Many people will reach a time in their lives whereby the family home begins to be more of a burden and a chore than a relaxing homestead. A property that was a perfect fit for purpose when purchased can become an increasing money drain and worry when the purpose of that property changes, a large family home is often less than perfect in retirement, when mobility becomes an issue or the desire to release some capital arises.

I have dealt with many older people who have made the choice to move house and guided them through this process.  All of these clients had one thing in common:

They loved their home, cherished the memories that the home gave them and found it emotionally difficult to move.

When I have given counsel to people who are beginning to consider their next move I would always ask them to acknowledge how difficult this process will be BUT begin to focus on the balance of benefits that moving to a more suitable home can bring.

The first step to lessen the emotional impact of moving from a home you may have lived in for generations is to begin to record those cherished memories. Photos and videos of all of the special times in the house should begin to be collated and complied to create a vivid memory of these times.

Next step is perhaps the most obvious. How much is it worth? Putting a value on any property used to be a magical art, in which shiny suited estate agency wizard would spin values from their specific local knowledge and under-informed buyers would accept their advice as gospel truth. This “Magic” knowledge is now available to anybody with a computer and an internet connection.

It is now possible to find out what a property in your area has sold for just by visiting a website. I would suggest the following:

Land Registry - this is very accurate data about any area of the UK

Zoopla - A website which will give you a ‘basic’ value of your house

Hometrack – The Hometrack service will give you a more detailed valuation, but will cost around £20

When you are armed with some basic detail on your house price, you are ready to call in Estate agents for a valuation. Here is my guidance on dealing with Agents:

• Ask 2 separate estate agents to value your house. This service should be free. Ask for a valuation within a 5% range (anything over this price range is not a valuation, it’s a guess!) and an exact fee quote. Make sure that the Agent offers “No Sale, No Fee” terms.
• Don’t tell an agent what you think the property is worth OR what another agent has valued it at. The oldest trick in the book is giving you a higher valuation than another agent.
• Ask each Agent to act on a multiple agent, winner takes all, basis. No estate agent wants to do this but it is very effective when selling to have agents competing for one fee, you will get twice the marketing for the same cost.

Finally, I will write in the next article about preparing your property for sale and why you should NEVER spend money on cosmetic updates, I will expand on this advice next time.

This series of articles has been written by Phillip D Hulme, Senior Consultant at Extracaresales.com, an exclusive full service property relocation agency dealing with marketing, selling and relocation for the over 60’s. Phillip has over 6 years experience in this field and has advised over 2,500 older people on moving to a new home. He is the author of the “Better Move” blog Better Move.

Editor, Third Age.