PROPERTY MARKET PUSHES UP COSTS FOR MORTGAGE HUNTERS

[mortgages.co.uk, 27 June 2006]: Second-time buyers may have to seek favourable mortgages to cover the gap between the revenue they get for selling their first home and the cost of a new property.

The reason for this is that a new report shows these mortgage hunters are initially unaware of the money they could lose from the sale of their first home because of the costs, both seen and unseen, that they incur during the selling process.

National Homebuyers's research shows that home-sellers can lose up to £44,575.39 in revenue because of estate agent and legal fees, as well as through sales falling through and through their not focusing their time on potentially more profitable endeavours.

The company's communications director David Harber commented: "This research details the true cost of the inefficiency of selling your property in the open market.

"One issue is that when deciding how to sell their house, few people account for the opportunity cost – the monetary value of their own time in that process. National Homebuyers encounter people every day . . . that have not factored the hidden costs as well as the fallibility of the chain."

The cost of selling a home can be badly hindered by breaks in chain sales, as on the one in three occasions when a sale falls through it costs the home seller well over £11,000 extra.

Moreover, one out of nine times sellers experience two sales falling through, meaning they may have to pay as much as £23,000 more than if the sale had gone through smoothly, which they may have to account for by taking out a mortgage on their second home.