Time for a change...

It was nearly 25 years ago when I bought my first house closer to my place of work because I was getting weary of the twice-daily 35-minute journey. Being a fair-sized chunk of my adult life, a lot has happened in those 25 years; mostly good, some bad. But neighbours and friends had moved on and, as I'd been fortunate enough to be able retire early, my reasons for living where I did and my excuses for not moving became fewer and fewer.

So, exactly 12 months ago this month (in February 2007), I decided it was time to at least do a "feasibility study" by checking out the house prices in my area and in the area I was interested in moving to. I was already aware that the various fees involved in moving would add a significant amount to the costs so I'd need to take those into account as well.

The internet rules...

Thankfully, the days of traipsing round the various Estate Agent's windows are numbered thanks to the internet. My first port of call was rightmove.co.uk to find the selling prices of both houses in my area which were similar to mine and of properties in the area I was interested in moving to.

Of course, the asking price is one thing, the prices that houses were actually bought and sold for is something else. Luckily, rightmove.co.uk also has a section of it's website devoted to actual sold prices where it's even possible to see how prices have changed (up and down, but usually up) over a period of years.

Once I'd taken the plunge and put my house on the market, I'd need to keep an eye on the prices of the sort of property I was interested in buying and check periodically that some actual properties were available so that I could assure any prospective buyers of my property that I'd be able to move out as rapidly as possible. This is where rightmove.co.uk and the Estate Agent's own websites proved helpful - but with one important caveat. More about that later.

Selecting an Estate Agent

There are dozens of Estate Agents in my area and I had no real idea how to select which one to choose to sell my house. The one with the most For Sale boards I saw might mean they were popular by reputation or it might mean they weren't selling many properties. The one with the most prominent and accessible Hight Street window might be better than one hidden away - or they might have higher overheads needing higher charges to the customer. Although a lot of people must search on the internet, there must still be a high proportion of buyers who do it the "traditional" way.

Based on nothing in particular, I drew up a shortlist of four Estate Agents and invited them round for a 'market valuation' and to listen to their sales pitch. One would charge 1.25% of the sale price whereas the other three would charge 1.5%. 0.25% worked out at about £375 difference - not a lot but enough to pay for the removals men or nearly enough for the survey.

Each of their sales managers put their own 'slant' on why I should choose them but they were all well-established companies and I don't think it would have made much difference which Agent I had chosen [1]. My initial intention was to choose the Estate Agent to sell my house who also had a branch in the area I was moving to and which had the greatest selection of potential houses I could buy. I'd heard about purchasers being but under pressure to get a move on from the selling Agent and, if both the buying Agent and the selling Agent were the same company (albeit, different branches), I felt this pressure may be somewhat more subdued.

As it turned out, I ended up selling through one Agent and buying through another and, no surprize, the pressure to hurry up and complete the sale (of mine) and the purchase (of theirs) was, indeed, forthcoming..

The terminology can be a bit confusing. The Agent for the house I am buying is called the Seller's Agent and it was, naturally, they who were applying the pressure on behalf of their client - my seller.

The good weather over the Easter Bank Holiday (2007) gave me chance to spruce up the outside of my house, give the inside a thorough Spring clean and re-check the figures as best I could. First thing after the holiday, I'd contact a few local solicitors who specialize in conveyancing and get them to confirm their charges which I'd been able to estimate via their websites.

It was time to take the plunge...

Next Page: Will the buyers form an orderly queue, please...

[1] It's impossible to know whether it would have made any difference but, on reflection, I'm more than happy with thte Estate Agent I chose.