Home & Property

from Simply Spalding January 2021

Focus on

Move or Improve?

The age old questi on that many home owners face – there’s no right or wrong answer but you need to decide what works best for you and your family. With our guide it may help you discover all you need to think about.

When thinking about having any home improvements carried out, arrange for a free no obligation meeting with a builder or architect (f required) to discuss your project and what you wish to achieve from the alterations. Most builders and architects will offer this service for an initial ‘ball park’ fi gure.

It’s always a good idea to obtain details of all alterations in writing in the form of a contract so there can be no mis-understandings. In particular, discuss the timescales that each alteration requires as these could affect your daily routines - e.g. electricity and water disconnections, or having to book time off work. Finally, ensure you allow plenty of time to think carefully about what changes you want to make - your new design needs to meet your exact requirements to fi t in with your life.

It is thought that an extra bathroom or kitchen makeover add the most value after an extension. If it’s an extra bathroom you are after, may be you can take some room from a larger bedroom or put a sink in the current bedrooms. Have you thought about having a separate the bath from the shower so several people can use it at the same time (if that works for you and your family!). For several thousand pounds you could easily fund an extra shower and loo and it will probably add value to your home too, improving the equity levels and in some cases this may mean getting a better mortgage deal in the future!

Extra rooms can be added and put in the garden, over a garage, or at the back of your home if you have the space for less than £10,000 so it’s worth considering and chatting through these options with a builder before taking the plunge into marketing your home if it’s extra space driving your decision.

There’s a lot to Think about When Selling Your Home

Selling your home can sometimes entail eye-watering costs that considerably reduce any profi t you make from the sale, but saving money throughout the process is possible if you’re prepared and understand the various fee systems involved.

Some people choose to sell their home themselves rather than using an estate agent, which can save a signifi cant sum, and we’ll look at the pros and cons of this option a little later. But fi rstly, what fees might you face in your efforts to move up or down the property ladder and how can you save money at each step?

Estate agency fees

Estate agency fees are typically expressed as a percentage of the fi nal selling price, and this fee is known as commission. Any fees quoted by estate agents may or may not include VAT so it’s important to check, as the extra 20% will make a signifi cant difference to your costs.

‘No sale, no fee’ is a common method used by ‘traditional’ estate agents to charge commission, which means you don’t pay anything until the property is offi cially sold. On the other hand, online agencies typically charge their fees upfront or by way of a deferred credit agreement.

If you choose an online agency you may have to pay extra for services such as accompanied viewings or your For Sale sign, but this is very much dependent on the agency. High street estate agents might also charge fees for extra services, such as featured or premium listings.

Legal fees

In a similar way to estate agents, some solicitors and conveyancers base their fees on your home’s value. Others use a fi xed fee structure that provides more certainty to both parties. Legal fees do vary considerably so it pays to shop around, and also obtain recommendations from trusted friends or family if possible.

The fi nal cost in legal fees when selling your home will depend on the complexity of the transaction. If your property is leasehold, for example, and has a mortgage, the solicitor will need more administration time, as their workload will be greater.

It’s not advisable to select a solicitor purely on the basis of price, however. As this is such an important transaction, you need to factor in the solicitor’s previous experience and the timescale they’ve stated to push the sale through.

Removal fees

There are many factors that determine a removal fi rm’s fees, including whether or not you pack your boxes yourself, how many belongings you need to move, the proximity of your moving date and the distance to your new home.

It’s highly advisable to obtain several quotes for comparison purposes – perhaps a combination of national and local fi rms. Also check that you have suffi cient insurance to cover your contents in the move, and whether there are any online reviews of the companies you’re considering.

Move yourself

If you don’t have many belongings to move, you could hire a van and move yourself. You’ll need to factor in the cost of hiring the van, the fuel needed to travel to and from the properties (potentially several times), insurance for ‘goods in transit’ and the

packaging materials.

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We pride ourselves on our first class customer service and professional workmanship for total customer satisfaction. All our products and installations are tailored to fit with your specific requirements - no matter what the query; we can find the ideal solution for you.