Your guide to moving home

Author - Adil Choudry Editor - Helen Lovell

Last reviewed on 11th February 2025

In this article - your 10 steps to moving home:

• Get your home valued

• Work out how much you can afford

• Find a mortgage broker

• Put your property on the market

• Find the perfect property

• Apply for a mortgage

• Start the conveyancing process

• Exchange

• Start to pack up

• Complete!

1. Get your home valued

The first stage of moving home is finding out how much your current property is worth. This will help you to put your home on the market for a realistic and reasonable price, which should attract buyers and help you sell your property quickly. 

Knowing how much your current property is worth will also help you work out a budget for your next move. 

Using Zoopla’s My Home to get an instant free estimate of your home’s value is a great place to start. You should also get an in-person valuation done by at least three local estate agents too so you have an accurate idea of what your property is worth. It’s simple to find estate agents in your area using Zoopla too. 

2. Work out how much you can afford 

Review your finances to get a good idea of what you can afford to spend on a new property. 

Start by finding out how much equity is in your current property - i.e. how much of your property you currently own. You can work this out by deducting how much you owe your mortgage lender from the market value of your property. For example, if your property is worth £300,000 and your outstanding mortgage balance is £100,000 then you will have £200,000 in equity. 

This, along with any additional savings you want to put into the new property to top up the equity, will help to determine how much money you have to put towards a new property - and therefore how much you’ll need to borrow. 

It’s also worth considering other costs involved in moving house, such as stamp duty, surveys, conveyancing fees, estate agent fees, mortgage arrangement fees and moving costs. Make sure you have enough money set aside to cover all these additional costs.

You’ll also have ongoing costs such as insurance, utility bills, council tax and mortgage payments to think about. While you’ll have been paying these bills before, they might change when you move so you’ll need to budget for any increased costs.

3. Find a mortgage broker

Navigating the complex mortgage market on your own can be a challenge. Why add stress to an already tricky process, when you can get expert advice from a mortgage broker? 

There are loads of advantages to using a mortgage broker. A mortgage broker can:

• Search thousands of mortgage deals from across the market quickly

• Advise on specific products, helping you find a suitable option for your circumstances

• Help cut through the jargon, making it easier to understand the mortgage application process

• Complete your mortgage application on your behalf to save time and hassle

• Communicate with other third parties, such as your lender, estate agents and solicitors

4. Put your property on the market 

Sellers are more likely to take your offer seriously if they know your home is under offer too, so it’s a good idea to put your current home on the market before you start looking for a new one.

While your estate agent will be responsible for arranging and carrying out viewings, you can do your bit to help. Get your property sale-ready and keep it clean and tidy in between viewings. This’ll help prospective buyers feel right at home from the moment they walk in. 

It’s great news if the offers start rolling in straightaway. But, when considering offers, don’t just think about the price. Consider the buyer’s circumstances too. For example, choosing a first-time buyer (particularly one with a mortgage in principle) might result in a quicker and more straightforward sale compared to a buyer who hasn’t even put their home on the market yet. You should choose a buyer who’ll be reliable, communicative and driven to progress the purchase.

5. Find the perfect property

Start by jotting down a list of your property priorities, such as the area you’d like to live in, number of bedrooms, whether the property has a garden or garage, local amenities etc. This will help you to narrow down your search. 

Here’s where your mortgage in principle comes in handy. Not only do you have a better idea of how much you’ll be able to afford, but you’ll also be taken much more seriously during property viewings. In fact, some estate agents won’t even offer you a viewing unless you have a mortgage in principle. 

Once you’ve found your dream home it’s time to put an offer in.

6. Apply for a mortgage

Finding a great mortgage deal on your own is a time consuming job, and probably not something you want to be juggling alongside everything else. Fortunately, if you use a mortgage broker, you can let them take the lead.

They’ll work with you to decide the best mortgage option for your situation. You may be able to port your mortgage to your new property, or switch to a new lender, depending if you’re looking to borrow more than your existing mortgage. 

Your mortgage broker will help you compare mortgage deals across dozens of lenders. In addition to rates, you and your broker will discuss mortgage type, deal length, term length and any additional conditions (such as how much you can overpay or any early repayment charges). 

This will help them to find the best product for you and your circumstances, which may or may not be from the same lender you got your mortgage in principle from. 

Once you’ve found a deal you’re happy with, you’ll then need to submit your mortgage application (your broker will be able to coordinate this for you). At this point, your lender will carry out a property valuation before making a formal offer. Most offers last for up to six months, giving you plenty of time to complete the conveyancing process. 

7. Start the conveyancing process

It can take a few months to sell and buy a property as there are lots of things happening behind-the-scenes to make the transaction happen. 

Conveyancers will draft up contracts and arrange local searches while you or your buyer may wish to organise enhanced property surveys. A survey will assess any potential issues or remedial work that needs to be done on the property. While it can be inconvenient if the survey does flag problems (you or your buyer may wish to renegotiate the price, or ask for the issue to be fixed before completion) it’s often much better to deal with problems now rather than wait to discover them once you’ve already moved in. 

Your mortgage broker should be responsible for communicating with all third parties to make sure the process is progressing nicely. 

8. Exchange 

A sale and/or purchase is legally binding once you’ve exchanged contracts and transferred your deposit to your solicitor. 

At this point, you can be confident that your sale is going ahead. You’ll now be able to set a completion date, which is usually around two to four weeks after you’ve exchanged contracts. 

Top tip: arrange building insurance! As you’re legally responsible for the property, you’ll need to make sure you have adequate buildings insurance in place for the house you’re moving into.

9. Start to pack up

After all this waiting, you’ll now enter what’s likely to be the busiest week or two of the house buying journey. You’ll be packing up, potentially arranging a removals team and making plans to transform your new house into a home once you’re all moved in. 

While you can prepare for this step weeks or even months in advance, you may wish to wait until you have officially exchanged contracts before booking a local removals firm to avoid potential date changes.

10. Complete

On the day of completion you’ll officially say goodbye to your current home and receive the keys to your new one. If you’re part of a chain, your solicitors will try to arrange things so that everyone involved in the chain will move on the same day. 

Hopefully any house buying stress will melt away once you step foot in your fabulous new home. It’s time to celebrate!