The main costs of selling a house can be broken down as follows:
- estate agency fees
- additional marketing
- legal costs
- survey costs
- moving costs
- mortgage / finance costs
The good news is that most of the costs are paid after your house is sold! In nearly all cases the estate agent’s fee is the most expensive item. However, the cost of selling a house varies round the country. Where there is less competition between estate agents / solicitor estate agents you can get higher costs: agents fees are cheaper in Edinburgh or Glasgow than they are in rural Aberdeenshire for example.
The kind of property you are selling may also have some bearing on house selling costs at the high end of the market.
There are two secrets to keeping the main costs of selling a house down: shop around and negotiate. But a word of warning. The old adage you get what you pay for applies to the cost of selling a house as it does to anything else.
However, in a difficult property market like 2011 more professionals are willing to negotiate. Don’t be embarrassed to ask for a ‘best price’ or if terms can be structured differently.
For example. Selling the way the market is now puts many people off. They realise there is a chance their property won’t sell. Under these circumstances no one wants to be out of pocket.
Many agents are therefore back to offering ‘no win no fee’ type arrangements where your house selling costs are negligible if you don’t sell but a fraction higher if you do. Of course, you should always read the small print to make sure that terms are exactly what you think they are.