, but a common mistake is underestimating packing.
On first glance, you might think that a room will take a day. As it transpires, it’s probably going to take three days longer. Matters become even more complicated when you can’t pack certain items because you are still using them. It means that you need to get organised so you can pack and meet your moving date comfortably.
Prepare yourself for the hidden costs
Something else which can delay the process are unexpected costs. Unfortunately, this is again something that a lot of people underestimate. While they might take into account the purchase price of a house, they forget about some of the other mandatory costs such as land registration fees, solicitor fees and survey fees. There is also the small matter of stamp duty, which could quite easily add five figures to the cost of your new property depending on your circumstances.
Suffice to say, if you’re not aware of these, make sure you start to learn about them. The last thing you want is to delay proceedings because you need to scrape together some more cash.
Bonus tip: You will have to push
Finally, here’s the bonus tip. You can follow all of the above advice and supposedly do everything by the book. When it comes to the crunch, you sometimes have to push your solicitors to just act more quickly.
Unfortunately, these are the professionals that tend to slow proceedings down the most. It can make for an utterly frustrating process and the only advice you can follow is to keep picking up the phone and finding out how the situation is progressing. They might get tired from hearing you – but it should accelerate matters.
