Selling a home

Preparing to sell

If you have a mortgage on the property you’re selling, you’ll need to move the mortgage to your new property, or pay it off.

Contact your mortgage lender to check:

You may also need to pay:

any other outstanding debts secured against your home
estate agent fees
legal fees
removal costs
Capital Gains Tax if the property is not your main home or includes a lot of land
for essential home repairs or improvements
resolving issues in the deeds to the property

You can find a list of costs on the Which? website.

You’ll need to find out how much your home is worth so you can compare it to the outstanding balance on your mortgage and other moving costs.

Knowing the value of your property will also help you to set the right asking price when you’re ready to sell.

You can find out how much your home is worth by:

researching local house prices online
finding out what homes in your area recently sold for using the Land Registry website
asking estate agents to value your home

You may want to get a formal home valuation. They are carried out by a qualified valuer who will charge for this service.

Before you put your home on the market, you’ll need to make sure you have all the right paperwork to give to a prospective buyer.

This might include:

property title deeds
information on the type of ownership the property has (tenure) - freehold or leasehold
an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
planning permission and building regulation certificates
FENSA or CERTASS certificates for windows
guarantees, warranties and surveys
electrical checks
party wall agreements

An estate agent and a legal professional can help you gather this information.

You’ll also need to prove your identity and your address to your: