Costs of Buying a Home in Durham

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Estate Agent Fees

Valuation Fees

Mortgage Arrangement Fees

Solicitors Fees

Stamp Duty Fees

Moving/Removal Fees

One of the more often encountered questions that we hear from prospective first time buyers in Durham is them curious about how much their mortgage process would cost them.

Responding to this, we have put together a short list of all the fees you can expect to pay when you are looking to buy a new home, and when it will become payable.

Estate Agency Fees

This would apply only if you are planning to sell your home. With an increase in the popularity of online estate agencies, you can be seeing hundreds of standard website listings.

That being said, for a more localised service, you could be looking at a fee of around 1-2% of the property price.

Valuation Fees

Your mortgage lender will need you to have a valuation conducted on the property you are purchasing to make sure that the property is worth the amount you are looking to borrow from them.

Prices for a property survey can cost anywhere from hundreds of pounds, this can depend if you want just a basic valuation, a lot more in-depth Home Buyers’ Report, or a Full Building Survey.

A key thing to remember when to working around the cost is that you always have some element of choice in the level of detail your survey goes into, with your decision by age and property type, as well as any questions.

Mortgage Arrangement Fees

Sometimes you can have a product with a cheaper rate, but the advantage can be outweighed by the payable arrangement fee to a mortgage lender.

This cost doesn’t exist with every mortgage lender, so you may not have to pay for anything at all, but in some cases, it could be upwards of 3 figures, depending on how the mortgage lender is in question.

You can find that these costs can be paid upfront, though you may also be able to add these onto the balance of your mortgage. Noteworthy though, that this would mean incurring further interest charges.

Here at Durhammoneyman, our team of Mortgage Advisors in Durham, has helped many first time buyers and home movers in Durham alike, we can compare deals for you in order to find you the most suitable one for your circumstances.

Solicitor’s Fees

You will have to hire the services of a qualified solicitor. The cost of this service can be quoted very differently depending on the firm you are speaking to. An estimation for a straight forward purchase with a local company is likely within the mid-hundreds.

You will need to give the property address, whether it’s leasehold or freehold and how much you are purchasing it for, in order to receive accurate quotations.

The key points to cover when asking for a quote are:

• Ensure the firm includes VAT.
• Ensure the firm includes the cost of any “disbursements.” These are fees such as Land Registry Fees and Local Authority Search Fees.
• Is your solicitor on your mortgage lenders panel?

Stamp Duty Fees

In addition to the costs and disbursements involved in paying your solicitor, depending on your circumstances, you may also be required to pay this tax which the solicitor collects on completion of the property purchase.

This doesn’t apply to everyone. The government have been known to change the criteria on Stamp Duty, with the latest change being in favour of First Time Buyers in Durham. The latest Stamp Duty updates can be found here.

Mortgage Broker Fees

A Mortgage Broker in Durham will typically charge for their service. The cost of this will vary from company to company.

In our case, your dedicated mortgage advisor in Durham will discuss this in more detail with you during your free initial mortgage appointment.

We would definitely recommend choosing a local company such as ourselves, rather than a big organisation. They are more likely only to charge on completion, as opposed to any application fees and additional costs that could be incurred.

Moving/Removal Fees

Of course if you are Moving Home in Durham, the cost of doing so in regard to the actual moving aspect, can be quite costly. This will depend on the level of service you are looking for.

Hiring your own van and doing the work yourself can be quite cheap. Opting for a local man with a van can be only slightly more than hiring your own van. A professional van service can be in the high hundreds, early thousands.

To further discuss the costs involved in buying a home, including anything we may have missed, book your free mortgage appointment today. A trusted mortgage advisor in Durham will be more than happy to discuss this with you.

Date Last Edited: December 6, 2023