When you buy a house - what else costs money?

[TrillianAstra]

Apart from the house, I mean.

Just an idle thought really, we won't be able to afford one for years yet unless a rich relative turns up and makes us a nice present.

So you have to have a deposit for the mortgage, what else? I vaguely recall that there are solicitors and agents and things involved.

Stamp duty is the big one
Solicitor fees - ask for fixed fee
No agent fees - you only pay agent fees if you are selling a house, not buying
Survey
Movers

lawyer's fee and searches, survey, mortgage arrangement fee,stamp duty, removal costs, selling fees (if you have one to sell)

• redecorating and furniture and stuff when you move in. Almost inevitable. And maybe stuff that the survey says needs doing (like electrics).

oh forgot - housewarming party. (do it before the redecorating etc).

in our experience the survery will have missed something that needs doing - like a leaky rood

What are 'searches' seb1?

It costs money to get a mortgage? That's crap.

Traumaqueen I like your answer

Nothing to sell, if I had already bought one at some point in the past I hope I would remember this stuff.

Fixing everything that you didnt notice in the first flush of loving the house.

When you buy a house you do need to budget for maintenance costs as something always happens. In my (1 bed) flat over 3 years I had £2k of damp proofing (knew about this when i bought it tbf), £1k for tree felling and fencing, £3k new bathroom, £3k landscaping, £1k decorating and plastering (post damp proofing), £500 gas emergency- turned out the emergency cut off lever had snapped off at some point in history- if there had been a gas leak in any flat in our house, they would have had to evacuate 200 houses. If you buy a flat there is normally also a sinking fund for communal repairs (roof etc) which you contribute to monthly.

Searches are things like making sure there isn't a public footpath running through your back garden, making sure the house is attached to the sewerage, checking the boundaries correspond to what the seller has told you, checking other stuff that you'd want to know.

We're just about to buy another house (it's a new build) and I have put this list together to try & keep a check on everything:

Purchase price
Stamp duty
Solicitor
Survey
Searches
Bankruptcy search
Transfer fee
Moving costs
Curtains
Decorating
Flooring
Washing machine
Tumble drier
Incidentals

Additional Council Tax, insurance(buildings payable on exchange), utilities, plumbing in wm/dw and/or installing gas appliances.

What are searches? Searching for what?

V good list Rindercella, I will aim to have a list like that myself in a million years when the time comes.

Searches are basically reports with an assessment of the environment (mineral deposits, liability to flooding etc), any outstanding planning applications and improvements which may affect the property(either neighbouring properties or Local Authority such as road improvements), access to mains drainage and so on, within a certain radius of the property.

Rinders - you are moving What about my lovely friendly Mrs Mop????

Oh and added expense which is not expected: water rates, tips for removals men and cost of holiday for when you move (well if you pay for packers and movers it's best to bugger off while they work and go somewhere nice)

Whomoved I must be mad: toddler, new baby and a husband who really must not lift a finger. Perhaps it's my penance for being on my hen weekend the last time we moved!

Hoping your very lovely Mrs Mop will be able to start with us - she's just trying to confirm childcare arrangements, but we're only moving a mile or so away - to the village with the dovecote. Offer accepted, house off the market and hoping to exchange in the next couple of weeks. We're going to keep our current house and rent it out.

Holiday is already budgeted for

Oooh how exciting! Mrs Mop's mum will help I'm sure. She's very good. I go out on Monday mornings and come back and all the child related filth has vanished.

I think technical she's a Ms Mop though.

I'm confused now because where you live there is a dovecot in the house next to the museum of dullness. - you'll have to email me now because I'm tres confused and I can't afford the wrinkles.