Selling & buying - financial considerations.

What's your home worth?

Understanding what your home is worth is an important starting point. Here are some ways to get an idea for what your home could sell for: 

• Find out your rateable value
• Talk to local real estate agents
• Look at recent house sales in the area
• Get a valuation.

Things to keep in mind when selling

Take your home loan with you

When you buy a new home, you can usually take your home loan with you, keeping the same rate and term without paying any additional costs.

Increasing your loan size

If you're upsizing or moving into a more expensive area, it's possible your new repayments may end up larger than your current repayments. It's important to make sure you are comfortable with the increased repayments and that your loan still suits your needs. Use our repayment calculator to see what your repayments on your new home could be.

When there's a gap between when you sell and buy

If there's likely to be a gap between buying your new home and the sale of your current home, we may be able to help. We might be able to increase your home loan for a short time or help with bridging finance, which is a short term interest-only loan to 'bridge' the gap when you have mortgages over two homes. To discuss your options get in touch.

Not planning to buy again?

If you're not buying another home and your existing home loan will be repaid with the money from the sale of your home, we will work with your lawyer to arrange the repayment of your loan and the discharge of your mortgage. If you have a fixed interest rate there may be a prepayment cost (sometimes known as a break cost) to pay off the loan early.

If you have a large lump sum left over from your sale, you may want to consider getting some financial advice. Our Financial Advisers are experts in financial wealth and can help. Find out more.

Cost of moving

Real estate fees

The seller usually pays the real estate agent when the house sale becomes unconditional. Agency fees and costs can vary quite a bit, with three different ways of charging: 

• Commission
• Commission plus a base rate
• Fixed price.

You may also have other costs such as advertising, which you may need to pay even if the home doesn't sell.

Moving costs and insurance

Moving costs vary considerably. The cost of professional movers will depend on how much of the packing you do yourself. It will also depend on if you’re moving within the same town or city and whether you need storage.

Most contents insurance policies don't automatically cover your belongings during a move, so consider asking your insurer for extra cover on the day.