Hi, this is Ceri…
Around 10 years ago, when I first started my journey as a Mortgage Advisor, I was an eternal optimist who believed I’d found a job where I could genuinely help people. Ten years on and I’m still an eternal optimist. And I’m more convinced than ever that at Remoo Mortgages we are helping more clients, old and new, each and every month.
One thing has changed though, and I’ll confess that I used to tell my clients a huge lie…
I used to tell my clients who were moving home, that I would be able to take the stress out of the whole process.
‘’Don’t worry about the mortgage, I’ll sort it all. You won’t have to stress about anything!’’ I’d tell my clients, over and over again. And I believed it. I was sure I would make the whole process as stress free as possible. I’m an eternal optimist after all.
Why I was wrong about moving house
Then something monumental happened. I MOVED HOUSE. And I realised very, very quickly that I had been lying. I stand by my assertation that I’ll do everything I can to make the process as smooth as I possibly can, but the absolute truth is there are many elements that I cannot control.
I cannot control solicitors who take days or weeks to return calls or emails. I cannot control how your buyers or the people you are buying from behave. I cannot control how estate agents will tell you that the house is going back on the market if you don’t complete on an exact specific date (spoiler: it won’t!).
I’m sorry to all my clients who I told I would make purchasing a new home ‘totally stress free’ or words to that effect. What I tell my clients now is that I have been through it, I know and understand how it feels, and I will do everything I can & use my years of experience to help guide you through what is one of the most stressful (but ultimately, hugely rewarding and exciting) times of your lives.
So here are my 5 top tips for moving house…
5 top tips for moving house
1 – Pack early.
I honestly can’t stress enough how being ready to move well ahead of your moving day will help you avoid what is potentially the biggest roller coaster of the whole house buying process. Packing early allows you to declutter too, meaning you only take what you want or need to your new home… hopefully.
2 – Find a good moving company.
If you can hire a van and move yourselves or drag family members in to help you move in a single day, then great, go for it. But, if you need movers, do some research, speak to friends and family and ring around for some quotes. Movers should treat your possessions with the same respect as they treat their own, and good movers will help mitigate the stress of moving day.
3 – Stay in touch with your solicitor.
Make your solicitor look forward to the day you complete on your new home by making regular phone calls or sending emails. I’ve seen many applications drift when clients aren’t engaged with their solicitors. We’ll do this with you, but very recently we had a purchase complete withing 28 days, with full searches, because the client was absolutely determined to do it and I’m pretty sure the solicitor was very, very happy on the day he knew he wouldn’t be getting daily calls and emails from them!
4 – Reply to Enquiries quickly
If you have a property to sell, then get ready for enquires to come from the buyers solicitors. Enquires are a good indication that the legal process is moving along but can cause delays if your solicitor asks you when your boiler was last serviced and you either don’t know or you don’t respond for 2 weeks. Communication is a 2 way street, make sure you’re traveling in the right direction at the right time.
5 – Use a mortgage broker.
Click here to send us an enquiry. We promise to guide you through the process and help as much as we can.
What we can’t promise though is that we’ll make it stress free. Because that’s a bit of a fib…