Selling or buying a property is one of life's biggest financial transactions and comes with a host of additional expenses.
But while some costs are unavoidable, there are plenty of ways to save money when moving house. We've rounded up some of the best.
Pick your estate agent carefully
The most expensive costs for selling a house are estate agent fees, which are usually paid by the seller to their agent and can be up to 1.5% on the cost of the final selling price of the property.
Depending on your area, the agent and how much work you're expecting them to do for their commission, you may be able to negotiate a lower rate.
But with it being a sellers' market in many areas, increasing numbers of house owners are instead minimising high street agents' involvement completely by going online to use less traditional estate agents to market their property. This can save thousands of pounds.
Online estate agent Strike works nationwide and sells properties for free. Even with a relatively conservative 1% commission from a traditional estate agent, this could see sellers saving £2,500 in fees on a £250,000 house.
Strike makes money through offering a host of optional extras that sellers can use, although they say around 40% of customers choose a totally free sale. Optional additional services include £599 flat fee marketing boosts offering professional photography, a video trailer and a premium Rightmove listing, as well as conveyancing, mortgages and moving services. You can get a free online valuation with Strike here.
Whichever estate agent you opt for, whether an online one like Strike or competitors like Yopa, which charges a flat £999 fee per sale, or a high street option, it's worth getting more than one quote on the value of your house. Valuations can vary greatly so getting a strong idea of the local property market and where your home sits within it price-wise means you're more likely to get the maximum price for your sale.
Some builders also offer part exchange on new build properties, which is another way to eliminate estate agents' commissions. It's worth investigating what the local going rate for your property is before you agree to this though, even just using online valuation tools, as the amount they offer could be less than you'd get opening your house up to the wider market.
Legal fees
Traditional solicitors' fees for conveyancing were always higher than their online counterparts but, with coronavirus seeing a backlog of house moves and high demand, prices have increased even further over the last few years meaning it could cost up to £1,500 in fees for someone to oversee the legal process.
There are many online conveyancers and who can oversee buying, selling or remortgaging a property, but the one downside to this process is that, while they are considerably cheaper and you could save hundred of pounds, often they are dealing with dozens of cases in a hub, meaning you don't always get to speak to the same person.
This can cause delays so it's worth considering whether price or speed is your priority during the process before trying to cut costs here.
Whoever you choose to do your conveyancing, make sure they are fully regulated and, if possible, read independent reviews or speak to previous customers before starting the process. If you do go for more of a traditional solicitor, check what is included in the price and what is likely to be extra, for example local government searches are likely to cost around £300 so check if these are included. Also ask if they do a fixed fee conveyancing package so at least you know what you're paying before you start down the process rather than suddenly getting a shockingly high bill where every letter or chasing email they've sent has added a bit more to your costs.
Other fees
Of course there are plenty of other fees within the house buying and selling process. Make sure to look carefully at what kind of survey you need on any new property you're buying. While you (and a mortgage company) want to make sure that your new home is in good condition there are several different types of survey and going for a less in-depth one if possible will save you money.
Meanwhile, make sure your mortgage is fixed for as long as you can get it at the lowest rate you can get it, and look for any deals, discounts or perks. For example, some mortgage brokers take their fees from the banks themselves rather than customers which could save several hundred pounds. Some mortgage companies offer incentives like money towards legal fees or waiving application fees. While this shouldn't sway your choice to a worse-value mortgage over a better one, it's worth taking into consideration.
Removals... or not
Ideally before you put your house on the market have a big declutter as part of your sprucing up process. Get a skip if need be, or do regular tip and charity shop runs as well as selling anything that could find a new home on Music Magpie (great for DVDs, CDs and games), MPB (camera gear), Ebay (everything else) or other local selling sites - it's all extra money for the moving fund.
Not only will having a good organise of your home before you have to pack it up mean that you're not moving unnecessary items, but it also could have a knock-on effect on how it looks for potential buyers on viewings. Rooms look bigger and more tempting when things are a bit less cluttered which subconsciously could encourage people to think your home is worth more and make your money in the long term.
As you get closer to move day, you need to weigh up money saving versus sanity saving. Do you have access to a van or can you hire and drive one at a cost of a few hundred pounds, could you assemble a group of friends or family to help lug the heaviest things in and out, do you have children or pets to worry about?
Removal company costs vary greatly dependent on where the country you are and how big a house you're moving from. The average cost of a removal company for a three-bedroom house is currently estimated at around £1,500, but in some parts of the country where demand is high it can be significantly more than that.
If you do decide to go down the professional removals firm route, then the fact you've already got rid of anything that doesn't need space in your new home means that at least you're not paying them for wasted time. Removals companies vary greatly in both price and how they work, so think carefully about exactly what you need them to do - do you need them to pack and unpack everything and dismantle and put back together all your furniture, which will be expensive. Or could they drop off the packing materials for you to do it yourself and just turn up on the day to load the lorry? There will be a significant difference in price between these two types of service.
Distance between old and new properties is also a factor with anything over around 25 miles' distance tending to attract premium prices. Demand for good removals firms is high, so as soon as you have a potential move date speak to your preferred company - they'll move it if needed, but you don't want to miss out completely. Also, while Friday is a popular day to move because it minimises time off work it's also the most popular and thus more expensive. Consider a mid-week date when prices may be less expensive.
As with your solicitor, make sure you've done homework on the firm you're using. Read online reviews, ask friends and family who've moved, preferably recently, and ask several companies to come out, see your home and make an informed estimate on the job.
Don't forget savings in your new house
Wherever you're moving to, there's plenty of ways to save money as you set up your new home.
Use price comparison sites like Money Supermarket or ComparetheMarket.com to get the best deals on everything from your home insurance, new energy suppliers and other utilities.
Don't just assume that transferring over existing TV subscriptions, broadband deals and such like is doing to give you the best deal - take the opportunity to sign up as a new customer and see what offers you get - often for companies like Sky or BT Broadband you'll get a better deal or new offers as a new customer.
If you've not joined any cashback sites before it's worth doing that before you sign up for any new accounts as there as some great cashback deals when signing up for long contracts - for example, Quidco will give members £154 cashback when they sign up for Sky, £122 cashback for BT TV and Broadband, £110 cashback on Coverbaloo home insurance or £88 for Virgin which is a great deal if you were planning on signing up anyway.
