How to meet the stamp duty holiday deadline

As you’ve probably seen, the housing market is bustling with activity at the moment. In fact, it hasn’t been busier than this in at least 10 years.

There are a number of reasons why so many home-movers are buying and selling right now, and one of them is the fast-approaching deadline of the stamp duty holiday.

The holiday the government put in place can save homebuyers thousands of pounds, but they must have completed their purchase by 31^st March 2021.

And because of the increased activity, conveyancing is taking longer, so we recommend you allow at least three months for this part of the purchase – which means you’ll want to move fairly quickly if you want to stand a chance of meeting the deadline.

Here are our top tips that will increase your chances of completing on time.

If you’re selling before buying

Most people who are buying a home need to sell their own first, so if you’re in this category you’ll have to move fast.

Ideally your property should already be on the market, and you’re en route to finding a buyer, but if not, there may still be time. You’ll need to be smart about it, though. Here’s how:

Choose the right estate agent

We recommend you ask at least three agents to value your property. Here’s a list to help you know what to look for:

• How experienced are they in your area?
• Have they successfully sold properties similar to yours recently? Ask how long it took them, what prices were achieved, and what the difference between their initial asking price and the sold price was, if any.
• Don’t become overly fixated with the fee the agent charges. Usually the most important things to keep in mind are:
  1. The amount of money the house sells for: the sold price minus the agent’s fee.
  2. How quickly the sale will happen.

Working with an agent who provides a great service, is responsive, proactive, and an expert in your local area, will make a huge difference to the whole experience.

Get the price right

Don’t automatically be swayed by the agent promising the highest price for your home. It’s tempting, but if you end up over-pricing the property it will only prolong the process, and you’ll have to reduce the price further down the line anyway. A recent study we carried out found that you were twice as likely to sell your home if it sold based on the first listed asking price.

Instead, ask the agent to provide evidence to support why they recommend that asking price. And again, look at their recent history in the area.

Getting the price right from the very start is also important because the first two weeks your house appears on Rightmove is usually when it gets the most attention from home-hunters.

Get your home ready

You’ll want to spend some time de-cluttering and making your home look as presentable and attractive as possible, so that as soon as you’ve instructed your agent they can get straight to work.

The quality of the photos that appear on Rightmove play a big part in determining the level of interest the property will get. Low quality photos of cluttered and messy rooms put some people off, whilst high-resolution images of bright, tidy, well-presented homes are attention magnets.

See more tips on how to sell your home quickly.

When buying

Before you start going on viewings, give yourself a head start by considering these three important points:

Have an offer accepted on your own property first

Remember that if you’re selling your own home it’s probably best that you wait until you’ve found a buyer before you go too far down the road of buying your next property.

Have your Mortgage in Principle ready

No matter if you’re a first-time buyer or a well-seasoned pro, having your Mortgage in Principle (MIP) in place, and ready to show the agent when making an offer, is a crucial step towards making the best possible impression, and increases your chances of having your offer accepted.

Mortgage approvals may take longer than usual, so the sooner you get this sorted, the better.

Instruct a solicitor early

If you wait until your offer is accepted to find a solicitor, you’ll lose precious time. So when looking for one beforehand, try and find out what their workload is like in the coming weeks and months. Do they have the capacity to take on your conveyancing?

Read about other ways to speed up your conveyancing.

Having these three points covered is also important because it shows the agent and seller selling the property you’re interested in that you’re a serious buyer. You may be competing with other buyers, so it’s likely the seller will prefer to go with the one they feel will move the quickest.

See how much you could save with the stamp duty holiday.