need to move, someone please talk me through the process...??!

[happynappies]

We've got a mortgage on our 3-bed house, and with #3 on the way, need to move to a four bed. We've seen one, and arranged a viewing having been watching the property market locally for over a year and never seeing anything that we can remotely afford coming up for sale. Have been in touch with our mortgage company to see how much more we can borrow, but with me working pt, and not having much equity in the house, its really difficult. We could cobble more of a deposit together by borrowing short-term from family if we needed to but...

1. Do we need to have sold our house before we make an offer on anything else?

1. How much below the asking price can you realistically offer?

1. If you put your house on the market, is the only immediate cost the HIP? How long does the pack 'last'?

1. We'd only be moving across the village, but I guess there are lots of additional costs associated with moving, I vaguely remember solicitor, land registry etc. Can anyone suggest a guide to the hidden costs of moving?

Help!! Thanks.

been a couple of years since we moved, can't really help you with the HIP, but I think it lasts for a year.
You will be taken more seriously if you have an offer on your property.
All the fees for solicitor, estate agent etc should be settled when the sale goes through.
With regards to the asking price, it's really up to you. If you are making a serious offer, they should take it seriously. I remember getting an offer on my flat that I just laughed at, then they offered close to the asking price, it's worth asking, you never know what they might say.

Get a few quotes from solicitor, they should be happy doing this, and get them to run through the costs, ie. it is usually one price for the sale, one price for the purchase, then any land registry/ searches.
Don't forget the stamp duty, that's the big one.
sorry no good with links
www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/TaxOnPropertyAndRentalIncome/DG_4015918

Hi, I have been looking at moving too and ended up doing a spreadsheet with different options so I could look at the costs and different mortgage rates.
You can put an offer in without selling your own but really, there is little point as no one would think worth accepting till they knew you had a buyer. However, if they refused, you would know you are not in the right cost area anyway.

Things I have taken into account (the Hipp I paid upfront but some estate agents would have included in their sale fee). The pack officially lasts a year but our house has been on the market longer and no one has suggested we pay a renewal fee so I assume it is ok for longer.
Estate agent fee
Solicitor fee for buying
Solicitor fee for selling
House removal costs (firm or van hire)
Stamp duty
House survey (not just a valuation)
Mortgage close out fees (some charge £2-300 for close out)
New mortgage application fee

Some of these you will have to put your own numbers against. As an example, I assumed 2k for solicitor fee for purchase(this includes searches and land registry fee) and the quote has come in at 1.9k. I suppose it depends where you are. I read somewhere to assume 10k for everytime you move hours. This might be too low depending what your stamp duty will be.

Thanks skinsl and gallery - I'd forgotten half of this stuff... think first step for us then is to put the house on the market and see if there is any interest. No point getting all excited about this potential new house if we don't sell ours, and the spreadsheet is a good idea, I'll get started with that now and start getting figures together. When you say 'close out fees' do you mean to end your mortgage ahead of term? We were thinking of porting our mortgage as the existing terms are quite favourable, and taking out a new mortgage for the extra amount.