Moving Home Early Next Year? Start Before Everyone Else Does...
Thinking of moving next spring? The best time to start planning could be right now. A little planning now and some preparation at the start of the year can put you in a much stronger position when the market gets busier. From understanding your budget to preparing your current home, here is how to get ahead before spring activity really begins.
If you are thinking about moving home early next year, October might feel a little early to start doing anything about it, but I can assure you, it isn't!
You certainly don't need to put your house on the market now. You don't need to spend every weekend viewing properties, and you don't even need to have made a final decision about moving. What this time of year gives you is something far more valuable; time to plan without pressure.
If your aim is to make a move during the first half of next year, the autumn months are a perfect opportunity to start understanding your position, making a few decisions and getting yourself ready for more active preparation in the New Year.
October is for planning, but not rushing
There's a big difference between preparing to move and actually going onto the market. At this stage, you might simply be asking yourself; “Could we move next year?”
Perhaps you need another bedroom. Maybe the children are leaving home and you are considering something smaller. You might want a different area, a shorter commute, a bigger garden or simply a complete change.
October gives you the opportunity to explore those thoughts before the excitement and urgency of a property search takes over. Then, when January arrives, you are not starting with a blank sheet of paper.
1. Start with the reason for moving
Before looking at house prices, mortgages or scrolling through Rightmove at every given opportunity, think about what you actually want your move to achieve.
Why are you considering moving?
What is missing from your current home?
What would make your next property better for you?
How important is your timescale?
These questions matter because the right moving strategy should be built around your circumstances rather than simply around the value of your property. When it comes to putting your home on the market, a good estate agent should want to understand your plans, priorities and objectives before recommending what you do next.
2. Get an early idea of what your home could be worth
If you have already completed an instant valuation, you have made a useful first step.
Instant valuations are a quick and convenient way to get an early indication of your home's possible value. They use available property data, previous sales and local market information to produce an estimate without you needing to arrange an appointment and for somebody who is only beginning to think about moving, that can be exactly what you need.
It gives you a starting point. However, an instant valuation is still an estimate.
A computer has not walked through your front door. It has not seen the condition of your property, the improvements you have made, the size of your garden, the quality of the presentation or those little differences that can make one house worth more than another seemingly similar property nearby. It also cannot fully understand current buyer demand for a particular street, style of property or price range.
That is why we see instant valuations as the start of the conversation, rather than the final figure.
If a move next year becomes more likely, the next step is usually a proper market appraisal. This allows an experienced valuer to look at the property itself, consider recent comparable sales and current market conditions, then talk to you about something equally important - what are you actually trying to achieve? Your timescale, onward plans and priorities can all influence the right pricing and marketing strategy.
So keep your instant valuation. Use it as a guide. Then, when you are ready to start planning more seriously, let us help you turn that estimate into a much clearer picture of your position.
3. Understand the numbers before Christmas
You do not need to arrange your next mortgage several months in advance, but there is nothing wrong with getting an early understanding of your likely position. Speak to a mortgage adviser and get an idea of what you may be able to borrow, what repayments might look like and what level of purchase feels comfortable.This is especially important if your circumstances have changed since you last moved.
Your income may be different. Mortgage rates will almost certainly be different. The amount of equity in your current home may have changed significantly.
Having an approximate budget makes the planning stage much more useful. It also stops you building your entire moving plan around homes that do not fit the numbers.
4. Use the winter to work out where you really want to live
If moving area is part of the plan, autumn and winter are really good times to start researching.
Spend some time in the places you are considering. Drive the commute. Visit the shops. Look at schools if that is important to you. Walk around the area at different times of day.
You can also start monitoring the property market without feeling that you have to buy anything. Look at what comes up for sale. Notice which properties sell quickly. Look at what disappears from the portals and what seems to sit there for months.
This starts to give you a much better feel for the market you may be buying into next year.
5. Work out your property wish list
Most buyers have a list of things they would love to have in their next home. The difficulty comes when the perfect property does not exist within the perfect budget in the perfect location. Use this planning period to separate your requirements into three categories:
Must have.
Would really like.
Nice if we can get it.
Apologies at this stage if you are thinking about this with a partner - people tend to have very different ideas as to what fits into which category!!
Think particularly carefully about the things you cannot easily change.
You can replace a bathroom, you can redecorate, you can change flooring. However, moving the house closer to a school, train station or family member is slightly more difficult!
Knowing where you are willing to compromise makes the eventual search far easier.
6. January is when preparation can become more active
By the time Christmas has passed, you should hopefully have a much clearer picture.
You know why you want to move.
You have an idea of your property's value.
You understand your likely budget.
You have started thinking about areas and property types.
January is then a natural point to become more active. That might mean arranging an updated market appraisal, getting your property ready for photography, speaking to a solicitor, reviewing your mortgage position and registering properly with local estate agents.
The aim is not necessarily to launch your property on the first working day of January, it's to make sure you are ready to act when the timing feels right.
7. Don't wait until spring to join the queue!
Spring is traditionally associated with a busier property market. The problem with deciding to start everything in spring is that plenty of other homeowners are thinking exactly the same thing.
A seller who starts planning in October and becomes properly prepared in January can be in a very different position from somebody who first begins thinking about moving in March. The preparation has already been done. The finances are understood. The property can be ready. The preferred areas have been researched.
If the right opportunity appears, you can respond rather than scramble to get organised.
Start quietly now. Be ready when it matters.
Planning a move does not mean committing to one. An October conversation might simply confirm that next year is not the right time and that is useful information too.
Alternatively, it might give you a clear plan that allows you to spend the next few months making calm, sensible decisions rather than rushing everything when the market becomes busier. So if you are sitting there thinking “We might move next year…”, October is not too early. It might actually be the ideal time to start.
Thinking about moving next year?
If you are considering selling in Derby, Alfreton or the surrounding Derbyshire area, talk to Cope & Co. before you need to make any big decisions.
We can give you an honest assessment of your current position, talk through your objectives and help you build a realistic plan for the months ahead.
There is no obligation to put your property on the market.
Sometimes the most useful conversation with an estate agent happens months before the For Sale board goes up.
Already thinking about what you might buy?
Register for our Heads Up Property Alerts and tell us what your next home needs to look like.
Our Earlybird Edge approach can also give registered buyers access to selected properties during the pre market phase, before they appear across the major property portals.
Planning a move next year? Start the conversation with Cope & Co. now, then enter the New Year knowing exactly what comes next.
