So, you’ve seen an affordable home for sale in an ideal area. It’s on the upper end of your budget but you truly believe that it could really be ‘the one’. The house you have been searching for.
You decide to pull the trigger and start putting plans into action to make the house your home.
But as soon as you do, you are confronted with all kinds of additional costs and bills you have never heard of before…
Sounds like a nightmare, right?
But it is shockingly common – much of the UK public is entirely unaware of the true price of buying a house.
In this guide, we will explore some of the most common home-buying costs and how much you should expect to pay.
The most common fees – estimations
| Type | Cost |
| Mortgage Fees and charges | £0 – £1500 |
| Valuation Fees | £0 – £700 |
| Property Survey Costs | £400 – £1500 |
| Conveyancing Fees | £ 780 – £940 |
| Removals | £50 – £1500 |
| Total | £1330 – £6140 |
Mortgage Fees and Charges
Many loans come with additional fees just for setting up the loan…
No-fee mortgages often come with higher rates, so it is worth finding a balance between the two.
Valuation Fees
If you are applying for a mortgage, then lenders will carry out a check on your property to estimate its rough value and check it is worth roughly what you are planning to pay for it.
Lenders will tend to arrange this valuation themselves, but you are expected to pay for it.
The price for this will vary with lender and property cost etc.
Property Survey Costs
Lenders will also charge you for conducting a valuation survey of your property.
This type of survey only looks at how much it is worth – not if there is any sort of structural issues with the building. To get this done, it is worth paying for an independent property survey yourself.
Conveyancing Fees
Another lesser-known area of expenditure is conveyancing fees.
A fancy name for hiring a solicitor to handle the legal aspects of buying a property is a pretty crucial cost and not one that should be skipped over.
Removals
The cost of hiring professional movers will largely depend on how much furniture/belongings you have in the first place. Other factors to consider are how far you are moving and the level of extras you plan on opting for…
In other words, how many extra layers of bubble wrap do you want to pay for?
If you have very few belongings or plan on starting from scratch – a much cheaper way of doing things is simply hiring your own van and completing the move yourself.