Selling a house
Selling your house is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make. We’ve put together a step-by-step guide and some frequently asked questions to help you.
Let's keep it simple
We can help you understand:
- selling costs
- how to prepare your home and get a valuation
- what to do the get ready to move.
Step one: Selling costs
You'll still need to budget when you sell a property as there are costs involved.
Step two: Preparing your home for a valuation
Once you’ve made the decision to sell, there are a few things you need to do.
Let’s look at the details
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No. Stamp duty is a tax only paid by people buying a house.
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Shared ownership homes are divided between residents and housing organisations, unless 100% of the property has been purchased by the resident. So, when you sell your shared ownership home, you’re only selling the portion of the property you own.
The housing organisation running the scheme is entitled to buy your share back, before anyone else. This is called ‘right of first refusal’.
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If you already have a mortgage, there are a few mortgage options when you come to sell:
- Porting. This is when you move your current rate mortgage to your new property.
- Remortgage. When you get a new mortgage deal with a different provider.
- Pay it off. Pay your mortgage in full using the money you get from selling your house. That is if you have enough equity in your property when you sell.
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When you buy a leasehold property, you own it for a limited amount of time. When selling a leasehold property, you’ll need to arrange an assignment, which your conveyancer can do for you. This is the formal process to transfer the lease from you to the buyer.
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The estate agent will either remove the property from their listings or show it as ‘under offer’.
You’ll need to get your paperwork together and wait for the buyer to carry out their surveys. Their mortgage lender may also carry out a house valuation to make sure that it meets the value of the mortgage.
Your conveyancer will make sure all the legal work is right before the sale completes.
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If the buyer pulls out of the sale, you could ask your estate agent the see if any other potential buyers are still interested. If there are no other interested parties, you’ll need to relist the property.
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Important legal information