If you’re planning on moving house, then you’re probably already coming to understand just how expensive it can be. When you add up all of the costs involved, you can usually find yourself thousands of pounds out of pocket, erasing any appreciation that your property might have experienced.
Fortunately, there are several ways that you can move house on the cheap without having to go into debt or plough thousands more into your savings account.
Move House On A Weekday
While it might cut into your annual holiday allowance, moving on a weekday is the best way to ensure that you pay the lowest removal costs possible.
Removal companies have to adjust their prices according to demand. If a lot of people want to use their services on, say, a Saturday, then they will put them up. Similarly, if things are quiet on a Monday morning, they will often lower their costs to attract more customers.
If you want even more significant savings, try to plan your move to coincide with the start of the year. The months of January and February are seasonally weak in the housing market. Removal professionals usually have less work at this time of the year and will cut their prices.
Don’t Hire A Full-Service Company
You don’t need your removal company to do everything for you. Except for large, bulky items like grand pianos and beds, you can probably move most of your possessions yourself in your car or by hiring a van. Savvy homeowners, therefore, try to only use removal services for the things that they actually need.
Negotiate On Your New Mortgage
When you move home, you’ll need to take out a new mortgage. The amount of interest you pay, however, will have a material impact on your bills.
If you need more time, a property bridging lender can help. These agencies offer homeowners short term loans either while they refinance or sell their homes. It gives you a chance to shop around and make sure that you get the best deal without risking your property transaction falling through.
Stop Buying Boxes
Disposable removal boxes are expensive and bad for the environment if you throw them away after you complete the move. Nowadays, though, you don’t have to go down this route. There are now dozens of companies offering removal boxes for hire. All you do is rent out the boxes you need and then send them back to the depot via courier for a fraction of the price of buying new. What’s more, many of these boxes tend to be a lot sturdier than the disposable ones that you buy when you move home.
Sell Your Home Privately
Before the internet, almost everyone went to estate agents to sell their properties. Unfortunately, agents don’t work for free. They take a fee when they sell your home, usually around 3 per cent of the sale value. Nowadays, however, it is much easier to sell privately on a property listing site. These sites usually just charge a fee for the advert, which is many times less than the price of estate agents.
